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Centro Ceramica Triana - The Triana Ceramics Museum is the most recent chapter in the long history of the Fábrica de Cerámica Santa Ana (Ceramics Factory of Santa Ana), which has lent itself to the design, production, exhibition, and sale of ceramics for half a millennia. The new center offers a space for interpretation in the heart of the historic quarter of Triana.
Heritage - The workshop was in production up until the end of the 20th century, which permitted the preservation of many of the elements including: seven firing kilns, a well, pigment mills, workshops, and storerooms. An archaeological survey uncovered remains of another 8 kilns, the oldest of which were in use until end of the 16th Century.
Strategies - The existing inner pottery complex is a historical patchwork, the result of centuries of adaptations resolving needs as they arose: manufacture, expand, store, modernize, etc. In continuity with the historical processes that have shaped the complex, this project is proposed as just another step in the evolution of the space, albeit in respect to contemporary and sustainable design constraints.
The aim is not to become a visual reference or to alter the architectural profile of Triana, but to blend with the already rich fabric of the urban landscape. In fact, the inner complex is not even visible from the street and is meant to be a gift to be discovered once one gets into it.
Site: Triana, Seville, Spain: 37°22′38″N 5°59′13″W
Separated physically from Seville by the Guadalquivir River, Triana has a proud and distinct character of its own. The quarter is perhaps most well known for its ceramics, which since Roman times, have been made from the mud collected along the riverbanks. Famous bullfighters and sailors have called Triana home; Rodrigo de Triana was the first to spot the New World as he sat atop the mast of Columbus’ ship La Pinta in 1492. Triana is also the spiritual heart of Flamenco. For centuries, gypsies were not allowed in the city walls (intramuros). They made Triana their home; their vibrant culture is interwoven in the cityscape and reflected in the bustling streets.
The site of the museum is a densely populated quarter with very narrow streets and an average building height of three stories, or 10 meters. This geometry allows for light to enter while still providing much needed shade from the hot summer sun. Interior patios are commonplace due to the microclimates they create, allowing for air circulation throughout the building as well as serving as an exterior living space.
Experience: The layout of the ground floor leads visitors on a labyrinthine journey among the kilns while communicating the process of traditional ceramic production in Triana. Archaeological methods where employed to preserve the structures without erasing the traces of time (smoke and ashes, chance and disorder), elements which constitute a part of the heritage.
The new exhibition space, located on the second floor, is visually suspended above the labyrinth below. Wrapping around the periphery of the patio, it adapts to the geometry of each of the kilns which could hypothetically start working again. As a result, the form of the exhibition space expands and contracts, offering open galleries and narrow passageways with views of the patio.
The inner facing façades wrapping around the patio are composed of stacked ceramic tubes of varying diameter. They serve to reinforce the concept of layering that has dictated the evolution of the complex and also to protect from solar gain. The material choice also speaks to the historic use of the complex (the ceramic pieces were locally commissioned), while representing itself as a distinct layer in the fabric of the building, creating a harmonious contrast between the old and the new.
This system of brise-soleil has been utilized in the southern region of Spain for centuries to combat the heat of summer by shading the building façade, while allowing the passage of light and air, and still permitting views from the interior. The façade is parametrically designed so that areas which receive more sunlight contain a higher density of the ceramic shading.
AF6 Arquitectos - Miguel Hernández Valencia. Architect (University of Seville, 1999). Assistant Lecturer in the Architectural Structures Department of the School of Architecture at the University of Seville.
Esther López Martín. Architect (University of Seville, 2000). Landscape architect (International University of Andalusia, 2009)
Juliane Potter. Architect. Architect (RWTH Aachen Germany, 1999)
Ángel González Aguilar. Architect (University of Seville, 2001)
Francisco José Domínguez Saborido. Architect (University of Seville, 2003)
