Special relationship between the new and the old. CKK Jordanki by Fernando Menis
22/10/2016.
Centrum Kulturalno Kongresowe Jordanki [Torun] Poland
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
Description of project by Fernando Menis
The plot is located in a green ring around the historic city center. The building occupies half of the plot, the other half being used as a park. The lowest possible height was kept to avoid blocking the view to the river and to achieve integrate the building in the neighborhood and the natural environment. The visual effect achieved is that of a natural object, a rock.
The exterior is made of pale concrete. The cuts in the concrete shell let you glimpse the red lining of the hollows. The contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional brick is a reference to the façades of this city, an UNESCO heritage.
While the outer skin of the concert hall remains rigid, inside the building behaves like a fluid. The program is characterized by great flexibility to the extent that a building, which, according to the brief, was meant to be only a concert hall, ended up being a space for all kinds of concerts and events within the same budget.
The auditorium can be easily adapted to different audiences, it may increase or decrease its capacity like a sponge. Thanks to its mobile roof, it can be adjusted to effectively absorb all kinds of performances from symphonic music, chamber music, to theater, opera and film.
Finally, the concert hall can be opened outwards, allowing unite the interior and exterior space to accommodate outdoor performances or other large events.
Moving through the building is fluid and intuitive, you could say that the building behaves like a door as it allows users to pass through it and reach the plaza, which becomes the heart of the building.
The picado (chooping) is all over. It is an innovative technique, based on an original idea by Fernando Menis, consisting of mixing concrete with other materials and break i aftrwards.
In addition to achieving a strong expression, the picado helps achieving excellent acoustics. The first time Menis used the picado, was has for Magma Art and Congress (Tenerife, Canary Islands, 2005). This new technique has been certified by the Institute of Building Research from Spain and Poland, respectively.
Fernando Menis, (1951,Tenerife island, Spain). Throughout his 40 years professional career, Menis has achieved an architectural production that includes works of various scales and typologies, as well as long-term research projects. An expert in designing concert halls and auditoriums, he is internationally recognized and awarded for conceiving an innovative variable acoustics system for the CKK Jordanki Concert Hall (2015, Poland).
Among the projects completed, alone and in co-authorship: The Holy Redeemer of Las Chumberas Church and Community Centre (2021), El Tanque Cultural Space Public Garden (2021), CKK "Jordanki" Concert and Conventions Hall, in Poland (2015) , Plaza Bürchen in Switzerland (2015), Insular Athletics Stadium (2007), Magma Arte & Congresos (2007), Floating pool in the Spree River of Berlin (2004) and the Presidency of the Canary Islands Government in Tenerife (2000). Among the ongoing projects, the following stand out: the Adaptive Reuse of the Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park as the Rodin Museum Tenerife, the Boa Vista Masterplan, the Pájara Conventions and Concert Hall in Fuerteventura, the Rehabilitation of the Cultural Center in La Guancha, the Rehabilitation of the Teobaldo Power Performative Arts Hall in La Orotava.
Distinguished on 10 occasions with the Manuel de Oráa Canary Islands Architecture Prize, Menis also won: the Prize for the Best Cultural Building in Poland 2015 from the National Council of Architects of Poland; the CEMEX Award for Universal Accessibility 2016; the 2016 Taipei Design Award to the Best Public Building; the Stone Award at the VIII International Stone Architecture Award 2005; and the Prize of the V Spanish Biennial of Architecture 1998, among others. Architect Doctor from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, his works have been shown in several editions of the Venice Architecture Biennale, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, at the Aedes Berlin gallery and the GA gallery in Tokyo. The Holy Redeemer Church of Las Chumberas is part of the permanent collection of the MoMA Museum of Modern Art in New York.