CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IN COMPOSTELA. Architecture Routes Revisited

Urban planning and contemporary architecture remain among the great unknowns of the city of Santiago de Compostela. The aim of this activity is to encourage citizens to go beyond monumental Compostela and to walk, discover and enjoy an architectural landscape that is contemporary and constantly evolving.
On this occasion, and in response to public demand, we are reissuing several architecture routes carried out in recent years.

ARCHITECTURE FOR CULTURAL SPACES
We will walk through the streets of Santiago de Compostela to discuss architecture as a container for cultural spaces. We will stop at some of these places where, beyond merely providing spaces for a specific function, architecture can and should be an inspiring element that accompanies and enhances the visitor experience.
The route will begin at the CGAC, a centre conceived from the outset for the role it fulfils today, and we will comment on the importance of this work by Álvaro Siza Vieira as both container and content for art. We will continue the visit at the Museum of Pilgrimage and Santiago, designed by Manuel Gallego Jorreto within the former Banco de España building. The walk will conclude at the Eugenio Granell Foundation, housed in the former Pazo de Bendaña.
We will discover some hidden corners of these buildings, which provide diverse examples of how to intervene in a World Heritage setting and how to highlight pre-existing architectures that are transformed and adapted to today’s cultural programming within the medieval fabric of the city.

THE CGAC AND OTHER LANDMARKS OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IN COMPOSTELA
This route offers a selection of interventions carried out over the last fifty years which have continuously defined and given character to the northern area of the city. We will discuss the relationship between architecture and landscape, the dialogue between tradition and modernity, stone and new architectural languages.
We will start outside the CGAC and talk about the importance of this first work by Álvaro Siza in the city. The walk will continue with stops at other landmarks of contemporary architecture in Compostela, such as the Xoán XXIII Avenue complex; the Ánxel Casal Public Library of Santiago, by Andrés Perea; the official residence of the President of the Xunta of Galicia, by Manuel Gallego Jorreto; the Quinta Simeón, also known as the Vista Alegre Park, with interventions by César Portela, Arata Isozaki and Antón García Abril; and the Auditorium of Galicia, by Julio Cano Lasso. We will conclude the walk by returning to the architecture of Siza Vieira at the Faculty of Communication Sciences.

URBAN EDGE INTERVENTIONS
On this route we will discover urban spaces that have undergone transformations in recent decades. We will present a selection of so-called “edge architectures”, that is, interventions that connect areas of the city built in different periods. We will talk about the relationship between architecture and landscape, urban scale, the incorporation of green spaces into the city fabric, the dialogue between tradition and modernity, stone and new architectural languages.
We will start outside the CGAC, where we will discuss the importance of Álvaro Siza Vieira’s work in Compostela. We will then continue through the San Domingos de Bonaval Park, designed by the Galician landscape architect Isabel Aguirre in collaboration with Álvaro Siza; the Caramoniña residential complex, by Víctor López Cotelo; and, from a distance, the intervention carried out on Monte Gaiás with the City of Culture. On our return to the CGAC, we will discuss the importance of small-scale interventions, using Casa 2M by the architecture studio 2es+ as an example.

SCHEDULE

ARCHITECTURE FOR CULTURAL SPACES
14 February. Registration period: 4-5 February
14 March. Registration period: 4-5 March
11 April. Registration period: 25-26 March
14 November. Registration period: 28-29 November

THE CGAC AND OTHER LANDMARKS OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IN COMPOSTELA
9 May. Registration period: 29-30 April
13 June. Registration period: 3-4 June

URBAN EDGE INTERVENTIONS
26 September. Registration period: 17-18 September
10 October. Registration period: 30 September - 1 October

CARMEN REY (Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, 1970) holds a degree in Architecture, specialising in Building Construction, from the University of A Coruña. She has worked in independent professional practice since 2000. Evidence of her commitment to the dissemination of architecture and urban planning in Santiago is her work, since 2002, designing and leading contemporary architecture routes for various institutions, including the College of Architects of Galicia, the City Council of Santiago, the Xunta of Galicia and the CGAC.
She was a member of the Culture Committee of the Santiago Delegation of the Official College of Architects of Galicia (2003-2007) and represented this institution as a member of the Technical Advisory Group and the Historical Heritage Advisory Committee for the Special Plan of the Historic City of Santiago (PE-1) of the City Council of Santiago (2015-2023).

REGISTRATION

The activity is free of charge. To take part, prior registration is required within the deadlines established for each session by sending an email to cgac.educacion@xunta.gal with the following information: full name, telephone number, email address, and studies, field of work or interest. A maximum of two participants may be registered per application; in this case, full details for both individuals must be provided. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Registered participants will receive notification of the status of their application by email.

In collaboration with: