Recovering Modernity of Sert and Clavé. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja
23/01/2022.
[Gavà] Spain
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
One of the last contests won by the architect Meritxell Inaraja, was the rehabilitation of a building that was once again special among her works, the Gavà Cooperators Union building, 5 a building that was designed in 1936 by two masters of our modernity, Josep Lluís Sert and Josep Torres Clavé.
The idea for this building was born in 1934, in the town of Gavá, -currently south of El Prat airport, in Barcelona, in a context in which groups of workers from workshops and industries joined forces to join the cooperative movement , commissioning the design to Sert and Clavé, members of the well-known GATEPAC founded in 1930.
The idea for this building was born in 1934, in the town of Gavá, -currently south of El Prat airport, in Barcelona, in a context in which groups of workers from workshops and industries joined forces to join the cooperative movement , commissioning the design to Sert and Clavé, members of the well-known GATEPAC founded in 1930.
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula.
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Urban overview. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Site plan. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Basement plan. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Ground floor plan. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
First floor plan. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Longitudinal section. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Longitudinal section. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Elevation. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Completed view in 1936. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Elevation in 1935. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Original rendering. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Ground floor plans, Original, before, after. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
First floor plans, Original, before, after. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Basement plans, Original, before, after. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
Before. Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja.
The recovery of a work by Sert and Clavé is always excellent news. For a long time, a brief visit to the works of the Modern Movement led to a double conclusion: modern architecture ages badly and the palliatives provided to save it from suffering were always insufficient.
The project carried out by Meritxell Inaraja, on this three-storey building between dividing walls, responds to the need to rehabilitate an emblematic building that was completed in 1936. The objective of the renovation has been to recover the function for which it was conceived, adapting it to current needs.
In the original project, the basement was used as a warehouse and services for members. The ground floor was used as a sales and administration space, while the upper floor was a social space with a cafeteria.
The project has paid special attention to the recovery of the main façade, with its characteristic color scheme, and the conservation of different structural elements and finishes.
At present, it has been assigned a program of multipurpose uses linked to the entrepreneurship of the young people of the city, the rehabilitation work is excellent news in the recovery of our historical and architectural memory.
The project carried out by Meritxell Inaraja, on this three-storey building between dividing walls, responds to the need to rehabilitate an emblematic building that was completed in 1936. The objective of the renovation has been to recover the function for which it was conceived, adapting it to current needs.
In the original project, the basement was used as a warehouse and services for members. The ground floor was used as a sales and administration space, while the upper floor was a social space with a cafeteria.
The project has paid special attention to the recovery of the main façade, with its characteristic color scheme, and the conservation of different structural elements and finishes.
At present, it has been assigned a program of multipurpose uses linked to the entrepreneurship of the young people of the city, the rehabilitation work is excellent news in the recovery of our historical and architectural memory.
Renovation of the Gavà Cooperators Union by Meritxell Inaraja. Photograph by Adrià Goula
Project description by Meritxell Inaraja
The Uni de Cooperadors de Gav is an emblematic building, witness of a key historical moment, which arose in 1934 from an initiative of workshop and industrial workers who joined the cooperative movement and had the vision to commission the building to the architects Josep Lluis Sert and Josep Torres Clav , members of GATCPAC, who at that time were already prominent and whose works have endured over time.
When designing this building, located on the Rambla de Gav , Sert started from the function for which it was conceived; a space that inside should promote synergies and collaboration, and open to the outside to be a catalyst for the town. The result is a work that applies the principles of rationalist architecture. The human dimensions of the project are a clear influence of the Bauhaus School.
The current project responds to the need to rehabilitate an emblematic building that was completed in 1936 and soon suffered the consequences of the Civil War, losing its original use. The objective of the rehabilitation is to recover the function for which it was conceived, adapting it to the needs and present context.
It is a building between party walls with three floors where originally, the basement was used for storage and services for members. The first floor was used for sales and administration, while the upper floor was a social space with a cafeteria.
Fortunately, some of the most significant and representative architectural elements of GATCPAC's architecture have been preserved from this period, despite the multiple interventions the building has undergone. Part of the fa ade was preserved, as well as the free plan structure with metal pillars, floor slabs of metal beams and ceramic vaulting and the characteristic circular scale of J. Ll. Sert's architecture.
The rehabilitation has sought to return the building to its original state, providing it with the features of a building for contemporary public use. To this end, the superfluous elements that had been added to the original work, which Sert endowed with an architectural language that pursued the essence, sobriety and economy based on rationality, have been eliminated.
Priority has been given to the recovery of the main fa ade, with its characteristic chromatism, and the conservation and enhancement of the original structural elements that were preserved and finishes such as the staircase, railings and woodwork.
