Projects and thoughtsbipolaire1.11 _ 9

Editor: Bipolaire ArquitectosAuthors: Miguel Arraiz y Bruno SauerTexts: Bruno SauerTranslations: Paula Cardells MosteiroPhotographies: Noel ArraizPrint: La Imprenta CGDesign: Estudio Menta www.mentagrafica.com

© of texts - the authors© of images - the authors© of drawings - Bipolaire + Partners© Bipolaire + Partners 2011

ISBN: 978-84-615-1114-3

Bipolaire + PartnersT +34 963 476 566F +34 963 476 626bipolaire@bipolaire.netwww.bipolaire.net

Bipolaire / Tempura 7

Thoughts:

Sustainability as benchmarking. Enterprise / Short term 10

Not built ground. Tree / Bioclimatism / Medium scale 12

Water / False management. Multi-scale 14

Materials / Complexity. Medium scale 16

Urbanism / Urban planner. Renovation. Multi-scale 18

Think Global, Act Local / The relativity of the everyday. Multi-scale 20

Urban shrinkage / The value of the void. Medium scale 22

Projects:

Social housing for young people in Torrevieja 26

Apartments in Alicante

Social housing in San Vicente del Raspeig

36

42

Music Hall in Gandia’s Harbour 52

Molecular thoughts 60

Projects:

Warehouse in Villena 66

Restoration of Palau Valeriola 76

Apartment in historic center of Valencia 84

Business Center in Puzol 92

House B.05 in Rocafort 98

Profile 109

Summary of projects 2002-2011 112

INdEx

Everybody knows that writing is a way of clearing out ideas. But on the same time it is a limitation for the dialogue in the sense that a written word is definitive and absolute. Meanwhile the spoken word has a tone of pronunciation that gives space to interpret the significance of the word or the sentence. To write is necessary but on the same time it generates conflicts.

When someone is confronted with the need to write about his own works, he has to have it very clear in how far he closes a future conversation or he keeps open the debate on what he has built. It is more enriching to write to clear out and to do it in such a way that there is still time and space for conversation. That is why we choose to describe Bipolaire Arquitectos, part 1, throughout concepts which are easy to define one by one, but at the same time, as a whole of concepts reflect the complexity of our daily work. A complexity that changes every time we intro-duce a new element.

The texts published in the beginning of this book deal with subjects that were discussed regularly in the office. These are concepts which were dominating the processes of design and building. Not always all of them are present, neither all of them were present from the beginning.

We tried to be practical, keeping the theoretical interpretations as a task for the lecturer, before or after, free to choose. The order of the subjects is not relevant, we ordered them as the leaves that fall from a tree: without order, without pretending giving more importance to one or another. We recommend a second lecture changing the order of the subjects.

BIPOLAIRE / TEMPURA

THOUGHTS

“The different speeds of action in “sustainable building” require specific monitoring. Any person/enterprise/administration must be able to keep on working, researching, developing and implementing their knowledge and progresses at the same time that others start. The last ones without having the sensation that they are too late and that “sustainability” is not for them.”

This consideration arises from the way our society reacts in front of what becomes fashionable. Our society is able to sell a menta-lity, something that is not a product itself, knowing that this deci-sion, in the short term, will affect negatively to the further deve-lopment and research of the contents. The current discussion on sustainability woke up the concern of the first global industrialists of the 60’s. The Club of Rome expressed their concern about a non-sustainable growth, which produced large differences among the high demanding developed countries and the unfairly compen-sated developing countries.

The idealism of the first industry crashes frontally with the oppor-tunism of nowadays industry, which uses the discourse of sustai-nability as a hotdog, even worse, which tries to sell it as a high quality sirloin!

Currently, there are different speeds in the approach and/or understanding of the “sustainable building” motto. There are enter-prises, institutions and technicians that have been taking sustai-nable criteria into account for their work already for 10 and 20 years. There are others that just started and did not realize that certain goals, approaches and processes must change.

We have all committed the mistake of using the debate on sustai-nability for competitions awards, promotions and so on. It is a logical error when public awareness is suddenly, urgently, awaken, not taking into account a large group of people who store and master the necessary skills and knowledge to lead the debate. In no time everyone has looked for tools to be sustainable or to say whether something is sustainable or not. And as it is usual in a computerized rational society, the solution has been found in statistics, databases, simulations and diagrams, often far, far away from a knowledge covered by “common sense”. Nowadays, if you

SUSTAINABILITy AS BENCHMARkING

Enterprise / Short term

*

10

want to win an architectural competition, you must present (virtual) energy saving schemes (minimum 60%), vertical green facades and air conditioning facilities with solar energy combined with free cooling and absorption machines. Thus any mayor or councilor is able to understand that this project is the most sustainable one.

With this mentality we got 2 things:

First, as a society, we have self-deceived ourselves. If someone talks about cross-ventilation or proper orientation we consider them as a beginner and “good person”. While in practice, the exercise is to simplify things and go back to the 50’s slogan “less is more.”

