Cordoba Congress Center
In 2002 OMA won the competition to design a new congress center located on the Miraflores Peninsula, facing the historic city center of Cordoba, Spain. Wishing to improve on the possibilities of the original building site, OMA proposed a new and unexpected location on the peninsula. Taking full advantage of the urban qualities of the Miraflores Peninsula, the new Cordoba Congress Center (CCC) is positioned on a narrow East-West strip. A floating beam, the Center acts as a buffer between the Miraflores andthe planned Fluvial Park, and organises the now disparate elements of the Miraflores Peninsula, the river, and historic center (UNESCO World Heritage Site) into a coherent urban grouping, extending the benefits of Cordobas old town to the rest of the city.
The continuous open-air promenade - located at the mid-section, running the full length of the building - establishes the congress center as a linear viewing platform, looking out over the park, the river, and the historic center beyond. Views on the Mesquita in the old town center will be impressive from the roof terrace, which accommodates a swimming pool and a pebble garden.
The building functions as a programmatic beam - hollowed out to accommodate public facilities; separated to accommodate auditoria; re-converging to define the hotel lobby; sliced to allow the San Fernando route to continue through from the old city, and suddenly cantilevering to mark the formal entrance to the Congress Center. Bridging the east and west banks of the river along its length, the building establishes a route, moving visitors in and out of the citys historic center. A series of ramps, escalators, and stairs channel the public seamlessly through the building, absorbing all circulation into a sequence of congress areas, conference halls, an outdoor auditorium, café, hotel facilities, and shops.
For the façade, standard U-plank glass has been modified into a green, bubbled material breaking the sharp southern sunlight to provide the interiors with a more diffuse atmosphere.
Client:
Promoter: City of Cordoba;
Concession: Ferrovial Agromán S.A. /
Promotor: Gerencia Municipal de Urbanismo; Concesionaria: Ferrovial Agromán S.A.
Budget: 82M (Material Execution Project + Scenography / Proyecto de Ejecución Material+ Escenografía)
Program:
Congress Center: 21,187m2, Hotel: 18,394m2,
Comercio: 4,925m2, Promenade: 6,766m2,
Parking: 9,766m2
Competition Team: Erik Schotte, Roberto Otero, Fernando Donis with Catarina Canas, Thorsten Kiefer, Sibylle Waelty
Team: Andrea Bertassi, Clement Blanchet, Gabriela Bojalil, Antonio Branco, Joao Bravo da Costa, Gonzalo Cantos, Kees van Casteren, Markus Dettling, Tiago Simas Freire, Adrianne Fisher, Carlos Garcia Gonzalez, Thomas von Girsewald, Andrew Griffin, Gustavo Guimaraes, Inge Goudsmit, Chris Hildrey, Pieter Janssens Michel van der Kar, Trine Kobbelvedt, Simon Kretz, Anna Little, Pascal Lestringant, Ralph van Mameren, Tanner Merkeley, David Moon, Christina Murphy, Roberto Otero, Daan Ooievaar, Holger Pausch, Mauro Parravicini, Manuel Pelicano, Tiago Farinha Rodrigues, Joao Ruivo, Mariano Sagasta, Maurizio Scarciglia, Florian Schrott, Christin Svensson.
Acoustics: Dorsserblesgraaf
Scenography: Ducks Sceno
Installations: Ferrovial Agroman, S.A.
Curtain Design: Inside Outside
Lighting Design: Ducks Sceno
