Sustainable sociocultural center in Reinosa, Spain

The project presented in this thesis comes as a proposal for a student competition. The task consists in the construction of a social-cultural center in the site of the former market of Abastos. The market, built in the city of Reinosa in the Cantabria region of Spain, was built in 1882 as a commercial hub for the city. It quickly became central in the social life of the little town thanks to its central position and is function of shelter against the severe weather conditions. The city in fact, located in the Northern part of Spain, stands more than 800 meters above sea level and it characterized by long and cold winters with abundant snowfalls and persistent snow (3 round months of frost a year). The former market was almost completely destroyed during a fire in the summer of 2012, leaving the city deprived of this important and beloved landmark. A market is characterized by the presence of the commercial street: namely a central alley surrounded by two arrays of commercial buildings. This model dates back at the origin of the civilization, and still characterizes the modern shopping mall as well as the historic city centers in the European continent and in the middle east (bazaar). The thing I like the most of a covered market is the ambiguity between the inside and the outside: the organization in alleys and commercial buildings recall an outside place as it reproduces the city. The ambiguity between inside and outside was a common theme in 19th century architecture, it was present in greenhouses and arcades, somehow also in the Eiffel tower. According to the dimensions and proportions of the arcade it can refer and feel more as an inside or an outside, and be respectively private or monumental. In this project I tried recreate the feeling of covered market but alluding more to the square than to the street, to underline the prevailing social aspect over the commercial one. The squares can be used as a market, but are often divided, using the stands, into smaller street to reproduce the marketplace disposition. A single open space facilitates the visual contact with all the other occupants serving as a privileged space for social interaction and casual encounters. The floor area of the previous building has been maintained, but the space occupied by the shops has turned into square space, while the space occupied by the alleys has becomes shops and other functions. The goal is to maintain the ancient floor space and the vibes of the covered market while promoting new functions thanks to an inside-out game. The two internal public spaces differ in height and are surrounded by different environments in an effort to create the two main type of arcade i.e. the monumental one and the internal one. The building acts as a bridge between the small garden square in front of the theater, and a new square that will be built in direction of the city center. The visitor will have the possibility to go through a series of square: the modern one close to the south facade, the internal one with the arcade, and the existing compact one between the north facade and the theater. The three squares will form a pedestrian area characterized by abrupt changes of atmosphere in the surroundings. The steel structure is simple and gives regularity and clarity to the building. The ample glazing on the south facade favor the heat gain by solar irradiation and the photovoltaics on the roof generate electricity and give the building its silhouette.