With a view to the past. ALEMANYS 5 by Anna Noguera
08/05/2019.
[Barri Vell - Girona] Spain
metalocus, EDWIN GUAILLA
metalocus, EDWIN GUAILLA
The renovation of the house Alemanys 5, located in the oldest part of the Barri Vell of Girona, the work of Anna Noguera, is surrounded by old houses before the sixteenth century, so with the subtlety of the intervention, which is resolved with few materials: stone, wood, steel and concrete, used in their colors and natural textures, the house returns to the austerity of past times.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera. Photograph by Enric Duch.
Floors. Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera.
Elevation and Sections. Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera.
Anna Noguera achieves that the new performances dialogue with the old looking for the compromise between the past and the present times. The natural light inputs shape the volumes and enhance the fluidity of the spaces, in the set, which consists of a built-up body and a side garden with a street facade.
Description of project by Anna Noguera
The Alemanys 5 house is situated in the oldest part of Girona’s old district. Although it is difficult to determine the age of the building structures, the most important alteration dates from the sixteenth century.
The reform has been approached as a search for the most intrinsic characteristics of the original construction, and the building has been freed of additions and recent reforms, interpreting the old elements not so much through an historical perspective as through their architectural qualities.
The minimalism of the intervention suggests the austerity of past times. The new work dialogues with the old. The entry of natural light helps shape the volumes and emphasises the fluidity of the spaces. The refurbishment is resolved with very few materials: stone, wood, steel and concrete, used in their natural colours and textures.
The architectural unit consists of the body of the building and a side garden fronting onto the street. The building has two arms, the first one aligned with the street and the other with the thick interior wall. The staircase, positioned in the space in between these two bodies, acts as a pivot point from which the rest of the layout is generated.
The garden, enclosed by high stone walls, has been formalised into three consecutive planes that go from hardest to softest: concrete, lawn and water. The zone contiguous to the house is in planed concrete. The plane of lawn floats above the water of the pool. It is like a dark reservoir that overflows and disappears, reflecting the neighbouring wall.
More information
Architect
Anna Noguera
Collaborators
Architectural engineer.- Jaume Vila Grabuleda. Architectural engineer.- Ingrid Artigas Staark. Contractor.- Caiba S.A. Project development.- August Fabregat Güell. Plumbing- electrical –mechanical.- Josep Maria Canals. Carpenter.- Fusteria Serra. Blacksmith.- Ferros Girona Cabratosa. Lighting.- Susaeta Iluminacion. Pool.- Atipic. Kitchens.- Albert Aubach. Furniture.- Pabordia
Area
594 m²
Dates
Construction time frame.- 2006-2009
Location
Dels Alemanys street 5. 17004 Girona. Spain
Anna Noguera
Anna Noguera (born in Girona in 1961) graduated as an architect from ETSAB in 1987 and initially practiced with several institutional architectural offices in cities such as Prague, Porto Alegre, Paris and Barcelona, including a notable collaboration between 1988 and 1991 in the office of J. A. Elias Torres and Martinez Lapeña, Barcelona.
In 1992 she founded her own studio, and between 1996 and 2007 worked in partnership with Isabel Bennasar, carrying out numerous projects for the public sector, including social housing, educational and health facilities, as well as public spaces and landscape design. Outstanding among these was the project for the Parc del Mil.lenari in Sant Just Desvern, a finalist in the FAD’07 awards.
Anna Noguera combines her professional practice with educational activities on issues such as sustainability, health and architecture, landscape and urban planning, as well as the dissemination of architecture, through participation in exhibitions and conferences. Particularly noteworthy is her work with the cultural area of COAC, the Catalan architectural association, in Girona in the late 90s. Today she continues her professional work from her studio, working on a range of different-sized projects.
Two recent stand-out projects have been the Alemanys 5 house restoration, which was the prizewinning project in the WAN Awards as well as a finalist in the WAF and Inside Awards in 2011, and her collaboration in the field of tourism in Morocco, where she developed conceptual and preliminary designs for a sustainable tourism use for Moroccan heritage buildings.
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