The adaptation to current regulations includes the installation of an elevator in a strategic point of the building that, with the least impact, provides it with the required accessibility. Likewise, the installations have been located in party walls and floor slabs to preserve the building's open floor plan.
And taking advantage of the multiple transformations that the rear service bay underwent, it has been emptied to create a triple space and a new staircase for communication and vertical connection of all floors, facilitating its adaptation to a new use.
The building will be destined for multipurpose uses linked to the entrepreneurship of the city's young people, respecting its origins as a cooperative as well as the dream of a group of workers who left a legacy that is a symbol of an international cooperative movement and a testimony of an architectural style that changed the way of understanding buildings, their relationship with people and their environment, and their political, economic and social dimension.
More information
Architects
Design team
Laura Bigas Montaner, Amàlia Casals Gil, Ester Serradell Buhigas.
Collaborators
Measurements and budgets.- Joan Antoni Rodón Bellalta.
Structure.- Eskubi‐Turró Arquitectes SLP.
Safety and Health coordination.- Atenea Seguridad y medio Ambiente, SAU.
Quantity surveyor.- Area Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB) ‐Mónica Mauricio (technical architect).
MEP.- AIA Salazar‐Navarro. Activitats Instal.lacions Arquitect Niques, SL
Cotca, S.A. (structural studies and pathologies).
Patrimoni 2.0 Consultors, S.L. (chromatic studies).
Client
AMB ‐ Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona Ajuntament de Gavà.
Builder
Rehac, SA.
Area
523,63 m².
Dates
Project.- March, 2018
Completed.- 16/06/ 2021.
Original commission.- 1934.
Original design.- 1935.
Original completed.- 1936.
Completed.- 16/06/ 2021.
Original commission.- 1934.
Original design.- 1935.
Original completed.- 1936.
Location
Rambla de Maria Casas, 102. Gavà, (Baix Llobregat - Barcelona), Spain.
Budget
€732.,182.25
Photography
MERITXELL INARAJA
Meritxell Inaraja graduated as an architect from ETSAB (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) in 1994. After obtaining a postgraduate diploma in Museography, Design & Fitting from the same university, she enrolled in a Doctoral Program in Construction, Engineering, and Architectural Research.
She has worked both for public and private clients, and has realized many restoration works. Among them we can highlight the restoration of the old Mint House "La Seca", in Barcelona (2011), for which she was awarded the "Premio sul Restauro e Architetture Mediterranee" at the second edition of PRAM. The project also participated in the XIII Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2012.
Inaraja is a member of the Technical Commission on Cultural Heritage in Central Catalonia, Generalitat de Catalunya.
Josep Lluís Sert
Josep Lluís Sert (Barcelona, July 1st, 1902 - March 15th, 1983) was a son of aristocrats and a republican who dedicated himself to introducing modern architecture in Spain. During his life he became interested in the work of Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Sert, his uncle.
He was a student at the School of Architecture of Barcelona. He traveled to Paris in 1926, where he studied the work of Le Corbusier, whom he met there. After a year, he joined the studio of Le Corbusier, with whom he collaborated for several years. In the year 1930 he began to project his first buildings. Of this period we can highlight the Antituberculosis Dispensary and the Housing Building on Muntaner Street, located in Barcelona.
Sert was one of the founders of GATEPAC, Grupo de Artistas y Técnicos Españoles para el Progreso de la Arquitectura Contemporánea. The purpose was to be the Spanish branch of the International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM). This was constituted by the initiative of Fernando García Mercadal in 1930 to extend the rationalist style that was taking place in Spanish architecture. In Catalonia the name became GATCPAC, Grup d'Arquitectes i Técnics Catalans del Progrés de l'Arquitectura Contemporánea. In addition, Josep was present at the initial CIAM meetings since 1929. Josep, after Le Corbusier, would end up being the president. The most relevant members were José Manuel Aizpurúa, Antoni Bonet i Castellana, Fernando García Mercadal, Josep Lluís Sert and Josep Torres Clavé.
After the Civil War was persecuted by the government of the dictatorship. He was disqualified from exercising his office, so in 1941 he left for the United States. There he created the Town Planning Associates study of architecture and urbanism that worked on numerous urban planning plans for cities in South America, such as the pilot plan for Havana.
He worked as an architecture professor at Yale University. Later he became dean of the School of Design at Harvard University from 1953 to 1969. With his current influence, he set up programs of architecture, landscape and urban design that would enlighten many of the leading architects of our time. He also participated in the Advisory Council of the Grham Foundation in Chicago, Illinois. During that period of time he founded a new architectural firm in Massachusetts, which ended up associating with Ronald Gourley and Huson Jackson. Joshep Zalewski was the Associate and continued to be in the firm Sert, Jackson and Associate founded in 1963. The firm was responsible for a large number of projects known as the Maeght Foundation, the Miró Foundation and a series of buildings for Harvard University as the Science Center, Peabody Terrace or the Holyoke Center. Sert collaborated with Le Corbusier in 1961 in the United States to design the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard.
