Ricard Viñes Square by Benedetta Tagliabue - EMBT

Here's the latest project launched by EMBT. The large green open spaces that surround the Seu Vella Cathedral and dominate the whole city are the most beautiful public areas in Lleida, and are what we chose as our reference point. The designs for the new Ricard Viñes Square must possess some of this beauty.

The focus of our proposal is to build a large green open space for a sculpture dedicated to the musician Ricard Viñes. A space full of little squares 0 5 10 cross section and green areas at a point where the city throngs with traffic and pedestrians. The maze or labyrinth provides an ancient model. The cultural meaning and interpretation of the symbol of the labyrinth run deep.

The origin of the “labyr” part of the word has to do with rocks and stone, while the “inth” comes from a Greek word meaning foundation site. Even though the precise etymology is unclear, there was a time when path mapping was used to notate dance choreography.

"We propose an open space featuring a dance floor with a labyrinthine path guiding the steps of those dancing the spring dance around the central feature - a feature that generates and guides the movement of the dance, filling the surround space with life. People and traffic will move differently in Ricard Viñes Square, where pedestrians will own the public space.

Everyone will follow the paths mapped by the dance notation, but with no overlap. Perhaps the closest reference to our design idea is Francesc Macia Square in Barcelona, in one of the busiest areas of the city, and at a key transit point in and out of the city. Other European cities are famous for the spectacular circles in their metropolises, such as the Etoile in Paris or Berlin’s Tiergarten with its famous column topped by an angel. In the UK, the architect John Wood created one of Bath’s most iconic features with the Royal Crescent whose circular green spaces control the flow, and substantially contribute to defining and propagating the city’s image. Circular spaces are not normally accessible and for this reason are often laid out as parks, regulating traffic flow and giving drivers a glimpse of the natural world.

We have designed a maze for the circular space in Calle Roure. We like incorporating the idea of a labyrinth into the idea of an entrance. The city entrance to Lleida is a new green gate. The project is made up of a circle and new square for the city"

Official name of the project.- Ricard Viñes Square
Location.- Lleida, Spain
Surface.- 9200 m²
Cost.- €3,500,000
Material.- concrete, rubber, granitic stone and grass / Bench – wood and metal frame
Project end date.- November 2010
Client.- Lleida City Hall
Name of the participating firms.-
Lights.- INCONEL - ILUCA
Metallic Structures.- CALDELSA
Pavement.- GLS, Spain, Bench (urban furniture) - MAGO
Gardening.- Vivero Paraire, Spain - Glauca, Spain
Name of the main partners.- Benedetta Tagliabue (Architect)
Chief Architects.- Josep Ustrell, Daniel Rosselló

COMPETITION
First Prize, November 2007
Collaborators.- Alessia Bettazzi, Alice Failla.
3D.- Giuseppe Maria Fanara.

PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2007
Chief Architect.- Josep Ustrell
Collaborators.- Alessia Bettazzi, Ivan Grippaldi, Jose Manuel López Ujaque
Urban furniture.- Mireia Soriano Alfara
3D.- Armando Arteaga, Aylin Alfaro Montoya
Model.- Gabriele Rotelli, Vanessa Tanguy, Barbara Asnaghi Gordillo

EXECUTIVE PROJECT 2008-2010
Chief Architect.- Josep Ustrell, Daniel Rossello
Collaborators.- Ivan Grippaldi, Jose Manuel López Ujaque, Susana Osés Lana, Verena Vogler, Silvia Cama, Georgina Monica Lalli, Nataly Raab.
Model.- Gabriele Rotelli, Ginette Gotti Carvajal

WORKS 2009-2010
Chief Architect.- Josep Ustrell, Daniel Rosselló
Collaborators.- Susana Oses Lana, Francesca Origa, Francesc Mercadal, Ana Isabel Ferreira, Jack O’Kelly, Belén Callejas, Cinzia Oggianu

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Ground Floor. Ricard Viñes Square by Benedetta Tagliabue - EMBT.

Details. Ricard Viñes Square by Benedetta Tagliabue - EMBT.

Sections. Ricard Viñes Square by Benedetta Tagliabue - EMBT.

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Benedetta Tagliabue

Benedetta Tagliabue was born in Milan (June 24, 1963) and graduated from the University of Venice in 1989. In 1991 she joined Enric Miralles’ studio eventually becoming a partner. Her work with Miralles, whom she married, includes several high-profile buildings and projects in Barcelona: Parque Diagonal Mar (1997-2002), Head Office Gas Natural (1999-2006) and the Market and Quarter Santa Caterina (1996-2005), as well as projects across Europe, including the School of Music in Hamburg (1997-2000) and the City Hall in Utrecht (1996-2000).

In 1998 the partnership won the competition to design the new Scottish Parliament building. Despite Miralles’ premature death in 2000, Tagliabue took leadership of the team as joint Project Director and the Parliament was completed in 2004, winning several awards.

She won the competition for the new design of Hafencity Harbor in Hamburg, Germany, a subway train station in Naples, and the Spanish Pavilion for Expo Shanghai 2010 among others.

Today under the direction of Benedetta Tagliabue the Miralles-Tagliabue-EMBT studio works with architectural projects, open spaces, urbanism, rehabilitation and exhibitions, trying to conserve the spirit of the Spanish and Italian artisan architectural studio tradition which espouses collaboration rather than specialization.

Their architectural philosophy is dedicating special attention to context.

Benedetta has written for several architectural magazines and has taught at, amongst other places, the University of Architecture ETSAB in Barcelona. She has lectured at many international architectural Forums as, for example, the RIBA, the Architectural Association and Bartlett School in, London, the Berlage Institut in Amsterdam, and in the USA, China and South America.