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BILBAO FINE ARTS MUSEUM FOSTERS + PARTNERS
The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum has reopened with a dramatic new addition named the Agravitas, hovering like a bridge spanning 55 metres over the original buildings, and leaving them untouched except for restoration. It creates a new enclosed plaza, the social heart of the museum and a vital part of the freely accessible, ground-level public spaces. For the fi rst time in many decades, the original 1940s entrance fronting the city square is reopened. The uppermost level houses a 1,300 m2
new column-free gallery.
The design reinstates the museum’s original main entrance and enhances connectivity across the site, bringing together the 1945 building, the 1970s extension, and a second intervention from the early 2000s. By increasing permeability at street level, the project celebrates the role of culture in the civic life of Bilbao, bringing together the past, present, and future into one unifi ed architectural expression that embraces the city. Rationalising the circulation between the new and old buildings has reinstated Plaza Arriaga as a “pure volume,” said the architect, thus creating a “clear public focus for art and events.” Its design is centred on Francisco Durrio’s sculptural fountain, and the new daylight-fi lled atrium features sculptures by Richard Serra, Pablo Palazuelo, and Eduardo Chillida. Agravitas increases the area of the original buildings by 60% and introduces 2,300 m2
of fl exible exhibition area on two levels to accommodate a wide
range of exhibits alongside facilities for educational programmes, workshops, and offi ce spaces. Designed in collaboration with the late Spanish engineer Julio Martinez Calzón, it spans between two sets of deep V-shaped columns, cantilevering over the museum buildings and strengthening the relationship with Doña Casilda de Iturrizar park.
Its innovative structural system of locally produced steel extended space provision beyond the competion brief for offi ces and exhibition spaces, as well as new public sculpture terraces with dramatic views of the city. At the upper level, light fi ltering through skylights that can be tuned for the widest range of exhibitions – from full daylight to complete black out. The new extension’s self-shading facade contributes towards a strong sustainability strategy that includes the use of green low carbon steel and a roof with over 500 m2 museum spaces.”
of photovoltaic panels. The existing buildings have been upgraded to meet modern standards, and to provide a “unifi ed sequence of
The project team comprises structural engineers, MC2; environmental engineers, Valladares Ingenieria; facade consultants, Enar. Contractors are a joint venture of four Basque companies – Urbelan, Altuna y Uria, Campezo and Teusa; and facade contractor, Martifer. The result is “a renewed civic landmark for Bilbao that is not only of the place but has been almost entirely fabricated as a local product,” said Fosters.
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