The Kings of Spain will formally inaugurate next June in Valladolid the Centro Cultural Miguel Delibes, a “city of culture”, grand in size, the biggest in Europe of this type, 54.000 square meters designed for the thinking, rehearsing, planning and playing of the traditional and avant-garde arts.
This iconic, modern and spacious city for culture could be compared to other landmarks that have changed the dynamics of cities and regions. Here the curved presence is frozen into the waves on the roof that undulate like the abstract planes of Valladolid.
The place is theatrical. The entrance sequence takes you around a sculptural, 180 meter long red wall and through a sliding glass wall into a classical yet ultra-modern entrance hall that lead into a series of primary functions: theatres, auditoriums, all wooden concert halls for chamber music, a large open–space room for experimental theatre, a music conservatory, a dance and a drama schools, as well as all their auxiliary and technical functions. A magical place for an inspirational education and performance of the highest arts.
In the next days the Symphony Orchestra will fine-tune the all wooden Auditorium, a place studied with one the most renowned acoustician in the world, Mr Yaying Xu, “a very special flexible sound” said Ricardo Bofill. The Auditorium has a capacity for 1.800 spectators.
The structure of this “small city of arts”, as Bofill called it, is based on three differentiated parts corresponding to 1) the Professional Music Conservatory and a Chamber Music Room, 2) the Auditorium and the Symphony Orchestra hall, and 3) the class rooms an rehearsing rooms of the Drama High School, the Professional Dance School and the Experimental Theatre, with six hundred seats.
These three parts assemble around a large covered but open central space, conceived as a plaza and meeting point for “all citizens users of this city of culture” that will be open throughout the year, with a maximum capacity of 1000 people.
Bofill adds: “It is the lowest price by square meter in the world for a cultural centre of these characteristics. My team and myself think in terms austere concepts of space and light, advanced technology and materials, sustainable buildings and landscapes, high-energy saving. Yet the final cost is low. We have been working in adapting design systems to the contemporary challenges for 45 years. We have the experience.
This has been a great honor to participate with this very special team in this very special project” said the architect.