Work.-
He was a student at the School of Architecture of Barcelona. He traveled to Paris in 1926, where he studied the work of Le Corbusier, whom he met there. After a year, he joined the studio of Le Corbusier, with whom he collaborated for several years. In the year 1930 he began to project his first buildings. Of this period we can highlight the Antituberculosis Dispensary and the Housing Building on Muntaner Street, located in Barcelona.
Sert was one of the founders of GATEPAC, Grupo de Artistas y Técnicos Españoles para el Progreso de la Arquitectura Contemporánea. The purpose was to be the Spanish branch of the International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM). This was constituted by the initiative of Fernando García Mercadal in 1930 to extend the rationalist style that was taking place in Spanish architecture. In Catalonia the name became GATCPAC, Grup d'Arquitectes i Técnics Catalans del Progrés de l'Arquitectura Contemporánea. In addition, Josep was present at the initial CIAM meetings since 1929. Josep, after Le Corbusier, would end up being the president. The most relevant members were José Manuel Aizpurúa, Antoni Bonet i Castellana, Fernando García Mercadal, Josep Lluís Sert and Josep Torres Clavé.
After the Civil War was persecuted by the government of the dictatorship. He was disqualified from exercising his office, so in 1941 he left for the United States. There he created the Town Planning Associates study of architecture and urbanism that worked on numerous urban planning plans for cities in South America, such as the pilot plan for Havana.
He worked as an architecture professor at Yale University. Later he became dean of the School of Design at Harvard University from 1953 to 1969. With his current influence, he set up programs of architecture, landscape and urban design that would enlighten many of the leading architects of our time. He also participated in the Advisory Council of the Grham Foundation in Chicago, Illinois. During that period of time he founded a new architectural firm in Massachusetts, which ended up associating with Ronald Gourley and Huson Jackson. Joshep Zalewski was the Associate and continued to be in the firm Sert, Jackson and Associate founded in 1963. The firm was responsible for a large number of projects known as the Maeght Foundation, the Miró Foundation and a series of buildings for Harvard University as the Science Center, Peabody Terrace or the Holyoke Center. Sert collaborated with Le Corbusier in 1961 in the United States to design the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard.
Work.-
Rosselló housing building (1929).
Duclós House (1930).
Josefa López House Building (1931).
Bloc House (1932-1937).
J. Roca Jewelry (actualmente, Tous) (1934).
Antituberculous Dispensary (1934-1938).
Project City of Rest and Vacation(1934).
Project City of Rest and Vacation (1935).
Pavilion of the Spanish Republic (1937).
Republic Pavilion (Posthumous Reproduction of 1992).
(Old) United States Embassy in Iraq (1955-1960).
Joan Miró's Studio (1956), Sert House(1957-1958).
Holyoke Center (1958-1965).
Maeght Foundation (1959-1964).
Center for the Study of the World's Religions (1960).
Peabody Terrace (Harvard Student Apartments) (1962-1964).
Campus of the University of Boston (1960-1967).
Joan Miró Foundation (1972-1975).
Les Escales Park (1973).
Science Center (1973).
Residence of MIT students (New House) (1973).
Caixa Catalunya headquarters project (1976).
La Porta Catalana (1977).
Duclós House (1930).
Josefa López House Building (1931).
Bloc House (1932-1937).
J. Roca Jewelry (actualmente, Tous) (1934).
Antituberculous Dispensary (1934-1938).
Project City of Rest and Vacation(1934).
Project City of Rest and Vacation (1935).
Pavilion of the Spanish Republic (1937).
Republic Pavilion (Posthumous Reproduction of 1992).
(Old) United States Embassy in Iraq (1955-1960).
Joan Miró's Studio (1956), Sert House(1957-1958).
Holyoke Center (1958-1965).
Maeght Foundation (1959-1964).
Center for the Study of the World's Religions (1960).
Peabody Terrace (Harvard Student Apartments) (1962-1964).
Campus of the University of Boston (1960-1967).
Joan Miró Foundation (1972-1975).
Les Escales Park (1973).
Science Center (1973).
Residence of MIT students (New House) (1973).
Caixa Catalunya headquarters project (1976).
La Porta Catalana (1977).
Awards.-
Gold Medal of Architecture of Spain in 1981.
Gold Medal of the Generalitat in 1981.
AIA Gold Medal of America 1981.
Gold Medal of Merit in the Belllas Artes of Spain in 1982.
AIA Gold Medal of America 1981.
Gold Medal of Merit in the Belllas Artes of Spain in 1982.
