https://www.architecturalrecord.com/rss/2429 en-us A good point of entry for understanding the complex designs of the brothers Jaime and Francisco J. Magén Pardo are the sculptures of the late Spanish artist Eduardo Chillida, with their play of dense solids and equally compacted voids.

]]> http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12047 Thu, 01 Dec 2016 08:00:00 -0500 https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12047-design-vanguard-2016-mag%C3%A9n-architects Magén Architects Photo © Pedro Pegenaute Bajo Martin County Council The facade of translucent alabaster, a local material, relates the project to its place in the absence of strong contextual cues from its roadside location. The sculptural massing is inspired by the excavated geometry of the alabaster quarries. The second-floor council chamber cantilevers over the recessed entry. Photo © Pedro Pegenaute DG House A series of shallow additions around the shell of an unfinished house mediate between indoors and out, creating an irregular assemblage brought together by a multifaceted zinc roof. Two wings frame the patio of the U-shaped scheme, with the living areas on the left and the master bedroom to the right. Photo © Pedro Pegenaute Ebro Environmental Center The architects conceived the pavilion as a landscape form, with sloping volumes that rise from the banks of this riverside park in Zaragoza. Wood finishes inside and out blend in with the trees. Ramps with frameless glass balustrades ascend to a rooftop viewing platform and an outdoor amphitheater. Photo © Pedro Pegenaute Valdespartera School Set between blocks of new subsidized housing and a highway, the primary school focuses inward around an oval patio. The continuous roof flares up at each end to accommodate the cafeteria and multipurpose hall. A screen of colored metal tubes, “like colored pencils,” according to the architects, enclose the perimeter.  Photo © Pedro Pegenaute Escatrón Town Hall In a two-stage construction process, the council chamber on the right was built first, followed by the office block on the left, where the corner entry and upper balcony are chiseled out of the stone-clad volume. The building offers a dynamic, asymmetrical face to the town’s church and main plaza. Photo © Pedro Pegenaute