Second, that most of the construction sector, which has neither the means nor the knowledge, feels left out of fashion. Thus we have the anti-group, consisting of those who consider sustainability as a fashion and therefore temporary. They think that people really stand for air conditioning regardless of having cross ventilation in all rooms. This second consequence is the worst because it is very counterproductive.

A year ago I read in a newspaper that in a northern country the automobile industry had banned to advertise using the following slogan: that their cars were organic because they only generated 140 g. CO2/km. The government made it clear that 140 g. were too many to be environmentally friendly. It is unfortunately a too common example of how the discourse on sustainability is used for making business, while at the same time an excellent example of how a government that is aware of the problem works effectively. Why cannot we do something similar with the “sale” of sustainable building?

“It is important that we start treating the discourse on sustainabi-lity in the building sector as normal and routine that is inherent to good practice. This probably requires a huge effort to train not only technicians, but also entrepreneurs, industrialists, government offi-cials, users and people in general. We must avoid that sustainability becomes even more the trend towards “sustainabilitism”.

11

When debating about sustainability in building and urban plan-ning, we often explain the meaning of” common sense” by using an example of easy execution but difficult to be carried out: to plant a tree. It seems very simple at first sight. But if it is so simple, why is not carried out more often? I conclude that we lack the required common sense even if it is common sense to do it.

Nature disposes of an instrument called tree, which helps it/us to fight against many things: trees prevent accelerated evapo-ration of soil moisture, protect us against heat and cold, absorb CO2, evaporate moisture, regulate ventilation of underground and create habitats for other organisms (including daring children). If we know, as it is scientifically demonstrated, that in a hot summer day temperature under the crown of a tree can be 15° C lower than ambient temperature, why do we not plant more trees?.

Against the conviction that a tree requires a high demanding main-tenance we cannot fight with rules neither with obligations. This general attitude can only be changed by sensitizing and raising awareness in the general population and politicians in particular. The requirement “no maintenance” under the motto “we do not want to lose acquired comfort” is not compatible with the debate on the shift to sustainability. How can we measure the comfort of the shade against the non-comfort of removing tree leaves in the ground?.

Another element that determines the absence of trees are the building regulations applicable in most regions of this country, which regulate the occupation above ground, and in many cases allow an underground occupancy rate of 100%. It is a complex reality and produces a lot of indirect consequences, I would rather say, it generates incompatibilities. An approach to our planning regulations exclusively from the point of view of the buildings, does not consider the quality of built space. Our society demands as many parking and storage spaces as possible near the buildings and of course without disturbing the urban environment. There-fore, we deplete the possibility of occupying the underground. If we think back and for a moment on the tree, then we ran into a problem. Trees have a trunk, a crown and roots that occupy approximately the same volume occupied by the crown. The

NOT BUILT GROUNdTree / Bioclimatism / Medium scale

*

12

space the crown occupies does not “cost anything to anyone”, but the roots invade the soil itself and that costs money, much, too much for not being profited. We would like to see an urban policy that recognized the indirect consequences of their decisions and impositions and that would take into consideration” the soft” rather than only protect and promote “the hard”.

This example may seem too easy, even simple for some of you. But it is not. It clearly indicates where the preferences are and how building regulations and society’s mentality obstruct the improvement of our built environment in the short term. Some-times it is harder to recognize that the solution is a simple action rather than a search for high-tech contributions that impact public opinion positively.

13

“Currently, the situation is rather complicated: water management lays in the hands of public companies with some involvement of private capital that are accustomed to European Union subsidies for many years, the infrastructure network is obsolete in most of its sections, the price final users pay is not a real price (and there-fore insufficient to carry out proper management), and current legislation does not leave much room for private initiative to reuse and recycle water on a small scale.”

We do not believe that water management in the field of buil-ding is so difficult to solve because the facts and data are known, the base material is controlled and scientific and technological knowledge are present. An adequate decision making would reduce significantly the negative and unwanted spin-offs.

What are we doing with our water. How do we manage it?

To begin with, it is important to distinguish two concepts: the quantity and water quality. The impact of construction on the amount of consumed water can be easily reduced by addressing mainly two areas of work. First by revising the territorial model and taking into consideration that a low density model implies extensive networks of infrastructure. This means a higher risk of leaks and direct losses in the distribution network. The typologies of a low density model usually imply more water demand (irri-gation and swimming pools). And second, by creating an urgent legislative context for making recycling and reuse of domestic wastewater possible.

discuss about the quality of water is rather more complicated. If we do not consider industry water use but only the water consumed mainly by the residential park, water management can be interpreted as follows: we buy clean water from the network and return (by paying) dirty water to another network. This means two qualifications of water: or it is clean, or it is dirty. The first is water, the second is a waste, and therefore, our interpretation of the water management process, when we think that we are mana-ging water is wrong. 

