The architectural design of the main building at PLANTA was presented at the second annual edition of this biennial, which ended in January, and has emerged as the most important architecture and design exposition in the Western Hemisphere.
For 16 weeks, the architectural proposal was on display at the exposition, whose theme was “Make New History”, and which included the presence of more than 140 architects from over 20 countries, and received more than 550 thousand visitors.
The firm Ábalos + Sentkiewicz Arquitectos (AS+), which was in charge of creating the proposal, defined this future space as a thermal machine that ties the local climate to the building materials used, in order to achieve full self-sufficiency.
PLANTA is the benchmark project for the contemporary art and business innovation initiative sponsored by Sorigué and its foundation, located in the company’s industrial complex in Balaguer (Lleida, Spain).
The presentation of the architectural proposal for PLANTA, the innovative project sponsored by Sorigué and the Fundació Sorigué and put on display last September at the Chicago Biennial, was finally was brought to a close.
The project, developed by the firm Ábalos + Sentkiewicz Arquitectos (AS+), combines building and landscape to create what the architects themselves call “a privileged vantage point for observing the processes of material and human transformation of the land”.
The 7,500 m2-building takes the materials from the complex’s own gravel pit, drawing upon the relationship of those materials with the features of the environment, to organize a thermal machine that manages heat radiation, lighting, and ventilation to create efficient and sustainable thermodynamics.
The building will also be the definitive home of the Fundació Sorigué’s acclaimed collection of contemporary art, consisting of more than 450 works by artists of international renown.
PLANTA’s architectural design benefits from the collaboration of Armin Linke, artist and photographer; Teresa Galí, landscape architect and partner of Jordi Nebot at the Arquitectura Agronomía firm in Barcelona; Salmaan Craig, researcher; and the Aiguasol and BAC engineering firms.
The PLANTA project emerged from the intersection of the Sorigué business group and the Fundació Sorigué, as a point of confluence of art, science, architecture, landscape, knowledge, and enterprise. The project is located at La Plana del Corb, an industrial complex operated by the Sorigué group in Balaguer (Lleida, Spain).
The second annual Chicago Biennial was presented with the theme “Make New History”, and was attended by more than 141 professionals from over 20 countries. The biennial has emerged as the most important architecture and design exposition in the Western Hemisphere
The PLANTA exposition at the Chicago Architecture Biennial includes graphic documentation and a scale model of the main building, five photo-books, and a landscape video, all created by artist Armin Linke, as well as a PLANTA catalog that displays the key pillars of the project: knowledge and enterprise, art and creativity, architecture, and landscape.
