After 17 years, Javier Sáenz de Oiza's BBVA Tower, is proclaimed BIC

17 years ago on March 6, 2000, the same year of the death of its author, it was announced the imminent declaration of BIC of the emblematic tower of BBVA designed by Fco. Javier Sáenz de Oiza. The proposal arrived almost hidden behind the fear of its demolition and having as reference the demolition of the building of the "Pagoda" of Miguel Fisac. It was not so fast and has taken a lot more than desirable, but finally, yesterday was confirmed by Paloma Sobrini the statement of the building as BIC, Bien de Interés Cultural, one of the maximum urban qualifications that can receive a building for its protection and conservation.

Torre BBVA, originally Bank of Bilbao. Pº de la Castellana, 79 and 81, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza. Photograph by Xauxa Håkan Svensson.

With 107 meters of height, 37 floors and little more than 36 years (the project was built between 1978 and 1981), the current tower, designed by Fco Javier Sáenz de Oiza, was initially known as the tower of Banco Bilbao, through BBV and BBVA. Now, after its sale and a rather respectful remodeling realized by the study of Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos, happens to be well-known like Castellana 81, is a reference of the architecture of the XX century in Madrid and Spain, the tower rises in one of the Corners of the Castellana, in the block known as AZCA, an area with shopping centers and offices where it was tried to emulate the modernity image of American cities in the 1970s.

The environment affected by the BIC declaration covers an area of 3.97 hectares, also covering the perimeter road of Paseo de la Castellana, some interior streets of the AZCA complex and a series of parcels whose modification could affect the contemplation of the BIC, whose exterior has remained unchanged, except in corporate logos as I mentioned earlier.

The project was launched by Banco Bilbao to create its new headquarters in Madrid, a modern financial district in the capital of the same level as that proposed in other European capitals. The formula chosen was to start with a restricted competition. To this contest were invited architects such as Corrales and Molezún, Antonio Bonet, the team of Rafael de La-Hoz Arderius, Gerardo Olivares and José Chastang, Miró and Fco Javier Sáenz de Oiza.

The project would be win by Oiza. The young architects or students Francisco Alonso, Javier Azofra, Alfonso Valdés, José Carlos Velasco and Javier Vellés collaborated with Oíza in the competition for this project. After winning the contest, in 1972 Oiza renewed completely almost of his collaborators, but that is a little known history, that some day I will count.

The situation of the plot chosen for the competition had advantages and disadvantages. Its visibility turns the tower in the entrance from the Castellana to the Azca complex, an indisputable referent on the most important road axis within the city, La Castellana. One of the major technical difficulties for its execution was the fact that it was built on the tunnel of the railroad that runs through "La Castellana", which forced to the project team to have a damped foundation. The design and calculation of the structure counted with the collaboration of engineers Carlos Fernández Casado, Javier Manterola and Leonardo Fernández Troyano.

Structure

The structural solution has two large "cores" of concrete - located on both sides of the train tunnels - through which the loads of the structure are transmitted to the ground and through which the facilities and communications conduits run. The central frame supports six prestressed concrete platforms and each one supports five floors of metal structure, in total 37 plants, including installations plants. Of them, every five plants, depart strong cantilevers and slabs, on which, by means of metallic pillars , The technical plants are raised. This structural arrangement is reflected in its façades, from the outside.

Façade system

The façade is independent of the structure, and is realized with a curtain wall in "rusty" steel (a material that oxidizes on its outer face, while protecting itself against atmospheric corrosion), the façade is marked with unique maintenance walkways that run all the perimeter of the tower in each one of the levels, this elements characterize the exterior image of the building. The facade is finished with bronze tinted windows, aluminum carpentry that is hidden by the steel plates that are screwed to the profiles (in the current reform even new bronze screws have been made to replace the worn ones).

Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza in his study

Detail. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza.

Sketchs. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza.

Ground floor plan. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza.

Floor offices type, without occupation and with a furniture proposal.

Tower section, competition. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza.

Corner detail. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza.

View of the tower from inside Azca. Azca complex. Photography © Jesús Arenas

Hall. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza. Remodeling by Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos. Photograph © Imagen Subliminal. Image courtesy of Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos

Office level after remodeling. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza. Remodeling by Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos. Photograph © Imagen Subliminal. Image courtesy of Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos

Detail. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza. Remodeling by Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos. Photograph © Imagen Subliminal. Image courtesy of Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos

Entrance, overview from the hall. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza. Remodeling by Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos. Photograph © Imagen Subliminal. Image courtesy of Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos

Mies Barcelona chair. Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain. By Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza. Remodeling by Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos. Photograph © Imagen Subliminal. Image courtesy of Ruíz Barbarín Arquitectos

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More information

Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza

Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza. (Cáseda, 12 October 1918 - Madrid, 18 July 2000) was a Spanish architect and influential practitioner of the modernist movement in Spain. He studied architecture in Madrid. After a study trip to the United States, in 1949 he returned to Madrid where he started teaching at the School of Architecture, later becoming its director. Among the numerous awards he received in Spain are the National Architecture Award (1954), the Gold Medal for Architecture (1989) and the Prince of Asturias Award (1993). Sáenz is considered to be one of the most influential Spanish architects during the second half of the 20th century. He died of cancer in 2000.