WATER / FALSE MANAGEMENT

Multi-scale

*

14

In the first phase we effectively manage water (extraction, puri-fication and sale) by applying the relevant legislation. In the second phase, however, we manage a waste, which is therefore subject to other regulation. Consequently, as already mentioned in the chapter about waste, managers do not always coin-cide in both phases. Given this context, it would be interesting to consider new approaches to water management that consi-dered not buying water but rent it. In this way we would only use water, not possess it, and the company that owned it would get it back, charging for its use and maintenance. It should be considered the possibility of charging depending on the quantity and quality of the water requested and returned. It is not reaso-nable that a community of neighbors that wants to recycle their own waste water for reusing it as irrigation or filling of tanks has to pay the same fee as a community of neighbors that fills the swimming pool with drinking water.

Regardless of independent technical and legislative aspects, there is a major obstacle to reach a sustainable management of this resource. The high political charge involved prevents a scien-tifically meaningful debate. Our development model cannot forget that water is a human right and therefore a “water ethic” must be considered.

15

“It is already for some years that we are trying to classify building materials according to their degree of commitment to sustainability. And often we reach the same conclusion: it is a subject too broad and complex to be summarized in a simple and practical classifica-tion for everyday use. The choice of certain materials by architects using the ecological argument is perhaps the largest expression of the commercial use of sustainability by technicians. There are many books and institutes that have their own tables and rankings, but there is any of them really applicable to all materials.”

In our practice, we usually apply a short checklist, without going into scientific tables, to assess a material from another in agile way. We answer some yes or no questions in order to verify if the mate-rial has an environmental performance. We decide to use it if the difference in market price is maximum 10% higher compared to a less ecological counterpart. The FAQs we use for this materials discussion are simple and direct ones:

Is the raw material renewable or not, is the material recyclable or not, is the material recycled or not, does the material require much energy in its manufacture or not, does the material have a composi-tion of simple elements or not, does the material require high main-tenance or not, does the material have a simple placement or not?.

Any other system has been proven equally complex and debatable. And we are already convinced that the work to improve our habits is not in rating building materials, but in knowing the descriptions and characteristics of each material, developing a self-assessment system based on the experience and craft, as well as research, which depends on the status and application in the project. Instead of classifying materials by labeling AA, A, B, C or d and there-fore blindly trust on a commercialized system of sustainability, we believe that we must make an effort to relearn a comprehensive library of materials and to implement a timely assessment by use of the scale, planning, execution, budget, shape, etc.

MATERIALS / COMPLExITyMedium scale

*

16

As all the aspects of the sustainability debate, the choice of a material or another is not an isolated decision. The material and construction system are directly related to the debate on waste management or water use or energy consumption. And if we are not even able to understand and clarify the issues separately, how can we integrate them?.

17

“Considering territorial development, there are currently two main aspects to be approached, two instruments to achieve a more balanced development of our territory. First, we have to go for a moratorium on the development of new urban land combined with a radical commitment to urban regeneration, and secondly, rethink the architect-planner profile that we are training in universities.”

Urban renewal is a sustainable policy. 80% of the surface of our cities was built during the last 100 years, and so complex and large tissues need time to develop, to become a tissue loved by its inha-bitants. The extensions have been consolidated and finally they are places where people feel comfortable. Probably their strongest attraction is the new life of the principles of Cerdà, which include having a breathing space in the interior of the blocks. In contrast, almost all the urban and suburban periphery are composed of tissues that require changes, sometimes radical ones, and at all different scales: infrastructure, roads, buildings, parks and facili-ties. It is time to open the existing fabric and implement new solu-tions in place of going on expanding the city endlessly with the same tissues. Many areas require a transfer of floor area to achieve wider green spaces. The introduction of new infrastructures allows us to suggest changes and create new centers or poles of attraction. Economic revaluations of neighborhoods occur only when the built and urban space are really transformed.

But to undertake a real urban renewal policy, we need to close a door has been open for too long: unlimited expansion. The creation of new urban land as a business tool is not compatible with a policy of urban renewal, for the simple reason that renewal is a much more complex, time consuming and therefore less attractive process from the point of view of the economic benefit. Renovation uses different elements to create value. A key difference is the increase in partners and stakeholders. In a new operation there are two main stakehol-ders: the local government and the private investor. For a renova-tion, we have many investors and many government departments that already have their “goods” in the area to be transformed. These are complex processes, but basically the only ones that take advan-tage of the existing without consuming new land and the only ones that guarantee an improvement of an obsolete reality.

URBANISM / URBAN PLANNERRenovation / Multi-scale

*

18

The second instrument is the profile of the architect-urban plan-ners who are being trained in universities. More than ever, transfor-mation of the territory and city management are interdisciplinary works in which architects should have a dominant role. But this is only possible if we get rid of the idea that “any process that does not” produce forms “is not worthy of the architects.” We need a professional profile that understands and masters tax, legal, admi-nistrative and technical tools, so that they can defend the impor-tance of form. But if architect-planners only appear when crea-ting forms is necessary, we arrive too late, because at that time probably all the parameters are already defined, including the para-meters of sustainability. Moreover, in an interdisciplinary process we will be surprised to discover that many professionals think and act more sustainably that architects. The professional competences that the new degree will confer after the failed revision of the curri-cula, to converge with the Bologna Process, will be excessive. The reform of the degree has not been holistically approached. It has not considered the gradual incorporation to the professional career, only when skills have been acquired. Once more, schools are stuck in time instead of anticipating it.

