PLAZA DE LA CULTURA

Scenic Urban Space

Awards and Honours 1st Prize Architecture Competition, 2014. Winner of American Architecture Prize best Urban Design, 2017. Finalist WAN Award Color in Architecture, 2016. Winner of International Loop Design Award for Urban Design, 2020.
Estatus: Built.
Project Year: 2014-2015.
Location: Talavera de la Reina, Spain.
Area: 2.100 m2
Design: OOIIO Architecture
Team:
–Competition: Joaquín Millán Villamuelas, Magdalena Polvorinos Caeiro, Gabriela Sanz.
–Project Design:Joaquín Millán Villamuelas, Magdalena Polvorinos Caeiro.
–Construction: Joaquín Millán Villamuelas, Jesús Reyes García.
Client: Council of Talavera de la Reina
Builder: Iniciativas RFL s.l.

The Square of Culture is a proposal of urban intervention which has as main objective to revitalise culturally the public space of Talavera de la Reina. We make a multiple and flexible scenic space which surrounds and delimits El Salvador square. A place you can enjoy watching a film in the summer cinema, listening to music in the open air, going to photography exhibitions, dancing in concerts and “verbenas”…

This project comes from a rigorous analyze of the public urban space in Talavera, taking into account the traffic flows, sunlight, topography and pre-existing use.

We decided to use local Talavera´s traditional pottery as the main material, as it is a product of excellent plastic qualities and deeply rooted in local culture. Usually it used with drawings and motifs from the Renaissance in small-scale objects. We propose greatly increase the size of those drawings that adorn vases and dishes up to the urban scale, showing new possibilities for this fabulous craft material.

Let’s reactivate the public space!

TRAFFIC FLOWS AND GRADIENTS

The project takes advantage of the square natural gradient to generate several open air stages and grandstands. The square pavement reaches from pedestrian zone to the road, to achieve a visually larger square and make the passer-by the real user of the public space.

SUNLIGHT AND FUNCTIONALITY

The square shaping comes from the sunlight and shadows study, with a functional objective. The children games zone with morning winter sunlight, the benches, grandstands and vegetation protected from summer sunlight.

SIGHTS AND VEGETATION

The frame-stage is placed in the most visible point of the square becoming an emblematic element of the Culture Square.
The existing vegetation is reinforced by a green slope which surrounds the main stage.

USE AND CULTURAL REACTIVATION

Current uses (church, school and commercial) are emphasised, as long as we preserve an specific area for children to play and some terraces and we create a scenic space with double stage for cultural entertainment events.
This urban auditorium will make the cultural offering of Talavera more powerful.