Els edificis Mediterrani i Atlàntic, incursions modernes a l'Eixample Cerdà

Abstract

Both the buildings Mediterrani and Banc Atlàntic are two of the construction projects that face in a clearest manner the challenge to become fully integrated into the consolidated urban network of Cerdà. The proposals provide compositional variations more in line with contemporary functional and aesthetic requirements. On the one hand, the building Mediterrani party recovers some of the ideas in Cerdà’s embryonic plan, such as orientation, ventilation of the dwellings and their relationship with the public space. It also sensitively responds and reinterprets the regulation parameters according to modern relationship criteria. The project introduces a new dwelling typology in the Eixample, by removing the small ventilation patios and proposing blocks of reduced depth as an alternative, virtually maintaining the traditional corner and broadening the pedestrian space scenario in the ground floor. The building Atlàntic, on the other hand, presents itself as a singular high-rise building within the Eixample’s network at the same time it emphasizes the corner, placed following the trace of Cerdà’s chamfered blocks, and establishes a subtle relationship with the neighbouring constructions.