19

When someone wants to improve something it is compulsory to be aware of and calculate the real impact of any action. It is impor-tant that our children learn to spend as less water as possible in the shower, but this does not solve the lack of water in another region. Maybe I can make them aware of the global and serious water problem. It is important to use less the car and more the bike, but this does not explain to our children that if we emit less CO2, together we can stop global warming. The context, stakeholders and objectives determine us to act on a scale or another and with a greater or lesser impact.

When someone is aware of this limitation, of the relativity of their ideas and proposals, avoids the extremes and radical positions. Work in the field of sustainability (whether in construction or education, in the meat industry or tourism) is only compatible with an attitude that accepts the relativity of things. The scale of any activity must be assessed considering the context, and measures and / or expecta-tions must be well defined from the start in order not to disappoint expectations.

In our practice, we often explain to our clients how important it is to choose for apartments with cross ventilation, but very rarely do we manage to win the economic battle of the relationship between communication nucleus and the number of dwellings per floor. Ventilation and lighting are key elements to propose humane and dignified housing. It is really frustrating to have to accept in-sustai-nable game conditions to undertake a project. We try not to give up and believe that next time the client will reconsider our arguments.

In a housing project we had provided in each courtyard of each house a small strip of earth ground to plant a shrub or a plant. However, during the execution concrete was laid over the entire surface of the courtsyards. It was impossible to rectify this mistake. The site manager, in charge of the work, the technical architect and even the client considered that dirt and leaves in the yard would be a maintenance problem and therefore better to keep it as it was. Again the question arises: “What are we doing wrong for not having more common sense?”.

THINk GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL / THE RELATIVITy OF THE EVERydAy

Multi-scale

20

These two examples, very specific and small-scale show what we were discussing earlier in this document: if we move towards a more sustainable development, we must concentrate as many efforts in sensitizing people as in discovering new technologies, new materials or new regulations.

If you open your eyes and you care about what happens elsewhere, in other societies, if you make the mental movement of Google Earth, turning away from Spain to see things further away; if after you zoom into, for example, China, to see what happens there… When you return to your own place on earth it all seems so ridiculous and such a small scale that makes you tremble. koolhaas was right when he said 10 years ago that the future was in China. I did not understand then, thinking about the future of architecture. But no, koolhaas was missing a word: the future PROBLEM is in China or elsewhere on our planet where suddenly, in a few years, an economic power begins to consume what we have been consuming but exponentially increased and begins to demand the same comfort that we the “Western” enjoy. We get nervous when we suffer a period of drought or when we face political struggles over water transfers, but we do not want to think about the time when all the Chinese demand that water runs through the tap of their homes. Although when the time comes most of them will be already major shareholders in most international companies in the sector.

21

The city as an artifact, as something built by human being for their own comfort and survival, has grown at different paces but grown after all, throughout history, mainly because people have wanted and want to live in it.

From nineteenth century on, the growing contrast between the comforts of the countryside habitat and the industrialized city one caused an exponential increasing migration to the city. Often, the need to accommodate an increasing number of people intensified land use, which made necessary rationalizing the growth. Cities had turned from living with their environment to dominate and destroy it.

during the 20th century almost all cities got a negative ecological footprint, which is to say above 1.

At the beginning of 21st century there is no need of a footprint complex calculation to verify that our society, dominated by cities and infrastructure, is not sustainable.

The industrialization process has been rapid and we have responded quickly to the contemporary needs with management and plan-ning tools. Architects and planners’ knowledge are largely based on experience of reality, own or inherited. But this reality is already expired. Industrialization has overtaken us.

Globalization and internationalization of our societies’ structures have led to the relocation of the production processes, industry, wealth and comfort engine, to the developing countries. Conse-quently, our industrialized cities partially lose its activity and social conflicts arise resulting in unemployment and loss of comfort. The next step in this process of degradation is emigration, in search of a better situation. This phenomenon can be observed in some Euro-pean and American cities, as detroit, a reference example.

An accelerated departure of people to other cities in other parts of the world, or to the countryside, will have an immediate effect on the abandonment of a significant percentage of buildings. The buil-dings [built mass] will be obsolete due to social reasons, not tech-nical ones.

URBAN SHRINkAGE / THE VALUE OF THE VOId

Medium scale

22

The question that arises is “how can we manage the loss of town mass?” Each built brick is considered as a real value, something that can be used as bank guarantee. If we are confronted with a built mass in an environment that previously had an economic value, but which currently does not have a use any longer and that may not recover any of these three values, then... what do we do with this devalued brick?, is it possible that the value of the land, of the building, vanished as listed shares in recent years?. If so, then we have to start reviewing our whole system of creation of the city. The game of goodwill to build urban infrastructure and buildings is no longer useful. It is over.

Are we capable of giving a value to a waste, to a void? Let’s assume that our economists and investors invented a system that gave a value to the voids left by the shrunken city; a possible and satisfactory future for our cities. Can we consider that “reducing city density is advantageous for the economy”? Can the less preda-tory healthy city be better than the expansive city?.

