Paths Entwined
Sketch of Pedestrian Paths
Hostel and Gallery | Barcelona, Spain
A sinewy set of ribbons rise and form a public square adjacent to the ancient roman wall. A thin cantilevered hostel forms a spatial and auditory barrier against the busy road, Via Laietana. Enclosed within a mesh skin, the building conceals by daylight and reveals by night its interior and pronounced structure.
The 20 bed hostel is contained within the thin cantilevered wing, completing the urban wall of Via Laietana. The rooms themselves are suspended from the superstructure. A public gallery forms the roots to this sinewy form.
The building’s form originated in a mapping of the pedestrian traffic moving around a sunken sand courtyard adjacent to the roman wall. Far from a celebrated public space, the site is a void while the masses of people traffic move around the edges and along the noisy chaotic street. Correlating to the volume of traffic, a enclosing form began to grow.
