86 CONTENT IN ENGLISH 026 CD tander and through an urban intervention, Renzo Piano man- aged to integrate the center of the city restoring the ties be- tween the historic quarter and the waterfront. He reclaimed the dockland site of the Albareda mole for the city by placing the road, that separated the park from the sea, underground through a tunnel, making it possible to double the historic jardines de Pereda gardens, extending them to the seafront and integrating them into the intervention complex. For the architect, light and lightness were essential el- ements in the design of the project. Placed in cantilever over the sea, the building never touches the ground, it is suspended in pillars and columns at the same level of the tree canopy of the jardines de Pereda gardens, appearing as a “dock” over the sea. The elevation allows light to shine through and offers vistas of the bay, in complete integra- tion with the surroundings. “I feel honored doing this project for the city of San- tander because it falls within my personal design trajectory of cultural centers that are open, tolerant, and accessible to all, from de Pompidou Center in Paris, the Beyeler Founda- tion in Basel, the Morgan Library in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, to the Auditorium in Rome, they are urban places loved by people”, said Renzo Piano. The Center, a space for art, culture and education, was financed by the Botín Foundation, one of the most impor- tant and active private foundations in Spain fostering the social, economic and cultural development of society. The building, with a construction area of 8,739 m2, is arranged in two volumes connected to each other by a structure of squares and walkways, the pachinko. The west volume is dedicated to art, with two exhibition galleries that add up to 2,500 m2, and the east volume, to cultural and educational activities, housing an audito- rium for 300 people, work spaces and a terrace from where stunning vistas of Santander and its bay can be enjoyed. THE LIGHTING OF CENTRO BOTÍN artec3 Studio, in collaboration with Renzo Piano Building Workshop Architects, was in charge of the lighting design for the Nueva Fundación Botín (New Botín Foundation). The lighting vision for the building and the park wanted to establish a natural light relationship between the new construction and the city of Santander, without displaying an excessive protagonism. Externally, the building is softly illuminated from the pavement, with the intention of giving the effect of buoy- ancy, as if anchored in a sea of reflections. Adding to the effect is the lighting proposal of the pachinko, consisting of translucent glass and metal, with lighting integrated in the layers of glass. This solution gives a sensation of lightness to the exterior paths of the building, evolving, by night, into a subtle lamp with an industrial style. A column shaped fixture lights the park, when dark, emphasizing visual comfort, and by day, becomes an urban furniture adding design value. In the interior areas, the dif- ferent lighting needs are resolved in an efficient, effective and orderly fashion by using Led technology in warm tem- peratures for all the applications. Likewise, both exhibition galleries are furnished with a “conventional” lighting solution, based on electrified rails and projectors. For this project, the family of Palco projec- tors, created specifically for museum use, was chosen due to its wide variety of optical solutions and accessories that can adapt the lighting design to meet the exhibition re- quirements of the galleries. The projectors are equipped with DALI power supply units. The Center has a manage- ment system that can regulate the intensity values of each projector, and concerning the top floor projectors, relate them to the level of natural light radiation on the occasions this light is needed, thanks to the glass roofing consisting of four layers: an outer level composed of silkscreened glass slats which prevent stray light to enter the gallery space directly; a second layer of double glazing which seals the gallery; a third layer consisting of small aluminium louvers controlled automatically by a system of sensors that can be used to black out the interior, and lastly, a layer placed un- der the main beams and consisting of a semi-transparent white fabric that creates a uniform space and diffuses the light while revealing the complex structure of the roof. The spectacular sights of the bay and the park that both levels offer require a careful control of natural lighting. Consid- eration for size of the spaces and the projection of exposure needs have concluded in the selection of projectors with a luminous flux of 3000 lm.; color temperature of 3000 K and conventional projector optics, 18o, 28o and 42o - with interchangeable optics – soft lens type accessories; el- liptic refractors and screening cylinders to improve visual comfort, and projectors with a specific Wall washer optic in case a uniform base light is needed. OVERLOOKING THE SANTANDER BAY The East volume is occupied, in a large part, by the audito- rium, rising to double height and cantilevered over the sea. It was conceived as a multifunctional space that can house concerts, conferences, festivals, ceremonies, lectures and more. The lighting design must be able to adapt to the dif- ferent activities and does it anonymously and integrated into the architecture with embedded luminaries from Re- flex, which combine different angles of emission to create a mantle of light appropriate to every occasion, in the public area, and a purely system of scenography