That change of view on the city will provide us with opportunities for transformation at many scales; from the design of the small scale of the vacuums generated by the disappearance of a buil-ding, to the revision of stereotypic discussion of the compact city versus sprawl city. In order to arrange the small scale we have to learn how to design a vacuum and for the large scale finally, esta-blish a more complex and less extreme debate, with gradations, from filled to void.

23

PROjECTS

26

40 apartments4.040 m2 builtRealization: 2004 - 2006Alicante (Spain)

Social housing design requires a balance between three elements: completion of very restrictive rules with regard to surfaces, construction with very limited budget and maximum creation of useful space. Surfaces and budget are given but the optimization of the useful space depends almost comple-tely on the talent of the architect. In this project, the incre-ment of useful space without increasing the total built surface was achieved by two decisions: the first was the election of a dry construction system, which reduced the thickness of the walls to the minimum necessary. The second was the crea-tion of a 15 m² private outdoor patio. The displacement of the central band of the housing provided the space for these patios, both on ground and first floor.

SOCIAL HOUSING FOR yOUNG PEOPLE IN TORREVIEjA

27

1:100020 m. 28

29

30

1:3006 m. 31

1:3006 m. 32

33

34

1:200,4 m. 35

36

6 apartments466 m2 builtRealization: 2004 - 2006Alicante (Spain)

Part of the strength of projects lies in their capa-city for making the best out of the opportuni-ties of the place. In the case of these apartments in Alicante, the plot was very small and located at the foot of the mountain in the historic centre of Alicante. Our challenge was to open each apartment to the sea, to its distant views and the refreshing breeze of the summer.

APARTMENTS IN ALICANTE

37

1:3006 m. 38

39

40

41

42

24 apartments3.715 m2 builtRealization: 2005 - 2007Alicante (Spain)

Sometimes, in order to design a building, there is no other possibility but literally apply a local urban planning rule. Like in this case, where local rules obliged to situate a commer-cial space on the first 5 meters from the front façade to the street, and first floor façade had to move back also 5 meters. Additionally and in order to avoid projecting shadows to the neighbor, the new building should not overpass the imagi-nary line of 45° from the neighbor. We chose for a maximum occupancy of the ground floor and located the rest of the dwellings in a volume as high as possible.

SOCIAL HOUSING IN SAN VICENTE dEL RASPEIG

43

1:50010 m. 44

45

1:3006 m. 46

47

48

49

1:3006 m. 50

51

52

594 m2 builtRealization: 2005 - 2007Valencia (Spain)

The programme and the extremely limited budget were transformed into a box with a single bankruptcy, right in the place where the actors go down from the stage to the dres-sing rooms and vice versa.

The plot was literally sunk and contrasted with the blue sky of the sailors’ quarter. The materialization of the facades brings these two sensations together: dark earth - dark rough concrete - clear rough concrete - clear sky. It is the meeting point.

MUSIC HALL IN GANdIA’S HARBOUR

53

54

1:3006 m.

55

56

57

1:3006 m. 58

59

Molecular thoughts

Foam of anchovies with pate

The interview takes place at lunch time, in a small café in Valencia city centre, no more than six tables. There is no menu card, customers know the possibilities: a limited number of natural products to be combined as they wish, in a dish or in a sandwich. There are no fixed prices; they depend on the day and the amount of smoke. You just eat what you need and enjoy the easy choice.

Good question. Why? I guess that there is a certain balance between the sense of responsibility and pride, between a critic point of view and the need of creating, between the need of surviving and that of learning out of our mistakes. I do not know why today I chose this CANONIGOS salad and not the tuna and tomato one. But I have to eat and go on. Each choice has consequences; each day is a constant exercise of making decisions that have to be right, constructive, a progress for a group.

It is no easy, if not impossible. In whatever case, it is better not to do it. Relativity imposes each decision as a new starting point that will open new possibilities. In this way we can reach the desired goal without modifying previous steps. We have to be consistent with the decisions we make. Whimsical life is for spoiled people.

If I order a salad and when I get it served I do not feel like eating it, I can refuse it, not eating it any longer, choose a new one and pay both, or just controlling my temporary tastes. Taste is a very relative and debatable matter, though important for having an enjoyable life. Someone who cannot make choices has no clear ideas and therefore they hardly progress.

Yes, indeed. Quite often I have the impression that we play the role of a psychologist instead of the one of the architect. Communication and understanding of the others are basic for our profession.

Flexibility, creativity and a constant interest in understanding your interlocutor’s desires are three basic capacities for an archi-tect. If your client makes you change a proposal three times, or you have not understood him/her, then you have a problem, or he/she hesitates about what they want. In this second case, in addition to flexibility a considerable creativity is required, since the budget control and the transmission of information to the team turn even more complex. Yes, some psychology is required, but you do not learn this at school.

Yes, it is. These situations make you mentally very tired. Archi-tecture produces a constant intern conflict. Creativity is up to a certain point an individual experience, solutions are rarely unique but usually multiple and the implementation of the solution is logi-cally a team work. Being able to have a fluid coordination of these processes, to share the creative act, to rule apparent solutions out immediately, counting with a few capable and experienced people… means time, a lot of time and a settled team.

