Barcelona Modern Architecture/ Exterior Skins

 (Illa de la Llum)

The area of 22@ in Barcelona, Spain expresses a wide range of modern architecture.  Two of the buildings Illa de la Llum ( Lluis collet & Ignacio: architect) and ME Barcelona Hotel (Dominique Perrault: architect) have very interesting exterior skins that express qualities of transparency and translucency.

The first building Illa de la Llum located along the sea has a very particular system that generates its exterior skin.   Moveable screens are placed over the entire facade of the building creating a very interesting checker board looking effect.  The screens provide a translucency to the building by partially shading the building from the sun but not entirely blocking the view to the outside.  These screens create a wall for the exterior terraces/ balconies of the apartment suites.  This wall can either slide open to allow for views of the ocean or slid closed to provide shade and protection from the hot sun.  The movements of the screens are depicted by the occupants of the apartments themselves, so based on particular preferences the screens movements will change throughout the building creating a constantly changing facade.  The facade is never completely opened or closed created very opaque patches as well as very translucent open patches within the facade.  This always for viewers to see into or out of the building and get a sense of the spaces created within.  The facade is a very dynamic one because of its movement as well as the position of the building.  Its positioned so every apartment unit gets a view of the city as well as the sea.  If viewed from afar or right up to the very details this building is very translucent because if the screens are completely open you can see straight through the building.  Even in the details you can still see the interior of the building through the slits in the screen so the building is never entirely closed off to the exterior. In fact instead of closing it off it takes advantage of its surroundings and compliments them by creating excellent shaded views.

 ME Barcelona Hotel

The second building ME Barcelona Hotel located between the Glories Plaza and the Forum Area has a very different approach to its facade. The exterior is not a screen but a sheet of glass that covers the entire facade.  The hotel is very translucent due to the glass material you can see into the building close up but not entirely in because of glazing added to create privacy and shading protection.  The building itself because of the color blends in almost to the sky and the sea because of its bluish green color creating a sense of translucency within the landscape/ sky line.  Because of its shape/ height is creates a very dynamic landmark for the area.  It looks as if its reaching for the heavens due to its height and exaggerated setbacks.  While the glass creates a transparency and allows for views from the interior, the exterior skin due to the glazing is not very transparent.  The exterior skin creates more of a mirror effect reflecting the city scape and creating a back drop for the city.  This building takes advantage of the views of the city/ sea with its height as well as its shape it provides views from every side as well as giving back to its surroundings with a mirrored back drop.