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2014 UK Award Part 1
Cultural Perforation in Madrid / Disruption of the Defined

What will museums be like in the future? As more and more public space is privatized, the project proposes the museum as a place that is accessible and civically responsible. By finding new ways in which the museum can thrive, using challenges as opportunities to test new business and engagement models, the project discovers new forms of engagement both architecturally and programmatically. It creates a more sustainable model where live and work coexists alongside the museum activities.

Kent Gin
University of East London
Department of Architecture and Visual Arts

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Somf 2014 uk award kent gin project boards 01

The project proposes the museum as a place that is accessible and civically responsible. © Kent Gin.

Jury
Kent Jackson
John-Paul Nunes
Rik Nys
Andrew Philips
Patrik Schumacher


The project is set within the existing building of the Palace of Conde Duque, one of the largest buildings in Madrid, which from the seventeenth century until the beginning of the twentieth century was a Royal Guards Corps barracks. It was only in 1983 that the Conde Duque was reborn as the cultural center it is today. It remains as one of the most important buildings of Madrid and is working hard to retain a presence in the city’s cultural scene. However, the intimidating former military facilities have failed to create a vibrant cultural community and reorganization of the center is long overdue.

Following conversations with Pablo Berástegui, the cultural director of the center, I developed a design and program strategy that would invigorate the site and allow it to realize its full potential. The proposal consists of a mixed use live and work community named La Villa Del Conde Duque. The introduction of live and workspaces allow young creatives in the Universidad district to coexist in the social cultural center. Becoming a hub for the thriving arts, cultural, and entertainment scene, creating affordable homes and job opportunities for locals in an area where unemployment is at its highest ever.

Led by climatic conditions, traditional domestic spaces in Spain have used light screens alongside the fenestrations of the building to provide shade and privacy. Researching existing residential projects from three different Spanish architects (Ricardo Bofill, Rafael Moneo, and Jose Antonio Coderch) provided key design criteria in developing the residential units. The project reinterprets their designs and modifies them through implementation of concrete light screens, creating semiprivate outdoor working spaces for the residents.

The introduction of live and workspaces allow young creatives in the Universidad district to coexist in the social cultural center. © Kent Gin.

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The development of light screens inspired by the climatic conditions and tradition domestic spaces. © Kent Gin.

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Light defining materiality and form. © Kent Gin.

La Villa Del Conde Duque–Sectional Axonometric. © Kent Gin.

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Open-air atrium. © Kent Gin.

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Somf uk award kent gin 2014 01

Kent Gin
University of East London
Department of Architecture and Visual Arts

Kent Gin

works at the multi-award-winning architecture practice Foster + Partners, one of the world’s leading design practices. Prior to working at practices in London, he studied at the University of Westminster and the University of East London, where he received multiple awards such as the RIBA East London Architect’s New Talent Award, RIBA East London Society Architect’s Degree Prize Award, and the SOM Foundation Fellowship. Graduating in 2014, Gin’s work focuses on materiality and the understanding of functions. Along with architecture, his interests range from art and fashion to photography, which heavily influence his passion in the built environment.

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