designed by french architect benoit bourd and called ‘suspended block concrete art center’, this project is part of costa del sprawl competition, an initiative by estudio esse. the contest is part of a wider research project and seeks designs which encourage and facilitate cultural exchange and integration between immigrant and native communities. located in spain’s costa del sol—an area that has been permanently transformed by the construction boom of the late 20th and early 21st century and its abrupt end with the financial crisis. this has led to many abandoned structures to remain on the periphery of the sprawl as if monuments to the boom and crash.

benoit bourd costa del sprawl competition suspended blocks concrete art center designboom
interior perspective

 

 

 

for the repurposing of one of these abandoned structures, benoit bourd has proposed a ‘concrete art center’ that reveals the noble, refined and natural side that concrete can offer. this ruin, symbol of our consumer society, becomes a great asset to illustrate the material’s advantages. blocks of concrete, designed as symbolic shapes with a flexible position, are suspended on the abandoned structure, fully conserved. the whole is covered by a rigorous canopy, which creates a scoring rhythm in the façade. the idea is to introduce people to concrete, to offer them a different vision on this material, to reconcile them in a sustainable way, proving that it can be sensitive, ecological and noble.

benoit bourd costa del sprawl competition suspended blocks concrete art center designboom
existing structure 

benoit bourd costa del sprawl competition suspended blocks concrete art center designboom
conceptual axonometry

benoit bourd costa del sprawl competition suspended blocks concrete art center designboom
section 

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: juliana neira | designboom