https://www.architecturalrecord.com/rss/2951-jose-maria-sanchez-garcia en-us A spirited, multidisciplinary approach helps this architect engage both historic and natural environments.

]]> http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/14215 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/14215-design-vanguard-2009-jos%C3%A9-mar%C3%ADa-s%C3%A1nchez-garc%C3%ADa Dubbed the Ring, the center provides research and training facilities for water and mountain sports. To minimize its impact on the natural setting, Sánchez García concentrated its programmatic elements (classrooms, workshops, documentation and information centers, guest rooms, cafeteria) in a narrow structure 656 feet in diameter, then finished it in a reflective steel skin. He elevated the building on steel columns, minimizing foundation work, and built it in six months using prefabricated industrial elements. The perfect geometric form is marked at irregular intervals by access porches, while a running track occupies the roof. Photo courtesy José María Sánchez García Dubbed the Ring, the center provides research and training facilities for water and mountain sports. To minimize its impact on the natural setting, Sánchez García concentrated its programmatic elements (classrooms, workshops, documentation and information centers, guest rooms, cafeteria) in a narrow structure 656 feet in diameter, then finished it in a reflective steel skin. He elevated the building on steel columns, minimizing foundation work, and built it in six months using prefabricated industrial elements. The perfect geometric form is marked at irregular intervals by access porches, while a running track occupies the roof. Photo © Roland Halbe Dubbed the Ring, the center provides research and training facilities for water and mountain sports. To minimize its impact on the natural setting, Sánchez García concentrated its programmatic elements (classrooms, workshops, documentation and information centers, guest rooms, cafeteria) in a narrow structure 656 feet in diameter, then finished it in a reflective steel skin. He elevated the building on steel columns, minimizing foundation work, and built it in six months using prefabricated industrial elements. The perfect geometric form is marked at irregular intervals by access porches, while a running track occupies the roof. Photo © Roland Halbe Dubbed the Ring, the center provides research and training facilities for water and mountain sports. To minimize its impact on the natural setting, Sánchez García concentrated its programmatic elements (classrooms, workshops, documentation and information centers, guest rooms, cafeteria) in a narrow structure 656 feet in diameter, then finished it in a reflective steel skin. He elevated the building on steel columns, minimizing foundation work, and built it in six months using prefabricated industrial elements. The perfect geometric form is marked at irregular intervals by access porches, while a running track occupies the roof. Photo © Roland Halbe Dubbed the Ring, the center provides research and training facilities for water and mountain sports. To minimize its impact on the natural setting, Sánchez García concentrated its programmatic elements (classrooms, workshops, documentation and information centers, guest rooms, cafeteria) in a narrow structure 656 feet in diameter, then finished it in a reflective steel skin. He elevated the building on steel columns, minimizing foundation work, and built it in six months using prefabricated industrial elements. The perfect geometric form is marked at irregular intervals by access porches, while a running track occupies the roof. Photo © Roland Halbe Sánchez García transformed an obsolete municipal cistern into a youth center for the creation of music, film, theater, and arts and crafts, by boring openings through 11 1/2-foot-thick concrete walls. The minimal but precise intervention reveals a series of churchlike naves, Romanesque in their solidity, and naturally illuminated by a series of round punctures in the vaulted ceilings. A group of cylindrical structures inside the base of the water tower, finished in polycarbonate panels, house mechanical services, bathrooms, a darkroom, and recording studios. Photo © Pedro Pegenaute Sánchez García transformed an obsolete municipal cistern into a youth center for the creation of music, film, theater, and arts and crafts, by boring openings through 11 1/2-foot-thick concrete walls. The minimal but precise intervention reveals a series of churchlike naves, Romanesque in their solidity, and naturally illuminated by a series of round punctures in the vaulted ceilings. A group of cylindrical structures inside the base of the water tower, finished in polycarbonate panels, house mechanical services, bathrooms, a darkroom, and recording studios. Photo courtesy José María Sánchez García-Estudio de Arquitectura Historic monuments converted into publicly sponsored regional hotels, hospederías present architects with interesting design challenges. Respecting the integrity of the oldest structure on this site in Badajoz, Sánchez García argued not to build the hotel in the 12th-century castle, as the competition brief suggested, but rather within the 18th-century ramparts below it. He proposed excavating the earth behind the stone walls to create 35 guest rooms, each with a narrow window bored through the stone. The public spaces behind them feature a continuous "crevice" skylight. The overall effect will be "somber, like living in a castle," he affirms. Image courtesy José María Sánchez García-Estudio de Arquitectura Historic monuments converted into publicly sponsored regional hotels, hospederías present architects with interesting design challenges. Respecting the integrity of the oldest structure on this site in Badajoz, Sánchez García argued not to build the hotel in the 12th-century castle, as the competition brief suggested, but rather within the 18th-century ramparts below it. He proposed excavating the earth behind the stone walls to create 35 guest rooms, each with a narrow window bored through the stone. The public spaces behind them feature a continuous "crevice" skylight. The overall effect will be "somber, like living in a castle," he affirms. Photo courtesy José María Sánchez García-Estudio de Arquitectura To consolidate the urban fabric around this ruined Roman temple, the architect proposed a variation on Spain's traditional portico-lined plazas. He encircled the temple on three sides with an unadorned wall and walkway, L-shaped in section, which floats over the site's original ground level (61/2 feet below the modern city), supported by a single line of pillars. Behind the wall, the structure accommodates the irregular profiles of the party walls behind it, incorporating different activities between open wells of light. Photo courtesy José María Sánchez García-Estudio de Arquitectura To consolidate the urban fabric around this ruined Roman temple, the architect proposed a variation on Spain's traditional portico-lined plazas. He encircled the temple on three sides with an unadorned wall and walkway, L-shaped in section, which floats over the site's original ground level (61/2 feet below the modern city), supported by a single line of pillars. Behind the wall, the structure accommodates the irregular profiles of the party walls behind it, incorporating different activities between open wells of light. Image courtesy José María Sánchez García-Estudio de Arquitectura In this public center for high-performance rowing and canoeing sports near Mérida, Sánchez García designed a trapezoidal-shaped structure that doubles as a lookout platform above a reservoir. Trusses crossing the platform span a multiuse hall and are roofed to provide a porchlike shelter, glazed in part around the entry. Inside, a dramatic switchback ramp, sloped for wheelchairs and suspended from the trusses, creates a sense of movement in the simple space. Sánchez García describes the volume as "like a concrete rock with openings to the views." Image courtesy José María Sánchez García-Estudio de Arquitectura In this public center for high-performance rowing and canoeing sports near Mérida, Sánchez García designed a trapezoidal-shaped structure that doubles as a lookout platform above a reservoir. Trusses crossing the platform span a multiuse hall and are roofed to provide a porchlike shelter, glazed in part around the entry. Inside, a dramatic switchback ramp, sloped for wheelchairs and suspended from the trusses, creates a sense of movement in the simple space. Sánchez García describes the volume as "like a concrete rock with openings to the views." Photo courtesy José María Sánchez García-Estudio de Arquitectura In this public center for high-performance rowing and canoeing sports near Mérida, Sánchez García designed a trapezoidal-shaped structure that doubles as a lookout platform above a reservoir. Trusses crossing the platform span a multiuse hall and are roofed to provide a porchlike shelter, glazed in part around the entry. Inside, a dramatic switchback ramp, sloped for wheelchairs and suspended from the trusses, creates a sense of movement in the simple space. Sánchez García describes the volume as "like a concrete rock with openings to the views." Photo courtesy José María Sánchez García-Estudio de Arquitectura