Ursula
. a floating cube.
Urusla is one of six cubes that composed an old ancient city that submersed a long time ago. This lonely cube was found by a group of emerging artists that decided to give a new life to this abandoned place.
Since the beginning, it was clear that its structure should be kept like it was found. Therefore, all of its pillars were maintained and the interiors were thought as an attachment to its original shape. Being an immense apparent concrete construction, the architectural body seemed a long-term shelter, not only for the artists, but also for the art itself.
Divided in five floors the building shows that each level houses a different program. On a first approach the silence room shows up like an extension of the grand lobby, welcoming the visitor and inviting everyone to continue their journey. After this first moment, the group rooms seems like an open space that connects with the interior patio, which is also the core of the project creating a connection
between all floors, being the source of a faded light to the previous silence room.
The library was designed as an intermediate space between the public program and the residential studios. These last ones were thought as a transparent glass structure, with long white curtains that would softener its transparency. It was thought as a versatile structure that would suite every type of artists. Therefore, a central box -with the program of the kitchen and the bathroom- divides the entrance/private library and the living room. The bedroom it’s a simple intermediate platform that floats through the space.
Being transparent the studios are permanently contacting with the outside landscape: a rocky island in the middle of the ocean, whose atmosphere its foggy and enigmatic.
The gallery -on the top of the building- finishes the program of this hostel being an open space that is closed to the outside landscape, opening to the patio and to the sky.
