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[vmzincforarchitecture]

Private Residence, Greenville (USA) by Tonic Construction.

Installer : MetalWorx

[vmzincforarchitecture]

Met Office, Exeter (UK) by  Stride Treglown (Head Office), Bristol

Installer: Q&M, Copyright: Paul Kozlowski

[vmzincforarchitecture]

Verve and vitality

 Every city has districts with deep-rooted historic, human and poetic interest. The Barceloneta district is one of these and it made its mark on Catalan architect Josep Miàs at a time when “laundry hung from windows, the streets were lined with small shops and workshops” and he himself was a local student. Years later, faced with the task of renovating the area’s 19th century covered market, the architect wanted to pay homage to the spirit of the place and the vitality of its inhabitants. This vital spirit is embodied by the eruptive, oceanic metaphors conveyed by the restructured part of the building, which is grafted onto the regular, simple, functional style of the original construction. The roof rises up like blocks of rugged minerals, its blades sweeping down towards the city. “The imprisoned building is twisting and turning, but finally tamed”, comments Josep Miàs, as he points out the capacity of zinc to adorn all kinds of structures and the richness expressed by the combination of QUARTZ-ZINC® and ANTHRA-ZINC®.

  La Barceloneta Market, Barcelona (Spain) by Josep Miàs MiAS Arquitectes 

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[vmzincforarchitecture]

Mysterious footbridge

 The Maritime Museum of Ílhavo was opened in 1937 on the initiative of private investors. In 2001, it was renovated and extended by the architects from the ARX studio, who were invited again in 2010 to create a seawater aquarium for cod. This fi sh is often considered as the main ingredient in Portuguese cooking and is a key part of the country's culture, which explains the extension of the museum. It could be considered as a local fi sh as the last remaining trawlers that still fi sh cod in the northern seas are based in the Ílhavo region.  

The cod in the aquarium come from Norway. The project marks the museum's 75th anniversary and provides an opportunity to restructure the entire site by connecting the three entities it comprises: the museum itself, which is considered as a place of remembrance, the aquarium dedicated to marine life and CIEMAR – the centre for research on marine activities, located in a former school. The aquarium is housed in a white concrete cube isolated from the other buildings and positioned to defi ne a square. It links to the other buildings via a striking connection: an overhead  footbridge covered in dark grey zinc, which creates an obvious contrast with the brickwork of the extension. On the elevations, the building looks totally rectilinear. In fact, it features two bends that make it a strange unit, made even more mysterious by its opacity. The ANTHRA-ZINC ® initiates a path that continues through a network of ramps abandoning right angles and winding in a spiral around the aquarium. Numerous mock-ups were made prior to deciding on this pathway around the aquarium. The technical components of the building are placed in the basement, giving pride of pace to this scenography, which is all the more spectacular as it emerges from the ground in an urban context made up of small individual houses.

Extension of the Maritime Museum in Ílhavo (Portugal) by ARX Portugal

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