Vello Cárcere Building

Luis Díaz Díaz

Vello Cárcere Building. Refurbishment of the old Lugo prison to stablish a cultural center

• Architects

The project is based on the idea that the building had to be the protagonist and its interior space returned to the city as a street on which to walk and meet, talk and display issues that, exhibited while making the most of the already-built order, could be come culture without a museum.

photo_credit Luis Díaz Díaz — Luis Díaz Díaz

The intention of recovering Lugo’s old gaol for a civic space, in which the cells are transformed into spaces that transmit the citizens’ exterior time and events, governs the philosophy applied by the authors who have undertaken this project.

Lugo’s Old Judicial District Gaol is a beautiful building situated in close proximity to the city walls, designed by Nemesio Cobreros in 1878 according to the improvement criteria introduced in the early Modelo gaols. The intervention thus seeks to reveal what a space is on the basis of what it was, giving careful consideration to the many gazes that can be thrown and were thrown. In essence, the great value of the void as a space forrest and memory is used both in the visual axes and in the routes that cross the building from the courtyards and around the perimeter enclosure. The solution multiplies the possibilities of access, giving independence not only to each one of the buildings but also to the main collective-use spaces, all of them projected to the exterior and establishing links with the city.

Team:

Architects: CREUSeCARRASCO

Lead Architects: Juan Creus, Covadonga Carrasco

Design Team in CREUSeCARRASCO: Belén Salgado, Bárbara Mesquita, Laura Coladas, Nuria Casais, Cristina Canto, Elisa Moreira, Manuel Burraco, Celsa Pesqueira, Sara Escudero, Alicia Balbás, Elena Junquera

Facilities Engineer: Isabel Francos

Structure & Surveyor: Félix Suárez

Measurements: José Luis García

Archeology: Francisco Hervés

Photographer: Luis Díaz Díaz