Castelar Building by Rafael de la Hoz + Gerardo Olivares
24/09/2019.
Open House Madrid 2019 [MAD] Spain 28.09>29.09.2019
metalocus, RAMIRO PÉREZ TOLEDO
metalocus, RAMIRO PÉREZ TOLEDO
Located in Madrid's Emilio Castelar square, the Castelar Building (1986) was designed by architects Rafael de La-Hoz Arderius and Gerardo Olivares. Today, it is owned by Mutua Madrileña and is home to Pérez-Llorca. Its rehabilitation has been carried out recently by the author's son Rafael de La-Hoz Castanys, who defines the building as 'a structural challenge in concrete and stone'.
It is one of the buildings open to the public during the Madrid Open House 2019.
It is one of the buildings open to the public during the Madrid Open House 2019.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image courtesy of Perez-Llorca.
Exterior view. Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz. Photograph © courtesy of Rafael de La-Hoz Arquitectos.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image courtesy of Perez-Llorca.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image courtesy of Perez-Llorca.
Interior view. Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz. Photograph © courtesy of Rafael de La-Hoz Arquitectos.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image courtesy of Perez-Llorca.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image courtesy of Perez-Llorca.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image courtesy of Perez-Llorca.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image courtesy of Perez-Llorca.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image courtesy of Perez-Llorca.
Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares. Image CC BY-SA 3.0
Foundation plan and section. Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares.
Photographs and section. Edificio Castelar by Rafael de La-Hoz and Gerardo Olivares.
The Castelar Building by Rafael de La-Hoz Arderius and Gerardo Olivares, originally build between 1977 and 1983, was renovated by the author's son, Rafael de La-Hoz Castanys in 2011.
It presents some interesting features that make it unique among modern buildings in Madrid. Its davit structure clears the plan from pillars and services, and its double glass skin helps with climate control. The building connects to the street though a travertine plinth, and carved in it, a tall stone entrance hall iluminated from a large skylight above leads us inside.
Description of project by Rafael de La-Hoz Castanys
20 years after being built, the Castelar Building has required a reform to update its facilities, optimizing the use of offices, adapting at the same time to the regulations in force, basically the New Technical Building Code.
Due to its location within the Historic Complex of Madrid, and since the techniques used were absolutely innovative for its time, such as the use of glass as a climate control instrument or the unique structural approach (suspended, eccentric and davit type structure), the Castelar building is considered an outstanding work of Mr. Rafael de La-Hoz Arderius, Architecture Gold Medal in the year 2000.
The nucleus of vertical communications leaves its usual position in this type of towers to be placed outside and take the form of a davit to structurally suspend the built volume. The plan is thus free of pillars and services, and additionally the volume appears weightless as a glass prism floating on the basement body.
Innovatively, this volume is also covered with a double matt glass wall that, due to the counter-greenhouse effect, solves the curtain walls' insolation problems, accentuates the light transparency of the tower and contributes to its perception as a mass that does not weigh.
More information
Architects
Rafael de La-Hoz Arderius and Gerardo Olivares. Remodeling.- Rafael de La-Hoz Castanys
Client
Mutua Madrileña (Remodeling)
Area
14,243 m²
Dates
Project.- 1975. Construction.- 1977-1983. Remodeling.- 2010-2011.
Location
Paseo de la Castellana, 50. Madrid, Spain.
Rafael de la Hoz Arderius
Rafael de La-Hoz Arderius (Madrid, October 9, 1924 - Madrid, June 13, 2000)
He obtained the degree of architect at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid in 1951, and in 1955 completed his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1971 he created and promoted the realization of the Building Technological Norms. From 1981 to 1985 he presided the International Union of Architects. In 1990 he was elected member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.
Throughout his professional career he obtained outstanding awards as the National Architecture Prize, in 1956, for the Aquinas College; the VI Antonio Camuñas Architecture Award, in 1995 and, in the year 2000, the Architecture Gold Medal.
Towards the mid-sixties, his Cordoba studio works throughout Andalusia with projects such as the El Águila brewery building, Córdoba, the Torremolinos Congress Palace, the Provincial Hospital of Córdoba, the headquarters of the Medical Association of Seville or the Teresianas school of Córdoba. In the seventies, and already in Madrid, he planned the extension of the Ministry of the Navy and the Castelar Building, at Paseo de la Castellana 50.
He obtained the degree of architect at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid in 1951, and in 1955 completed his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1971 he created and promoted the realization of the Building Technological Norms. From 1981 to 1985 he presided the International Union of Architects. In 1990 he was elected member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.
Throughout his professional career he obtained outstanding awards as the National Architecture Prize, in 1956, for the Aquinas College; the VI Antonio Camuñas Architecture Award, in 1995 and, in the year 2000, the Architecture Gold Medal.
Towards the mid-sixties, his Cordoba studio works throughout Andalusia with projects such as the El Águila brewery building, Córdoba, the Torremolinos Congress Palace, the Provincial Hospital of Córdoba, the headquarters of the Medical Association of Seville or the Teresianas school of Córdoba. In the seventies, and already in Madrid, he planned the extension of the Ministry of the Navy and the Castelar Building, at Paseo de la Castellana 50.
RAFAEL DE LA HOZ
The architect Rafael de La-Hoz, born in Córdoba (Spain), directs his own architecture studio and participates in urban planning projects and the construction of architectural complexes in Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Rumania, Hungary, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, many of which are the fruit of international architecture competitions.
His most emblematic projects include: the Repsol Campus in Méndez Álvaro (recently in receipt of LEED Platinum Certification, awarded to very few buildings in the world); the Rey Juan Carlos Hospital in Móstoles; Distrito C of Telefónica in Las Tablas; the Headquarters of Endesa; the ‘Pórtico’ building (award-winner as one of the best buildings in the world); the Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce; the Rafael del Pino Auditorium –alongside the Paseo de la Castellana- and the Retiro Municipal Assembly building, included in the Daoíz y Verlarde complex of former barracks and an award-winner for its ‘technological innovation’.
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