Marques de Riscal wineries, La Rioja. © Carlos Gerhard Pi-Suñer.
There are no limits and as a concrete example I refer to what we've done with Dubai but nearer and more familiar projects such as Marques de Riscal winery in Rioja and the Hotel W in Barcelona are good references.
With the respect that both, Frank Gehry and Ricardo Bofill deserve, I wonder what went through their architectural minds when conceiving these two projects. Titanium geometries or "Guggenheim Museums" for any brief anywhere? A landmark in the Catalan coast which infringes building codes when Barcelona is mostly a city knit to the human scale?
Siwtch Box, Basel. © Carlos Gerhard Pi-Suñer.
Basel’s Signal Box and Dominus Winery in Napa Valley seem to have appeared on the architectural scene centuries ago ... Two projects that were conceived through a superlative understanding of the program, two solid architectural proposals enhanced by an innovative treatment of their envelopes, two buildings that are now icons. Knowing Herzog & de Meuron I could bet they were not obsessed with it; they simply opted for a bold idea and got an amazing overall result.
All this to talk about a project I have in the agenda; a project which floor plans and sections were "resolved” before my arrival to the office. The client, as if it were a fashion show, has asked to see more than ten options for the façade: view, compare, choose and buy...
The project’s objective? An "iconic" building with a sexy "skin" to act as a trigger for urban development in a new and soulless district of old Saigon.
In this game where everything seems to be possible, I have the impression of having shifted from architecture to set design.
The debate is open ...
IN TREATMENT - METALOCUS.
DIRECTOR: JOSÉ JUAN BARBA. COORDINATION: INÉS LALUETA. ORGANIZATION: INÉS LALUETA, PEDRO NAVARRO. ENGLISH VERSION: KAREN SIMPSON. GUESTS FIRST SEASON: JOSÉ JUAN BARBA, MARINA DIEZ-CASCÓN, SERGIO DIEZ-CASCÓN SOLER, LARA FERNÁNDEZ GONZÁLEZ, CARLOS GERHARD PI-SUÑER, MONTSE PLA GARCÍA-CASTANY, XAVIER NICOLAU CUYÀS, FERNANDO RIAL PONCE, VERÓNICA ROSERO.
