centre de cultura activa : bcn

This project proposes the construction of a cultural center within ‘Plaça dels Pexios.’ A small, currently unoccupied, plaza in the Gothic District of Barcelona. The presence of the Roman aqueduct along the east party wall plays a critical roll both as a object of physical prominence and conceptual interrelation for the development of this project. The demolition of the building which once occupied the site lead not only to the discovery of these five arches from the Roman aqueduct but also exposed a cross-section documenting the complex evolution of the urban fabric of Barcelona. When examining this cross-section we find evidence of a number of constructions and re-constructions coinciding with the development and evolution of the urban condition. What this cross-section demonstrates most prominently is that each of these redefinitions was carried out as an extension of its previous context, in this case literally constructing several vertical extensions to the building on top of the structure that existed there before. It is in this vein of progression that this project was generated. While a major driving force of this project is integration into the current context, the project also aims redefine the current condition to provide a contemporary public plaza space closely integrated with the architecture.