The Three Chimneys are once again part of Barcelona. The most abandoned and industrial space of the city came back to life a few months ago with the Biennal Manifesta, when thousands of locals came for the first time to this cultural space, which also opened its doors for the first time years after ceasing to be what it always was, a factory space.
But this opening was not a mirage, but only the first test of what will be the definitive conversion of the Three Chimneys of Sant Adrià de Besós into the Catalunya Media City, a center for audiovisual development and research that will completely reconvert the area.
Now, at last, the winning project and the images of how it will look like are known, so we tell you all the details of the future of the Three Chimneys.
A building that will be a tribute to Fellini.
Of the 26 preliminary projects submitted to the public competition, the winner was the studio Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes and MARVEL with the project “E la nave va”, an “ode to Fellini and his visionary world woven between memory, fantasy and life itself”.
The proposal seeks to pay homage to the filmmaker with a project that integrates the unique character of this building “halfway between the remains of an archaeology that shows its recent industrial past and an object that refers to future landscapes”.
What will Catalunya Media City be like?
In addition, ” transversal cuts will create a more porous and permeable block, allowing users and neighbors to cross it to go from the city to the sea, and the native vegetation will infiltrate through the interior voids”. “This facility will be configured as an element of seam between the coast of Barcelona and the Maresme: for the first time there will be an open balcony towards Badalona,” the studio explains.
From intimate concerts to performances for 4,500 people.
Source: Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes and MARVEL
The new project has sought to respect the great hall on the third floor, a wonderful and imposing empty space with 17 meters high and 160 meters long that, according to the project designers, reminiscent of the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London, the Aviva Studios Warehouse in Manchester or the Park Avenue Armory in New York.
For this reason, intervention will be kept to a minimum, enhancing the diaphanous essence of this impressive space, equipping it only on the ceiling and floor to preserve its flexibility. As a result, it can accommodate everything from intimate performances to large-scale facilities seating up to 4,500 people.