Pavilion and garden at Montjuic Hill, Barcelona

Pavillon - eastern view.

Project details

• Project Name: Pavilion and garden at Montjuic Hill, Barcelona
• Client: Zhao Shi Trading sl.
• Project Type: Architecture and landscape
• Principal Designer/s: fondaRIUS architecture (Federico Calabrese)
• Design Team: Federico Calabrese/Fabio Ferone/Joana Carvalho
• Contractor/s: Milenium sa.
• Date of commencement of project: February 2006
• Date of completion of project: May 2006
• Location of site: Avenida Miramar, Montjuic, Barcelona, Spain
• Site Area: 1500 sq. mt.
• Built-up Area: 500 sq. mt.
• Cost of Construction/Execution: 500000 €

Pavillon - northern view.

Words from the Architect

Although municipal regulations make building on Montjuic - - the mountain between the city and the sea - - almost impossible, the Barcelona municipality is nonetheless keen to incorporate this green area into the city's leisure network. The only way to do so is by re-using and revitalizing existing structures in order to give new initiatives a place. A recent example is the conversion of the Miramar building. It dates from the 1970s and is a well known point of reference in the city, visible from far away.

Garden view.

The architects took into account the two completely different 'faces' of the site they had to redefine. They turned the higher panoramic level into a maritime deck with a little bar overlooking the Mediterranean and the port, while the lower area is now an intimate garden (with bamboo, of course), between the rear facade of the restaurant and the rocky 'retaining wall' of the hill.

The ambivalence of the genius loci ('high up on the mountain' or 'in the shelter of the slopes') is reflected by the tectonics of the used materials: the light steel and glass construction of the bar and the teak wood of the platform relate to the sea and the sky while the slate stone of the walls and the square platforms in the garden breathe earthly solidity.

Garden night view.

The design connects with the styling of other modern bars and restaurants in the area: eclectic and informally elegant. The detailing, though, was inspired by an older 'modern' building and another major Montjuic attraction: Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona pavilion.

Credits

• Text: Sander Laudy (A10 Review May-June 2006)
• Photographs: Martin Franchi, Federico Calabrese