Josep Torres Clavé
Josep Torres i Clavé (Barcelona, Spain, 1906 - Els Omellons, Spain, 1939), was a Spanish architect and designer. He was the nephew of the architect Jaume Torres i Grau. He began his professional career with the architects Josep Lluís Sert and Antoni Bonet, with whom he founded MIDVA (Mobles i decoració per a la Vivienda actual). In 1924, he began studying architecture at the School of Barcelona. In 1927-28, at the age of 21, he made a study trip to Italy, together with Josep Lluís Sert, where he learned about the works of the great classics. Le Corbusier's passage through Barcelona on his way to Madrid and the Can Dalmau exhibition were determining factors in his formation as a modern architect. He finishes his studies on August 26, 1929.
After finishing his studies, he will be one of the founding members of GATEPAC (Group of Spanish Artists and Technicians for the Progress of Contemporary Architecture) —a group created as the Spanish branch of the International Congress of Modern Architecture, CIAM—, founded in Zaragoza in 1930 by initiative of Fernando García Mercadal to promote the rationalist style in Spanish architecture, with three sections (central group (Madrid group), north (Basque) and eastern (Catalan) where he used the denomination of GATCPAC, Grup d'Arquitectes i Tècnics Catalans pel Progress of Contemporary Architecture). In this association that spread the principles of the modern movement, Torres Clavé was considered one of the best cartoonists.
Parallel to their constitution as a group, they opened a place on Passeig de Gràcia for exhibitions and promoted the magazine AC (1931-1937), Documents of Contemporary Activity, where they carried out an important task of dissemination and criticism, becoming the soul of the publication; It presented the work of architects and artists such as Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Erich Mendelsohn, Van Doesburg, Neutra, Lubetkin, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. He was also director of the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona during the years 1936 to 1939.
On July 30, 1936 he created the Sindicat d'Arquitectes de Catalunya (S.A.C), of which he was general secretary, and with which he would actively participate in reconstruction works, new schools and redevelopment. He was an active member of the PSUC.
Among his most important works are the Casa Bloc (1932-1936, Paseo de Torres i Bages 91-105, in Sant Andreu), and the Tuberculosis Dispensary (1934-1938, at number 10 of the San Bernat passage), both in Barcelona and made together with Josep Lluís Sert and Joan Baptista Subirana. In the field of urban planning, he actively participated in the "future Barcelona urbanization project" of 1932 (subsequently baptized as the Macià Plan), presented by Le Corbusier, Walter Gropious, Mercadal, Sert, among others, as well as the Ciutat de Repós i Vacances de Castelldefels (1932). Within his designs there are proposals for furniture that are still reproduced today, such as the chair with a rattan back that became famous or a floor lamp, pieces designed for his family circle.
He died on the front in the town of Omellons, near Borges Blanques, in 1939 during the Spanish Civil War while building trenches on the Lerida front.
After finishing his studies, he will be one of the founding members of GATEPAC (Group of Spanish Artists and Technicians for the Progress of Contemporary Architecture) —a group created as the Spanish branch of the International Congress of Modern Architecture, CIAM—, founded in Zaragoza in 1930 by initiative of Fernando García Mercadal to promote the rationalist style in Spanish architecture, with three sections (central group (Madrid group), north (Basque) and eastern (Catalan) where he used the denomination of GATCPAC, Grup d'Arquitectes i Tècnics Catalans pel Progress of Contemporary Architecture). In this association that spread the principles of the modern movement, Torres Clavé was considered one of the best cartoonists.
Parallel to their constitution as a group, they opened a place on Passeig de Gràcia for exhibitions and promoted the magazine AC (1931-1937), Documents of Contemporary Activity, where they carried out an important task of dissemination and criticism, becoming the soul of the publication; It presented the work of architects and artists such as Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Erich Mendelsohn, Van Doesburg, Neutra, Lubetkin, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. He was also director of the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona during the years 1936 to 1939.
On July 30, 1936 he created the Sindicat d'Arquitectes de Catalunya (S.A.C), of which he was general secretary, and with which he would actively participate in reconstruction works, new schools and redevelopment. He was an active member of the PSUC.
Among his most important works are the Casa Bloc (1932-1936, Paseo de Torres i Bages 91-105, in Sant Andreu), and the Tuberculosis Dispensary (1934-1938, at number 10 of the San Bernat passage), both in Barcelona and made together with Josep Lluís Sert and Joan Baptista Subirana. In the field of urban planning, he actively participated in the "future Barcelona urbanization project" of 1932 (subsequently baptized as the Macià Plan), presented by Le Corbusier, Walter Gropious, Mercadal, Sert, among others, as well as the Ciutat de Repós i Vacances de Castelldefels (1932). Within his designs there are proposals for furniture that are still reproduced today, such as the chair with a rattan back that became famous or a floor lamp, pieces designed for his family circle.
He died on the front in the town of Omellons, near Borges Blanques, in 1939 during the Spanish Civil War while building trenches on the Lerida front.