for the “stage” area. During the day, the particular vision of the Santander bay, visible through the large windows of the auditorium, renders artificial lighting secondary in contrast with the prominence of natural light. On the other hand, the rooms of the education center are designed to offer spaces that can host multiple work- shops. Here too, the luminaries are embedded with mini- mum prominence to provide the functionality needed in those spaces. In the auditorium as well as the other areas of the center, luminaries are managed through the DALI pro- tocol and the KNX system, not only to guarantee flexibility in the installations but also to allow optimal maintenance work in the center. The pachinko is the group of structures which comprise squares and walkways and facilitates circulation between the buildings and enjoyment of the city, park or bay vistas, becoming an authentic plaza. At night the pachinko retains the concept of transparency imparted by the glass with the application of subtle lighting integrated within the struc- ture by means of linear Led strips that combine the circu- lation lighting with the emphasized geometry formed by stairways and walkways. A BUILDING WITH FIVE SKINS The geometry of the two volumes is the product of a pains- taking and progressive work of perfecting the design us- ing models and computer programs, resulting in a slightly curved shape that allows excellent lighting and visual in- tegration in the ground floor. The two volumes face and complement each other. They are covered in 280,000 slightly circular ceramic tiles, made in the workshop of Toni Cumella, 156 mm in diameter, pearl-colored and vibrant, they reflect sun light, the glare from the water, the atmos- phere of Cantabria, and artificial lighting by night. These ceramic tiles actually are the fifth skin of the building; the first one is a metal sheet anchored directly on the structure, the second one, an enclosure made of polyamide clips and a system of trays, after that an adjustment metallic sub- structure, and finally a tray of lacquered aluminium where the 280,000 ceramic tiles are placed. This makes it one of the most representative elements of the building. The artificial lighting system combines two solutions. The vertical areas of the volumes are solved with projec- tion lighting by using projectors iPro located in four ver- tical posts. These projectors equipped with refractors and anti-glare accessories provide soft light that extend the lighting into the horizontal areas of the ground floor – also covered in tiles–, issued by the Led Plus luminaries embed- ded in the blue concrete ground, under the volumes. These luminaries include three single chip LEDs with a potency of 3 watts and a refractor lens that optimizes light emis- sion, positioned on the ground forming a geometric tap- estry that is visually graphic and its light emission literally “sweeps” the “belly” of both volumes. It was decided to use a color temperature of 4000 K for the exterior lighting solutions appropriate for the pearly sheen of the ceramic tiles and the characteristic light of Cantabria. The only volume that occupies part of the ground floor houses a café, restaurant, commercial space and the recep- tion/information center. It is fully transparent and contin- ues with the same finishes so the inner and outer space are indistinguishable, creating a space where visitors can enjoy the sea view framed by the volumes of the Center. In the interior of this space, pendant luminaries have been placed: Le Perroquet models with direct and indirect emission, to illuminate the activity areas as well as to highlight the ce- ramic tiles that continue in this space. The construction of the Centro Botín has enhanced the visual connection between the historical center of San- tander and the bay, restoring a port area closed to the pub- lic and used until now as a parking lot. Thus, just as important as the building are the public spaces that were created around it as a result of the con- struction of a tunnel, 219 m long, and the renovation and expansion of the centenary gardens jardines de Pereda, that have doubled their size and tripled their green areas, extending to the seafront. Adding to the complex, an amphitheater was erected in the park. Movies and projections can be enjoyed, in the open, on a large LED screen located on one of the facades of the Center. Furthermore, the design for the park had the collabo- ration of the landscape designer Fernando Carucho and included a group of sculptures from the renowned sculp- tor. Cristina Iglesias: Desde Lo Subterráneo (From Under- ground) that comprise four cavities and a pond. Centro Botín is the new meeting place in the downtown area that, with art, music, cinema, theater and literature, invigorates life in the city, strengthening its social and cul- tural fabric. Developer: Fundación Botín Architecture: RPBW Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Luis Vidal + Arquitectos Engineering: Ove Arup Urban Planning: Dynamis Landscaping: Fernando Caruncho & Asociados Lighting Design: artec3 Studio Project Management: Bovis Lend Lease Installations: Llorente Electricidad Lighting Equipment: iGuzzini illuminazione For the Pritzker Price winner, architect Renzo Piano, light and lightness were essential elements in the design of the project The spectacular sights of the bay and the park that both levels offer require a careful control of natural lighting Maurici Ginés: “The building is softly illuminated from the pavement, with the intention of giving the effect of buoyancy, as if anchored in a sea of reflections”