Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology | BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group

Umbracle in Catalan means something that provides shade. Rather than creating a building plus a pergola, we proposed to do both in one single move. By setting back the building at ground level the Agora becomes a single, generous, sheltered public plaza. On the back, it gently retracts to preserve urban continuity. Inside the atrium increases in size creating terraces that enable the community to mingle & engage. BIST will be the future home to 4 institutions, dedicated to research of medical sciences, including laboratories, offices, and synergy spaces. The design is based on the pre-existing parking grid, as a highly pragmatic structural system. The forest of columns is augmented by a grid of trees, a symbiosis between natural & man-made. BIST also celebrates vernacular adaptations to Barcelona’s architectural values, with the use of traditional constructive methods, as the volta catalana.

Client: BIST - Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
PROJECT TEAM
Partner-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, João Albuquerque
Project Leader: Julieta Muzzillo
Team: Gonzalo Auger, Wei Lesley Yang, Jose Gomez & Lena Mariella von Buren
BIG Landscape: Giulia Frittolli, Ulla Hornsyld, Nandi Lu & Marcel Götz.

Collaborators: IDOM (structure, sustainability, laboratories)