FVI
FVI is the transformation of a disused commercial space in historic Madrid into a space designed to host a variety of activities.
The project aims to create a space that is flexible enough to be programmed in numerous ways, neutral enough to be appropriated by different occupants and representative enough to have its own identity.
The strategy divides the intervention in two: background and figure.
The background assumes the role of becoming a generic, neutral space; something like a white box that can be used for any activity. To this end, the container space is treated to expose its raw materiality, removing the coatings accumulated over the years. Subsequently, it is unified by using white paint applied over the various existing materials and textures. Additionally, a system of curtains occasionally extends this background, allowing certain areas to be activated or deactivated and facilitating the use of the space for simultaneous activities.
The figure is a stainless steel frame that contains all the communal installations, which cross the space vertically, and the installations for climate control, electricity, and plumbing. This element can also be disassembled into different pieces, working as a base for displaying any type of object or product, depending on the activity that should take place around it. The figure is a support structure for the space; a servant element that enables the different uses of this space. At the same time, it becomes the totem that represents the project. In the lower floor, a load-bearing element is introduced, a Warren truss, necessary to structurally reinforce the ground-floor slab. To clearly mark this underpinning intervention, this element is painted yellow to differentiate it from the existing envelope.
FVI is a combination of elements that seek to consolidate, on one hand, a pre-existing early 20th-century building, and on the other hand, a system that aims to facilitate the activities of its users.
