This unique building will be installed until December, an open and ductile space for lovers of design and light, day and night.
The administrators of the World Design Organization decided to choose Valencia as the 2022 world design headquarters. The city has gotten down to work and has a repertoire of activities that, as the classic would say, «takes away the feeling.» Now, none is comparable to the execution of another Agora, very different from the one we know.
Last June, the Àgora València opened its doors, the nerve center and main point of reference for the international event that places Valencia as World Design Capital 2022. It is located in the Town Hall Square and will be open until December. If you haven’t traveled there yet, you already have a perfect excuse.
The Agora of Valencia
Obviously, no matter how eager we are to break with the established, respect must be one of the main tools in architecture, hence this action has a first singular character: temporality. The Agora is a construction with a dismantling date, which has meant that its elements have been designed to be easily assembled and dismantled.
Another feature that draws powerful attention is its spectacular lack of surround. That is, air and light filter through the multiple holes that are kept open in the roof and walls, allowing a large covered, but uncovered, plaza. An ideal space for the Mediterranean climate and that facilitates entry and exit from the building in multiple places.
A 350 square meter pavilion
The project was designed by the architect Miguel Arraiz and was supported by the Arqueha Arquitectura y Urbanismo studio for the implementation and execution of the agora. According to professionals, the space is based on a fusion of tradition and avant-garde, using craftsmanship and industry in equal parts. All to create an empty property, full of air, and that allows a varied use.
The pavilion occupies a space of 350 square meters and is made up of a structure measuring 24 meters long by 10 meters wide and 9 meters high, spread over three floors. But, if you’ve noticed, 24 times 10 is 240 square meters, so… where are the other 110?
It is built with MDI parts
At this moment we introduce you to the star companies of this construction: Inalco and Wandegar, who have made the execution of the pavilion possible with their materials and labor. The companies developed the Arranz design by placing MDI parts, a cutting-edge material developed by Inalco, with characteristics that make it environmentally desirable.
For example, MDI reduces water consumption by 70% during manufacturing. According to the company, it also reduces CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by 90% and, in addition, uses recycled materials by up to 50%. However, the main application it offers in the agora is protection from the outside. The design places plates of this material perpendicular to the façade so that it filters the light according to the location of the sun. These platelets are supported thanks to the framework devised by Wandegar.
The roof of the Agora simulates the waves of the Mediterranean
But… what about the cover? how is it executed? Well, the roof has a reticular framework whose mission is to brace the rest of the building and support a very unique roof, formed by pieces of bracing that simulate waves, in clear reference to the Mediterranean. This ceiling was executed by Manolo García, a fallero artist and expert carpenter.
Now, if you think that the envelope does not protect against inclement weather, you are wrong, since climatological configurations such as air movement or solar temperatures have been taken into account in the design. In this way, the feeling of comfort inside the receptacle is quite notable, something to which the materials described and their location contribute, lowering the temperature by up to 10 degrees Celsius.
The Agora, the new must-see in Valencia
In case this didn’t seem enough to you, the pavilion becomes a light show at night thanks to the installation created by the Radiante Creative Studio, who aim to highlight the architecture of the space, in addition to inviting citizens to abstract themselves from their routines. By the way, its lights are graduated according to the light intensity of the night, avoiding excessive energy expenditure.
If with these images and this description you don’t feel like visiting the Town Hall Square in the municipality of Valencia, I can tell you that, surely, you have already been or are there. By the way, I haven’t been able to find out how to grow from 240 square meters to 350, so I make a plea. Let’s see who can answer me!!