Agora

Setting for socialisation in the El Morrot sports complex.

A square-shaped public square, defined by two porches and open to the football pitches. This will be the centre of the sports complex of El Morrot. This is also the answer to the contradictions between use and site: an industrial estate and a street with hardly any sidewalks.

The square connects visually with the geographical landmarks, the outline of the mountains that enclose the county. At the same time, it becomes separated from the factories and the street, busy with many lorries.

The pavilions share the same platform with the pitches. An interruption in the base leads to a complex and gradual entrance route: reception patio, entrenched steps and ramp, terrace on the street, porch at three heights, to finish leading into the central space tangentially. Only here do we sense what the pavilion we have entered is like, due to the specular relationship with the opposite face.

This public space shares the typology of the agora, the visual opening to the setting, and with the forum the regularity of the façades. It could also be seen as a nineteenth-century porched square; the first gallery of porches, ruled and uniform, is an inseparable part of the public space. The constructed rooms are attached behind this.

This explains that the pavilions are twins but not equal. They share profile and porches, but maintain the differences deriving from their position and use: one is used for changing rooms and the other for reception, cafeteria and other facilities. Their scaled volume adjusts to the proportions of the square, their internal organisation and the horizontality of the base.

Everything is structure. Keeping to the reduced budget (620€/m2), investment is made in what is important: the activation of a shared space, the generous volume of the interiors and the entrance of natural light. In this sense, the construction with load-bearing walls of concrete blocks is simple and easy to build. Its internal logic defines the calligraphy of the construction.

The acceptance of this unexpected gift, unforeseen in the order, has been extraordinary. It is where the boys and girls warm up, where they play after training, where the parents chat between matches, where popular meals are organised. The two pavilions facing each other dress a setting to cultivate one of the most appreciated values of sports for young people: socialisation.