Art Prison_Young Architects Competition

Art Prison _ YAC Competition

Collaboration_ André Gonçalves

“ By dint of logic, life in the old-world communities is singularly privileged. Instead of several hours of daily travel, only a flight of stairs may separate a man’s workshop from his living quarters. Since he himself helped to shape and preserve his environment, he never seems to tire of it. ”

Collaboration_ André Gonçalves

“ By dint of logic, life in the old-world communities is singularly privileged. Instead of several hours of daily travel, only a flight of stairs may separate a man’s workshop from his living quarters. Since he himself helped to shape and preserve his environment, he never seems to tire of it. ”

Bernard Rudofsky, Architecture Without Architects

"TO INHABIT AN ART MOUNTAIN”

Our initial desire for the site was one of connection and continuity. How could we explore the relationship between the mountain, the old prison buildings and the artists while also responding to the proposed program without disrupting the remarkable existing beauty? The solution was to dig underground, to allow the artist and visitor to inhabit an art mountain and be part of it. We developed a maze like underground system that acted as the physical continuity of the fortress inside the earth, composed of secluded living quarters for individual meditation and rest, in an ambience of profound solitude. At the heart of it, a pool complex, achieving a similar role of the roman baths, where one emerges replenished and restored. Three living modules were created – a regular room; an extended room, for more demanding guests; and an artist’s apartment. The later was never intended to be a working space since we believe that the two functions should be separated.

"TO INHABIT AN ART MOUNTAIN”

Our initial desire for the site was one of connection and continuity. How could we explore the relationship between the mountain, the old prison buildings and the artists while also responding to the proposed program without disrupting the remarkable existing beauty? The solution was to dig underground, to allow the artist and visitor to inhabit an art mountain and be part of it. We developed a maze like underground system that acted as the physical continuity of the fortress inside the earth, composed of secluded living quarters for individual meditation and rest, in an ambience of profound solitude. At the heart of it, a pool complex, achieving a similar role of the roman baths, where one emerges replenished and restored. Three living modules were created – a regular room; an extended room, for more demanding guests; and an artist’s apartment. The later was never intended to be a working space since we believe that the two functions should be separated.

“THE CITY OF THE ARTS”

We had a firm believe that our system should work as a vernacular city, with a central street that connected the entire program, collective and individual, and is simultaneously the main art exhibition space. It should expand to the exterior, both on the fortress and hotel room rooftops, spreading to the landscape, becoming part of it. We place both a restaurant and a food court in the fortress, so that they are equally part of this living organism. We strived for unity between the new and the old, but also between the visitor and the inhabitant. Artists share close living quarters with visitors and their ateliers are inside the fortress, requiring a short daily trip through the “streets” of this city and promoting social and artistic interchange between all users of this unified space.

“THE CITY OF THE ARTS”

We had a firm believe that our system should work as a vernacular city, with a central street that connected the entire program, collective and individual, and is simultaneously the main art exhibition space. It should expand to the exterior, both on the fortress and hotel room rooftops, spreading to the landscape, becoming part of it. We place both a restaurant and a food court in the fortress, so that they are equally part of this living organism. We strived for unity between the new and the old, but also between the visitor and the inhabitant. Artists share close living quarters with visitors and their ateliers are inside the fortress, requiring a short daily trip through the “streets” of this city and promoting social and artistic interchange between all users of this unified space.

“COLLECTIVE RUIN AND INDIVIDUAL SPACE”

The old prison buildings were, for us, an architectural object, a symbol. Seen from the entire island of Favignana, similar to a lighthouse, they attracted and engaged inhabitants and visitors alike. This strong symbology should be enhanced and continued, an architectural object with a purpose – a Mecca for the arts. The path marks the beginning of the pilgrimage to this new holy site, through an ever changing artistic landscape. The buildings act as shells for ephemeral experiences, as collective space, where all the public functions are installed – the fortress as an artistic and cultural center with restaurant spaces and the second, more modest building, as the hotel lobby and cafeteria. There are no permanent additions, only temporary, that could be replaced at any given time. Most artistic related spaces stay undefined – the exhibitions, the ateliers, the shops – they are to be absorbed by the artists and mutated with their temporary installations

“COLLECTIVE RUIN AND INDIVIDUAL SPACE”

The old prison buildings were, for us, an architectural object, a symbol. Seen from the entire island of Favignana, similar to a lighthouse, they attracted and engaged inhabitants and visitors alike. This strong symbology should be enhanced and continued, an architectural object with a purpose – a Mecca for the arts. The path marks the beginning of the pilgrimage to this new holy site, through an ever changing artistic landscape. The buildings act as shells for ephemeral experiences, as collective space, where all the public functions are installed – the fortress as an artistic and cultural center with restaurant spaces and the second, more modest building, as the hotel lobby and cafeteria. There are no permanent additions, only temporary, that could be replaced at any given time. Most artistic related spaces stay undefined – the exhibitions, the ateliers, the shops – they are to be absorbed by the artists and mutated with their temporary installations

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