Engine of Culture. Rather than an "Acropolis" (which transmogrifies into a Necropolis), our new City serves as an active integral "catalyst" for Galician Culture past, present and future.The production of cultural works are driven by the engine of research and teaching areas. A Sound-Image Institute replaces Sound-Image Library. Research rooms, workshop studios and teaching areas provide dynamic ongoing cultural activities. The main force of the "Engine of Culture" concept, the studio tower, contains resident lofts for writers, scholars, composers and artists. These studios provide Galician scholars and artists with a facility to directly invigorate culture. The different disciplines - normally separated in other institutions - are integrated in this central glass tower. At the bottom the tower connects to the Libraries, Sound and Image Institute, and Museums, while at the top it rises to a "Sky Chapel" facing Santiago.

 

Architecture. We have envisioned an architecture of clear and translucent white glass emerging from green Galician Stone. The double glass walls, ecologically advanced, recycle air in winter and exhaust cooling in summer. They are not shiny yet they glow invitingly at night. Interior finishes are rich in local materials articulated with the fusion concept in detail: steel fused with wood (acoustics), stone with silk (cafe), gel with stainless steel (seating), glass with concrete (museum). Structural and HVAC systems are merged with the double glass wall architecture. The entire city has an integrated computer network globally connected. Service areas run below museums, the library, and opera, and are joined to a central truck loading dock.

Landscape. Rather than objects on the landscape the new city is a "forming landscape." It is a new terrain fusing water sky and gardens. Along the "Rias in Reverse" stone walkways and garden paths lead to open botanical zones where different vegetation and natural life flourish. The new city will have a truly unique architecture: a dynamic expression of fusion with an open center...

an engine of culture.

 
Access/Entrances. Santiago de Compostela and the City of Culture are connected through a new pedestrian bridge strung across the valley in a delicate bend. This new link is the most vital: an umbilical cord connecting the ancient and new. Pedestrians arrive at a new sky-lit grotto below the central reflecting pool of the "Open Center." Ceremonial receptions and opening events will take place here. Arriving by freeway, ceremonial drop-off is on the east. This main entrance connects to the grotto entrance in one large lobby and service area. Tickets, coat check, and a computerized orientation for every activity in the Cultural City can be accessed from this main lobby area. Parking is located under the sports fields on the southeast.
 

Public Spaces.The new crystal architecture forms a series of public spaces with cafes and views to Santiago. The plaza above the Museum of Galicia is shielded by the hovering Sound and Image Institute. A promenade plaza along the southwest leads to the parks along the water gardens and has a glass awning for rain and wind protection.