"The coherence of what was proposed by the American architect and what was built is, in our opinion, unquestionable and makes explicit the position of the architect regarding architecture in his cultural commitment. In this sense, we say that architecture can be understood as a problem of representation of space or as a problem of construction of space."
Andrés Perea, Elena Suárez and Rafael Torrelo.
Fontán building by Andrés Perea, Elena Suárez, Rafael Torrelo. Photograph by Ana Amado.
The first proclamation is being given to Fontan Building because demonstrates a combination of the qualities of innovation, talent, vision and commitment that can produce consistent and significant contributions to architecture, society and the environment.
Following the three fundamental criteria set out in the declaration of intent for the presentation of the METALOCUS 2022 Building of the Year, the Fontán building shows, represents and contains the following aspects:
One of the main innovations of the Fontán is its commitment to people, overcoming the classic definitions of the early twentieth century, of volumes under the sun, to change and put people at the centre of its action. El Fontán understands architecture not as a set of volumes that contain space, but as the construction of places in which people interact with space and with other people.
Fontán grew up in the context of an environment built by a previous project, which raised a completely new artificial geography that denied and reinterpreted Mount Gaiás, in Santiago de Compostela. Faced with this denial of the place, this walling of the architecture that is recreated in its abstraction, the position of the Fontán is just the opposite or much more.
The Fontán's innovation and its usefulness lie not only in generating places thanks to having people at the centre of its action but also because of what is most interesting and innovative: the building itself builds a place by interacting with the Galician landscape, introducing it inside, showing its occupants that they are not in a "no place", and making visible the changes from outside to inside, of the light, of the movement of the mist, of their open gaze towards the West, towards the Atlantic. In this sense, the Fontán recognizes and admires the Galician landscape and its climate.
Fontán is not a shapes model to save the world, it is a model for its attitude, for being empathic and respectful of the place, for building a porous, permeable architecture that is considerate of users and the environment.
Fontán building by Andrés Perea, Elena Suárez, Rafael Torrelo. Photograph by Ana Amado.
Fontán building by Andrés Perea, Elena Suárez, Rafael Torrelo. Photograph by Ana Amado.
"Commitment to ecology understood as the science that studies the relationship of living beings with each other and with the environment, this project is defined as radically ecological."
"There is no worker who does not enjoy a visual relationship with the environment towards scenarios of the highest landscape quality. The optimal comfort features (acoustic, thermal, lighting, anthropometric...) exceed the determinations of the regulations in this regard."
"There is no worker who does not enjoy a visual relationship with the environment towards scenarios of the highest landscape quality. The optimal comfort features (acoustic, thermal, lighting, anthropometric...) exceed the determinations of the regulations in this regard."
Andrés Perea, Elena Suárez and Rafael Torrelo.
The beauty of the Fontán lies in its absence of shape beauty and is based on constructive rigour, in its structural relationship with the pre-existence, in its interior landscapes, in its clear functional organization, in the attention to detail, in its stairs, in its thin roof, in the proper use of materials and again in its relationship with the context, with the environment.
