CaixaForum Zaragoza

In 2003, the old El Portillo railway station was moved to the western part of the city, leaving a large open space between the old and the new part. The City Council's urban planning decided to define this space as an urban park containing a series of facilities, with the aim of serving as a connecting element between this new area and the already consolidated part of the city. In this context, the City Council and the la Caixa Foundation reached an agreement to create the CaixaForum Zaragoza, which would be the first building of this transformation and would become the dynamising element of a large group of urban elements, and the gateway to the new park.

It is in this context that we began the project, posing two challenges: first, to design a building that contributes to shaping the city, both for its uniqueness - which allows it to be understood as an element of reference and identification - and for the public spaces it generates; second, to design a building that, at the same time, makes us feel that we are part of the city when we are inside it. We solve these two challenges by raising the levels of the pavilions. This frees up the ground floor, where the most open and transparent spaces are located: the foyer and the bookshop. Our aim is to create public spaces, to make the park extend into the city by passing under the building, a space that is illuminated at night with drawings obtained by perforating the sheet metal. The two suspended rooms face each other at different levels so that the visitor leaving one room has a view of the city below from the other room. We believe that decompression and relaxation zones are needed between the two exhibition halls. To this end, the two pavilions are connected by escalators, offering a route that allows visitors to enjoy the distant views. The cafeteria and restaurant are located at the top of the building overlooking the city. In front of them, and thanks to the different levels between pavilions, there is a terrace-bar which, in line with the interior restaurant, allows you to enjoy fantastic views of the Ebro River and the Zaragoza Water Expo.

Thanks to its unique and feasible structure, the project appears as a sculptural element in the middle of the park. In this way, the structure resolves the complexity of the programme and becomes, at the same time, its expression. A complex and firm structure, but nevertheless essential: a play of balance between the concrete structures emerging from the earth and the steel trusses suspended over the public space.

The building is designed according to the principles of maximum energy efficiency: natural lighting in the interior spaces, double skin façade, solar protection and efficient wiring. As a result, the building has obtained the highest energy efficiency certification within its typology.