In our profession team-building is also important. In a team there are different roles, and the individual are happy with their roles, since they know that the team wins thanks to that. But most architects after leaving school only aim to be captains no doorkee-pers. It is very difficult to bring a team together.

How far is it possible to go

backwards and redressing deci-

sions?

¿Why?

It sounds to psychology, does not it?

That is difficult to learn!

61

You may choose, I will order the one you eat again. I am hungry today. Do you also order another glass of wine, please?

Being in this place has advantages and disadvantages, I guess like everywhere. You can follow your own way. On the other hand, there is no open debate, no general interest about questioning certain things. Those who argue against the current are ignored or shelved, just what they do not want. There is no way of maintaining a plat-form for exchanging opinions. If you can put all this background in place and feel minimally comfortable with the situation it is not so difficult to be different from the others. If you have clear ideas and act consistently, then you can develop your own career. To the extent you move, move others around you. And the more you move the others, the better your chances to show off your talents are. Like in chemistry: molecules in warm water move more than in cold water and make the others move more. They are physical forces of attraction and repulsion. The matter is always looking for a balance between two or more poles.

I guess so and probably they will add a free cola, that is to say, such a combination is not welcome in the world of good taste. They are two dominant flavors that require a soft complement. Anyway, asking costs no money and we may discover a new flavor.

Did you know that we made some trials with paella and endives, or pasta with mince and strawberries? Maybe they were not our best dishes, but we ate them and later on we realized that these experi-ments changed our frame of references and helped us to reconsider stereotypes. It is important to admit mistakes, or even better, admit-ting that the wisdom of the past is sometimes stronger than the laboratory of the future.

Good, before approaching such a delicate matter, since you ask about the soul and the business plan of Bipolaire, we will order dessert and coffee: cheesecake, coffee pudding or Valencian muffins. I do not suggest “carajillo” since we will drink a sweet wine,” mistela”, later on.

We do not speak about masters, the profession and its apprenti-ceship have changed and it is not easy to develop a master-appren-tice relationship as in the past any longer. But of course there are outstanding architectures: Kiesler Endless House is still raising our smiles. His serious and sad face next to the model of the house, a white and human volume, invites you to discover; the firs works of Herzog &de Meuron, intelligence materialized, a game taken very seriously; or jealousy when looking at the pictures of Renzo

Do you prefer a ham and cheese sand-

wich or a pate and cheese?

Why here?

¿Sería posible pedir un boca-

dillo de anchoa con paté?

Speaking about the past, are there archi-

tectural references you took as a guide? Speaking about the

future, where are your concerns?

62

Piano’s research laboratory in Genova; or the constant positive irri-tation of Rem Koolhas; or some works of Craig Elwood, Paolo Mendes or Eladio Dieste. Works that make you wonder. There are many wonderful references, if you are capable of understanding and inter-pret them as well as getting distance from the image.

What we generally miss in nowadays architecture, in the large volume of built architecture, is the human factor; the wish of buil-ding correctly an attractive project but still with a sense of humor. Bring the buildings back to the city, to the daily life, to the intensive use; get rid of the make-up layer that pretends to keep the building as an autonomous object, a clean and untouchable box.

We are not talking about neglecting the work, but about using any moment of the building process to relativize the extremes. Sometimes you find it in the use of certain materials, in the scale of the building’s entrance, in the location of the trees or the position of the windows leading to a contact between neighbors. Whatever it may be; but something that makes people smile.

There is a book I open regularly for almost 15 years, not so much to read the texts, which are very useful but to enjoy certain images. The book is “Lessons for Students in Architecture” by Herman Hertz-berger, which is subtitled “Leaving Space Creating Space”. It is a book easy to understand, with an appropriate structure for a student, but it also offers a second reading, a composition that raises the obvious, hidden at a level of quality that makes you dream of a building with the same effect: a building logic that keeps you being surprised every day. One of these images shows two women having a snack, sitting at a table on the street and embedded between two cars parked in front of the bar. They are talking, but one of the two looks at the photographer with a scowl, as if to say “you’ve never seen some women eating sandwiches?” This picture makes clear what is not having space but creating it; how to solve problems in a prac-tical way even if they seem impossible to be solved. Create your own world of reference. They have had very little space left and yet they have created their own space. With this attitude we can go a long way: we make room for others and create our space as a reference. If someone wants to share the table with us is welcome, otherwise let us meet our needs.

Not something connected with work or architecture in general, work does not deserve it. I worry about tomorrow in different aspects: people’s welfare, communication with collaborators and clients, avoiding misunderstandings. Enjoy the small in order to do great things. We work to live and not vice versa. This is a satisfying way of living because the goal is to enjoy each day and not compete. If someone wants to be better than we, if they are better than we are, I will still be as happy as I am, and I hope they are too. We should pray from time to time Holy Einstein, the saint of relativity because he is

I have one last ques-tion, while we enjoy

the sweet wine. What are your main

current concerns?

