HINTS:
The place of action lays in the border of Figueres' periphery. Measures are taken from localization and association of the products of the activities that take place there; of their leftovers. Sorting out traces in order to locate activities.
STRATEGY:
Superposing the already localized activities reveals a topographical map, where the highest point is the place with the highest activity, the place where the project develops. Its slopes are the product of the same exercise. Conscience, action, manipulation, construction and architecture are the five degrees in which the exercise will develop. The influence of the Laboratory should transcend its physical limits.
MORPHOGENESIS:
The building will integrate different programs, the same way it happens in the social context, and The Plaza will be the place where this programs converge. This Plaza is the starting point; the building, its outline and the circle are the geometry that allows an homogeneous perimeter. The different programs will generate in the centre, weaving with each other towards the exterior. Linear uses, transversal relations. Generating the circle from tangencies.
LOCALIZATION:
A Plaza for the city, a door for the castle. Stuck to Sant Ferran's Castle, the Laboratory bombs the city walls to open a great door to the ditch and hand it out to the city.
PROGRAM:
The Laboratory, or Intergenerational Centre, is a mixture of uses under the roof of one institution, sharing installations and uses for suitable activities. Every activity will be developed independently, ensuring security and autonomy. Nevertheless, places of friction between programs will be encouraged, bridge zones, 'bypass' spaces to promote the relation among peripherics, among users.
FEELING:
The familiar in the vernacular. Round arches and traditional vaults to provide familiar solutions.
CONSTRUCTION:
A snapshot of an everyday construction as a goal. Common, simple systems to satisfy basic requirements: economy, isolation, sealing and solar protection. Concrete, ceramics and scaffoldings. Everyday things.