One of his most notable projects was the Torres Blancas high-rise apartment and office building in Madrid. With a height of 71 metres, it was built between 1964 and 1969. The façade consists of cylindrical volumes crowned by round overhanging balconies. Other notable projects include the Arantzazu Basilica in Oñati, the Torre Triana administrative building in Seville, the Spanish embassy in Brussels, the Public University of Navarra in Pamplona, the remodelling of an old palace in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, into the Atlantic Centre of Modern Art, and the Banco de Bilbao Tower in Madrid.

JOSÉ JUAN BARBA

José Juan Barba (1964). Architect from the Madrid School of Architecture (ETSAM) in 1991. He received his PhD in Architecture from ETSAM in 2004, graduating summa Cum laude with the doctoral thesis "Inventions: New York vs. Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, Piranesi." In 1991, he received a Special Mention in the Spanish National Graduation Awards. Until 1997, he worked as an advisor to several NGOs. In 1992, he founded his architectural practice in Madrid (www.josejuanbarba.com).

He is an architectural critic and, since 1998, Editor-in-Chief of the internationally acclaimed bilingual architecture journal METALOCUS (Spanish/English), recipient of several national and international awards.

Barba is an Associate Professor at the University of Alcalá and a member of several research groups. He has been invited to participate in numerous international forums on architecture and urbanism, including the II Forum of Mexican World Heritage Cities, Urban Development, History and Modernity, organized by the Pan-American Committee for Urban Development and Historical Heritage; the World Urban Development Forum (FMDU), held in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico; and the International Conference on Architecture and Urbanism from the Perspective of Women Architects. He has also been invited as lecturer and guest critic at numerous national and international institutions, including the National Building Museum, Roma Tre University, Politecnico di Milano, University of Genoa, Université Pierre Mendès France Grenoble, the Madrid and Barcelona Schools of Architecture, National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Faculty of Architecture in Montevideo, the Schools of Architecture of Medellín and Ecuador, Universidad Iberoamericana, IE University, as well as the Schools of Architecture of Zaragoza, Valladolid, Málaga, Granada, Seville, and A Coruña, among others.

He has extensive professional experience in architecture, urbanism, landscape intervention, and territorial regeneration. His work has received numerous awards, including First Prize in the “Gran Vía Posible” competition for Delirious Gran Vía, Madrid; recognition for the Rivers Interpretation Centre in Zamora, awarded and exhibited at the World Architecture Festival 2008; and recognition for the Santa Bárbara Park project in Toledo. He was also awarded the Erich Degner Prize for Architecture (1995), promoted by the BBVA Foundation. His project for a Day Centre for the Elderly was included in Volume 3 of the Madrid Architecture Guide published by the Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM) in 2007. His work has been widely published in national and international books and journals.

He served as Maître de Conférences at the Institut d’Urbanisme de Grenoble, Université Pierre Mendès France Grenoble, during the 2013–14 academic year, following his appointment through a European open competition. His work has been published internationally. He regularly serves on academic and professional juries, including the editorial competition jury for the journal Quaderns (2011), the selection committee for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Awards (2007–present), and the jury panels for EUROPAN 13 (2015–16) and TRANSFER, Zurich (2019). He was also invited to participate in the Biennale di Venezia 2016 as part of the exhibition Spaces of Exception / Spazi d’Eccezione.

He has authored several books, including "The Dark Line. michele&miquel, dA Vision Design" (2024), "CONGRESO ANYWAY. La ciudad de las ciudades" (2020), "#Positions" (2016), and "Inventions: New York vs. Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, Piranesi" (2015). He has also contributed to publications such as "Espacio público Gran Vía. La Ciudad del Turismo" (2020), "Spaces of Exception / Spazi d’Eccezione" (2016), "La manzana de la discordia" (2015), and "Contemporary Japanese Architecture: New Territories" (2015), as well as chapters in numerous books, including "Women Architects: A Professional Challenge" (2009), "21st Century Architectures" (2007), "Ruta de la Plata, New Conquerors of Space" (2019), and "The City of Tourism" (2020).

Selected awards include:

• “SANTIAGO AMÓN” AWARD, award for the promotion of architecture, COAM Madrid, 2000.
• “PANAYIOTI MIXELI AWARD,” SADAS-PEA, award for the promotion of architecture, Athens, 2005.
• “PIERRE VAGO” ICAC. International Committee of Art Critics Award, London, 2005.
• FAD Award 07, Ephemeral Interventions, First Prize, M.C. Escher Exhibition, Arquin-FAD, Barcelona, 2007.
• World Architecture Festival, Center for Research and Interpretation of the Rivers, Tera, Esla, and Órbigo, Finalist, Barcelona, 2008.
• Gran Vía Posible, First Prize, Delirious Gran Vía, Madrid, 2010.
• Reform of the Río Segura Surroundings, Award, Murcia, 2010.

Published on: May 5, 2017

Cite:

metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA

"After 17 years, Javier Sáenz de Oiza's BBVA Tower, is proclaimed BIC" METALOCUS. Accessed

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