63

the only saint who does not see things black and white but neither grey. It’s like the owner of this bar, according to your mood and the day will charge 10 or 12 euros for the same menu. And I pay with pleasure because we ate healthy and we had a nice time. That is what I need to fill batteries in and to keep fighting against indifference and incompetence.

Cheers and see you soon

64

66

Offices and warehouse4.788 m2 builtRealization: 2006 - 2007Alicante (Spain)

We rejected the traditional combination of warehouse and offices primarily because of the aggressive and noisy environment of the motorway, so close, and the surroun-ding industry. We proposed to locate the offices above the factory. In this way we could open up several courtyards and skylights that brought light and natural ventilation, both to the office area and the warehouse. This same composi-tion allowed us to work with two different materials in the facade, one more industrial, the other more noble.

WAREHOUSE IN VILLENA

67

68

1:50010 m. 69

1:50010 m. 70

71

72

73

1:50010 m. 74

75

76

Hotel, 60 rooms3.102 m2 builtRealization: 2007 - 2011 Valencia (Spain)

The urban fabric of a historical center is a kind of game between the void and the full. This same sequence of open and close spaces existed in the interior of Palau Vale-riola. We have strengthened this perception in the entrance sequence. The entrance is dark if compared with the street light, but immediately after a central courtyard brings down daylight. The half-lighted building captures you attention and brings you to the luminous backyard with palm trees. This sequence is repeated in the perpendicular direction: the old street of the jewish quarter, the old building of the Palace and the continuation of an former and vanished street at the entrance and exit of the annex building.

RESTORATION OF PALAU VALERIOLA

77

1:50010 m. 78

79

80

81

1:50010 m. 82

83

84

Restoration126 m2 builtRealization: 2002 - 2003Valencia (Spain)

In the plastic arts, on several occasions, a staircase has been used to create a fluid space, as in the works of Escher. In the refurbishment and rehabilitation of this apartment in the historic centre of Valencia, the stair is fixed and singular and brings together all the other spaces. It connects up and down, left and right, back and front.

APARTMENT IN HISTORIC CENTRE OF VALENCIA

85

86

87

1:2004 m. 88

89

90

91

92

Offices, lofts and commercial centre22.500 m2 builtProject: 2007 - 2008Valencia (Spain)

The complexity of the programme, which included offices, corporations, lofts for small businesses, a fitness center, a VIVERO, a shopping centre and several little stores and shops, encouraged us to work with a simple system. It was decided to use a square grid as a basis for the project. One axis was characterized by the flow of people and the other by the flow of nature. East-West axe connects green areas and introduces wind and sun. North-South axe concentrates entrances to the offices, the pool and the stores.

BUSINESS CENTRE IN PUçOL

93

94

1:200024 m. 95

1:200024 m. 96

97

98

One family house 341 m2 builtRealization: 2008 - 2011Valencia (Spain)

The plot was two meters below the street level and with a considerable slope. The client wanted to live in just one floor and the limits of the plot were not defined. The topography of the plot should be main-tained and reinforced.

A square plan was proposed, stretched to its maximum size and emptied with a courtyard as big as possible. The limits of the square were adapted to pre-existing trees. Half of the built volume flew over the garden in order to provide an outer space in the shade, a ventilated and sun-protected area for the summer. We managed to keep most of the ground as a garden and the occupied one was restored on the garden roof.

HOUSE B.05 IN ROCAFORT

99

100

101

102

103

1:3006 m. 104

105

1:3006 m. 106

107

PROFILEBipolaire+Partners is the result of an intense collaboration between engineers, architects and graphic designers who offer the services of a technical consultancy and design for an always more exigent market. The size of the office and the possibility to work in specific fields permits us to give detailed and personalized answers to the needs of our clients.

This book is a recompilation of prominent projects in the field of architecture. A collection of projects with different scales and programs to show our capacity to gives answers to different challenges but with the same requirements on quality. Behind every project there exists a work of research, both theoretical as prac-tical, that will be published in a second volume.

We would like to thank everybody who in one way or another, has collaborated in our projects, for their creative input and critics:

María Oliver Sanz, Rafa Mira Albero, Manuel Sanz Blasco, Carlos Valcárcel García, judith Marín Cámara, Cristina durán García, Oscar Marqués dasí, Mónica Ibañez Paricio, Ingo W. Schneider, Bruno Bouissou, Mercedes Vidal Chafer, Eduardo García Soria, Noel Arraiz García, Andrea Faedda, Massimiliano Campus, Alfonso Ventura Martínez, Sergi Artola dols, Eleonora Manca, Alessandra Caria, Giulia Tavera, Antonella Fois, Maria Piera Maciocco, Ana Blaya Rodríguez, Rafael delgado, Olga Mayoral, juan josé Galán, josé Sergio Palancio, josé Miguel Navarro Coll, Alberto Castilla Cid, josé María Arraiz Cid, Pilar Fariñas Morales, josep Martí García, Pablo Morera Ballester y Luis López Silgo.

