Abalo Alonso Arquitectos wins the RI.U.SO. award

The award ceremony for the second edition of the RI.U.SO award is scheduled for next Friday, 18th October, during the conference “Re-use, urban regeneration and sustainable energy in cities” (SAIE, BolognaFiere ). Gonzalo Alonso, from the Spanish office abalo alonso arquitectos, is the winner, for the “Architects and Engineers” section, with the project “Accessible Ribadeo”.

The other winners are: Carlo Roccafiorita, “Periferica, a festival of urban regeneration for the suburbs of Mazara del Vallo” in the section “Public Administrations, Public Bodies, Foundations and Associations” and Maria Lucia D'Alessio, “Totems Eco - Logiques, Sustainable Living in Lyon”, in the section “Degrees and PhD theses”.

Sponsored by the National Council of Architects, Planners, Landscapers and Conservationists and SAIE, the Award has selected the best projects and the most innovative achievements in the field of Sustainable Urban Regeneration.

Ribadeo is a fishing village of about ten thousand inhabitants located on the border between Galicia and Asturias with a protected historical old part of the town and an interesting promenade. The height difference between these two zones, of more than thirty metres in a small space, makes communication difficult and leaves some areas isolated.

Abalo Alonso Arquitectos' project proposes a connecting element in the articulation point between the two “worlds” to encourage communication. A black concrete shell with a slate-like texture, whose base contains a small information and control stand, hides inside the stairs and a panoramic lift.

Concrete, stone and steel complete an austere palette of materials, with the intent of integrating the element as if it were a tower of the old wall, without, however, forgoing the representative character that an urban and landscape work like this should have.