Page 140 - AIT0518_E-Paper

ÖFFENTLICHE BAUTEN • PUBLIC BUILDINGS INNERE WERTE • INNER VALUES

T his much freedom is something the former inmates could only dream of! Today,
the former prison yard of the jail in Jugo is an attractive, publicly accessible
square which is open to the streets. The small-segmented pavement of the courtyard
continues in the street space. The narrow cells where several prisoners at the same
time were forced to live their sad existence were transformed into exhibition cabi-
nets. On three levels, these cells are arranged in a semicircle around a formally gloo-
my inner courtyard which is light-flooded today. The Galician architects revealed
valuable architectural relicts. Filigree, cast-iron supports, stairs and pergolas are
today in strong contrast to the impenetrable masonry. Photographs of the building
stock – before the restoration – show how immense the expenditure of the renovati-
on was. Creus & Carrasco Arquitectos realized the strength of the former functional
building and converted it into a shiny white culture complex with exhibition- and
seminar rooms, workshops, a library, an auditorium with 140 seats as well as a café
with a roof terrace. The prison originally constructed extra muros, meaning outside
of the city walls, has been turned into an attractive venue for culture. What is per-
ceptible to this day is a kind of contrariness in the spaces – in part frighteningly nar-
row, in part high and expansive. Newly produced openings and visual axes create
Das Eingangsgebäude verfügt über ein Café mit Dachterrasse, ... • The entrance building has a café with a ... spatial references and make it easier to get one’s bearings. Precise as to the details
and minimalist in the overall appearance is how the new exhibition- and cultural
centre of the town looks which is located almost 50 kilometres south of Bilbao.
Natural stone frames the window- and door reveals and emphasizes ledges, floor
slabs, building corners and eaves in an archaic looking way. Inside and outside,
these elements stand out from the white of the walls which looks almost cloistral.
The three-part complex has two construction parts in the prison yard. In the main
building with the semicircle of the cells is a block-shaped part, the former service
section. A second, the former judicial section, docks onto the prison wall in the
direction of the old town. The main entrance is now in this latter section. The details
of the wooden entrance portal alone show the meticulous planning by the architects.
Creus & Carrasco Arquitectos used materials as sparely as generously. This means
that the range of materials is strictly limited to just a few but these are used in such
a way that they dominate the spaces: The foyer level is completely covered in white-
marbled stone. Above it are two completely wood-panelled levels: the library and
the auditorium. The effect of this radical approach is enormous. At the very top, the
existing building stock had a glass level with a cafeteria added where both materials
are found again. From up here, there is a wide view of the city. To the prisoners of
the Cárcere, this had been denied all their lives.
... weiß marmorierter Stein prägt das Foyer, ... • ... roof terrace, white-marbled stone characterizes the foyer, ...
... Holz hüllt die darüber liegende Bibliothek ein. • ... wood panels the library situated above it.

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Grundriss Erdgeschoss • Ground floor plan 1

140 • AIT 5.2018