109

110

Architect degree by the School of Architecture of Antwerp, he conti-nued his career in the field of urban design and architecture at the Technical University of Barcelona.

After several year of intense collaboration with Pich-Aguilera Archi-tects, he started together with Miguel Arraiz the office Bipolaire Architects in 2000.

He is a professor at the European University of Madrid since 2011. As an assistant professor at the department of urban planning of the Technical University of Valencia (2003-2011) he has been teaching in several universities in Europe (Artesis Antwerp, Mimar Sinan Istanbul, École d’Architecture Bordeaux, ZHAW Winterthur).

He is Technical director of Green Building Council España and member of the Forum for Sustainable Building of the Region of Valencia.

Publisher and author of several publications and books, all of them in the field of sustainable building (Towards a more sustainable building I and II, White book of Sustainable Building in the Region of Valencia).

BRUNO SAUERAntwerp 1971

MIGUEL ARRAIZ GARCíA

Architect degree by the Technical University of Valencia, he finished his career at the Technical University of Turin.

He concentrated his career in the field of restoration and rehabili-tation. Member of ARCHIVAL (Association for the recuperation of historic centers in Spain), he is the author of several articles and lecturer on interventions in historic centers.

In the period of 2003-2009 he was in charge of the department of culture at the Chamber of Architects of Valencia. He focused his work mainly in the continuous formation in three fields: sustainability, heritage and art.

He organized in 2009 the IV National Congress for Architects.

Since 2010 he is vice president of TECNIMEd (Association of engi-neering consultancies, offices of architecture and technological services of the region of Valencia).

Valencia 1975

111

2003 La Pobla de Vallbona Factory Extension

105 m2 263 built

2003 Benidorm Fuel station 555 m2 112 tech. detail

2003 Gandia Music hall 595 m2 812 built

2003 Marines Viejo Restoration single house

125 m2 331 built

2003 Alcoy Arts School 5.573 m2 362 2nd prize

2003 Valencia Housing restoration

1.695 m2 442 built

2003 Valencia Social Housing 5.573 m2 503 2nd prize

2003 Marines Viejo Restoration single house

50 m2 261 built

2003 Ontinyent Offices 230 m2 142 1st prize

2004 Alicante Apartments 465 m2 763 built

2004 Valencia Restoration apartment

125 m2 266 built

2004 Marines Viejo Restoration single house

130 m2 391 built

2004 San Vicente del Raspeig City council hall 12.675 m2 300 2nd prize

2004 Marines Viejo Restoration single house

40 m2 260 built

2004 Torrevieja Social housing 4.080 m2 2321 built

2004 Calasparra Urbanization 18Ha 531 design

2004 Madrid Reformation apartment

100 m2 432 built

2005 Rocafort Single house 160 m2 327 tech. detail

2005 Valencia University housing

16.649 m2 270 2nd prize

2006 San Vicente del Raspeig Social housing 3.715 m2 3079 built

2006 Finestrat Single house 195 m2 1042 tech. detail

1 2 3 4 5 6

2002 - 2011

112

1. Start year2. Place3. Category

2006 Valencia Apartments 595 m2 1710 built

2006 Lliria Apartments 10.815 m2 669 1st prize

2006 Novelda Apartments 1.045 m2 821 built

2006 Manises Offices, swimming pool, hotel

53.350 m2 3069 design

2006 Villena Warehouse and offices 4.780 m2 1337 built

2006 Vinaros Swimming pool 8.400 m2 104 2nd prize

2006 L’Eliana Apartments 3.400 m2 1474 tech. detail

2006 Puzol Offices, spa and commercial center

22.500 m2 2710 design

2007 Almenara Apartments 10.950 m2 2393 built

2007 Ontinyent Transformation industry hall into lofts

3.800m2 1215 tech. detail

2007 Alfara del Patriarca

Apartments 4.250 m2 113 2nd prize

2007 Rocafort Single house 340 m2 543 built

2007 Valencia Urbanization 3,2Ha 301 built

2007 Santomera Restoration quarry, study center

7.545 m2

+ 110 Ha434 special award

2007 denia Swimming pool 3.680 m2 158 2nd prize

2007 Paterna Offices 3.650 m2 765 design

2007 Valencia Historical palace conversion into Hotel

3.100 m2 2908 built

2008 La Villa joyosa

Urbanization, housing and medical center

25.750 m2 560 2nd prize

2009 Valencia Morgue 3.350 m2 277 design

2009 Alaquàs Urban square 850 m2 169 built

2010 Penaguila Elderly center 495 m2 609 built

2011 Hondon de los Frailes

Music hall 410 m2 430 built

1 2 3 4 5 6

4. Surface5. Dedicated working hours6. Actual state

113

Texts previously published in the book “Cap un Habitat(ge) Sostenible”, edited by the Generalitat de Catalunya, department of the Presidència, Consell Assessor per al desenvolupament Sostenible de Catalunya, coordinated by Manuel Gause, different authors, p. 151-156 “Hacia una aproximación más sutil de nuestro habitat”, ISBN 978-84-393-8748-0, translated by Paula Cardells Mosteiro.

*

114

www.bipolaire.net