iGuzzini Illuminazione España New Headquarters
Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Il Cielo iGuzzini does not belong to the ground on which it sits. Like a balloon, Leonidov’s aerostat, it will attempt to escape from this world, seeking a new sky.
It will describe the conditions of the light, natural and artificial, in its interior, it will refer to its origins, recognizing a geometric order, but above all it will want to speak to us of aspirations. Moored to the ground, it belongs to this place, and to all other places.
In reality there are forms that can only be drawn once, buildings that can only be built once. The second time is a replica. We believe in this opportunity for iGuzzini.
Because this form, imperfect, slightly deformed, belongs to the world of iGuzzini; its identification is easy, and not everyone can, with authority, appropriate this profile, this geometry.
A light, a big world, a big atrium around a shared central court... where the sense of belonging is proudly made explicit.
Il Cielo iGuzzini does not seek to boast of explicit technological innovation, since that would soon date it as new technologies rapidly superseded its own content. But it does seek to be an example of current development towards well understood sustainability in both technological and energy terms.
Our proposal seeks to exemplify, in architecture, the conditions closest to humankind, of collectivity, of ambition, of excellence... and to survive the passage of time because its origin is in the formal search that expresses such conditions.
Il Cielo iGuzzini is located by one of the roadway hubs of Barcelona, in a fragile condition of stability on the site where it sits. Without modifying the topography, a large underground space is previously delimited, regular in form, providing for storage, parking, showroom, auditorium, technical services. Its roof is proposed as an exterior technical floor such that it works like an outdoor showroom.
Atop this underground container emerges the company building, spherical in form though slightly deformed on the south side. A large central void, occupied by the single column from which the entire building is suspended, permits greater light and energy control inside. The spaces within the sphere are offices and, on the upper floors, research facilities.
