Geometry, gravity and heritage. three variables of the Caixa forum Madrid

Abstract

This article, as a qualitative research product, develops a descriptive and documentary approach, with observation techniques, making use of planimetric and photographic tools that allowed the formal, spatial and material conceptualization to describe the phenomenon studied. Thus, the object of study called Caixa Fórum Madrid, develops a series of strategies that seek to alter the perception of the attributes in the relationship between the load and the support. In the rehabilitation and expansion of the old power station of Mediodia, a heritage building dating from 1899, the brick and concrete masonry structure must reconcile the matter in static equilibrium, avoiding collapse and preserving its useful life. Hence, the rectangular prismatic building is proposed suspended in the air allowing the passage of pedestrians under it. In this way gravity is perceived as a geometric feature of space-time. Under these concepts, the spatiality of Caixa Fórum is interesting in that the bearing walls of the old factory become a suspended envelope, giving it an undeniable striking, firm and voluminous corporeity. This characterization gives it a particular beauty, based precisely on the experience provided by the colorful and tactile surfaces, bringing the Paseo del Recoletos-Prado axis in Madrid closer to a kinesthetic walk.