Superestudio decided to respect part of the memory of the place, preserving the hallmarks of the building and of the Basque architectural culture in general. From contemporary approaches it tries to maintain its spatial structure, its material quality and the exterior morphology.
Structure is made of counter-laminated wood (CLT), and works as a structural stabilizer; a large drawer that replicates the exterior morphology will be "stapled" with the exterior envelope of Durango sandstone. By means of the steel flat jambs we will sew these two systems making them work at the same time, keeping pace.
Lemoa Library and Cultural Center by Superestudio. Photograph by Fran Álvarez.
Lemoa Library and Cultural Center by Superestudio. Photograph by Fran Álvarez.
Description of project by Superestudio
The need to develop the KULTUR project arises when the Lemoa City Council and the Bishopric of Bilbao sign an agreement to be able to use a building they own (former rectory), in order to develop cultural and leisure activities in the next forty years.
Before considering and carrying out the architectural works, it necessary to be able to develop cultural and leisure activities, it was agreed to launch a design project that included the municipality and all the people who live in it. Based on the reflection and conclusions of this participatory process, specifications of the new building (and two others) will be defined, and the cultural and leisure offer of the municipality will be completely redefined.
Lemoa Library and Cultural Center by Superestudio. Photograph by Fran Álvarez.
The question we ask ourselves when resolving a program with a strong social character such as the one posed by the process, is how to build a building of the people for the people and that represents and identifies the kaleidoscopic values of an open and plural society as is the current one.
Will the new public buildings be a place for everyone, extensions of the Greek agora, open buildings, a reflection of a new modern society, which must represent the public in a town like the current one and become representations of the interesting civic and associative fabric present in LEMOA?
Can the new cultural buildings become as representative in our culture and in the image of the city as the churches were in the 19th and 20th centuries?
The idea of building a cultural building in the space previously occupied by a rectory (a building associated with the parish of Santa María) obliges us to consider respecting part of the memory of the place (preserving the hallmarks of the building to be intervened in particular and of Basque architectural culture in general), through rooting operations, relationship with the context and urban stitching, and also to preserve its spatial structure, its material quality and its exterior morphology, always from contemporary approaches.
Cross-laminated timber structure (CLT) will function as a structural stabilizer; a large drawer that replicates the exterior morphology will be "stapled" with the exterior envelope of Durango sandstone. By means of the steel flat jambs we will sew these two systems making them work at the same time, keeping pace.
Lemoa Library and Cultural Center by Superestudio. Photograph by Fran Álvarez.
At the same time, this interior enveloping system will provide the building with great warmth and comfort, by leaving its walls and ceilings bare; the structural system is not hidden, and in this case it will act as a spatial qualifier.
This bare system will force us to direct the visible installations, which we will use to color yellow, a color that will also be shown outside and that will give the building its public and unique character.
The Lemoa Library and Cultural Center (BIZKAIA) project is part of a set of three buildings proposed in the participatory process and which will be carried out by the studio over three intense years.
