DESA1002 'Nine Quarter City' - <Addison Baharuddin>

Abstract

9 Quarter City, Madrid Madrid Gym Madrid is such a vibrant city with beautifully aged stucco buildings that enclose cobbled streets creating intimate spaces. It is deeply tied with its history with several major historic buildings and plaza’s gracing several districts of the city, such as the Palacio Real and Plaza Mayor. The choice of a gym came from the apparent crampness of the Plaza Mayor district, with the surrounding vernacular buildings leaving little space left. I built on the concept of breaking up the delicate fabric of the city with a contemporary structure taking dominance, on a busy street corner. Instead of being introverted and second-placed in the midst of all the shops and café’s, I wanted it to dominate and have high exposure of its internal activities. I also wanted to express the gym as a machine. People come in, burn fat, pump muscles and leave; it is a very physical atmosphere. I wanted a very brutal, aggressive appearance which is achieved through choosing an exoskeleton-like structure with naked steel columns, bare concrete walls and huge sheets of glass. There is no ornamentation or decoration, the beauty of the building lies in the inherit expression of its materials. The gym features weights rooms, cardio rooms, an outdoor aerobics area, two squash courts, a sun room, and social spaces in the form of a courtyard café and second floor lounge room. It is centred on a diagonal circulation and atrium space that connects the street corner to the courtyard behind. This results in irregular placement of spaces resulting in parts of the building jutting out onto the street, such as the two squash courts on the third floor, which reinforces the concept of high exposure. It provides a much needed outlet for physical exercise and recreation for the people of Madrid and does little in trying to hide it.