What is the institution of a congress center today?
The post-pandemic period offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on the challenges and transformations faced by congress centers in recent years. Apart from high maintenance costs exacerbated by the energy crisis and negative environmental impact due to their large scale, the shift towards hybrid working systems is driving a significant global change in these venues. This outdated model may no longer meet the demands of the present time, which calls for congress centers to establish a closer relationship between visitors and their context and cultural environment. Meanwhile, according to published statistics, even a “successful” congress center with more than 70% capacity experiences significant downtime, ranging from 62-65 % of the yearly hours. This raises an intriguing, inevitable question about the consequences for the surrounding urban fabric of congress centers when events or conferences are not taking place.
The Congress Center as a Linear Contemporary Agora
While these questions were central to our compositional process, we envisioned the Congress Center in Alicante as a dynamic linear Agora that seamlessly and constantly integrates with the urban fabric and scenic seafront. As a building complex that is deeply rooted in the culture and site of Alicante, incorporating elements and materials from its rich tradition, highlighting the Mediterranean triptych of indoor-outdoor-semi outdoor spaces through its structural design and ensures that all spaces maintain a visual connection with the sea-and-cityscape of Alicante.
In this proposal, deep spatial structures form a sequential arrangement of Mediterranean-inspired spaces, such as the Threshold, Stoa, Atriums, Theater, and Plaza, creating an urban framework that fosters constant social interaction and embraces urban diversity. An urban eco-system that prioritizes environmental sustainability by minimizing the project’s impact and footprint while also offering adaptability to unforeseen future changes.
The dipole of Generic-Specific:
The linear congress center results from a carefully crafted balance between the “generic-specific” dipole, ensuring an efficient response to current congress center needs while allowing adaptability to future requirements.
Inspired by Alicante’s rich ceramic tradition, four distinct “ceramic cells” have been designed to fulfill the specific programmatic needs of a contemporary congress center and incorporate cutting-edge technology for enhanced flexibility and functionality. These prisms offer the advantage of functioning autonomously, providing different layers of access, the potential for phased construction, and future renovations to accommodate unforeseen functional needs.
Complementing these specific cells is the “generic” Mediterranean frame, constructed using self-cleaning photocatalytic concrete. This frame creates a network of captivating semi-outdoor, sheltered spaces and provides essential shading for the ceramic cells by embracing this dualistic approach. The Congress Center aims to minimize energy consumption and reduce the building’s overall footprint, aligning with sustainability goals.
By striking a delicate balance between the “generic” and the “specific,” the Congress Center in Alicante emerges as a versatile and environmentally conscious landmark poised to meet the demands of the present while adapting seamlessly to the demands of an unpredictable future.
Stoa as a unifying space
At the city level, our design strategically incorporates a linear shaded Stoa to create generous spaces enveloped in shade, fostering circulation, social interaction, and meaningful dialogue. This proposal embraces Stoa’s typological layout as a unifying element, seamlessly connecting all the functions within the Congress Center. Through its carefully orchestrated rhythmic sequence and thoughtfully considered scale, the Stoa brings a sense of harmony and order to the otherwise bustling and unstructured harbor areas.
Three Atriums & an Indoor Plaza
The voids between these prisms play a vital role, serving as shaded atriums that provide respite from weather conditions and act as vibrant semi-outdoor social hubs. These atriums serve as transitional spaces within the entire project, offering moments of pause along the linear pathway of the stoa and accentuating the access points to the prisms.
These atriums also control access to the foyers on the ground floor of the prisms, while a series of ramps, staircases, and elevators provide easy circulation to the upper floors.
These semi-outdoor spaces are protected from weather conditions, allowing the Congress Center administration to open them as public spaces 24/7.
The largest atrium is an indoor plaza at the end of the stoa and dock 7, next to the sea. In contrast to the other semi-outdoor atriums, this last atrium is a destination along the stoa, offering a magnificent sea view.
The Congress Center as a Vibrant Agora
The proposed congress center in Alicante has the potential to transform the conventional concept of a congress center into a vibrant agora, a lively hub of social interaction and engagement. One key element that contributes to this transformation is the control over access. With a well-defined threshold, the Congress Center can easily regulate and control the flow of visitors, ensuring a seamless and secure experience, effectively managing the influx of visitors, and creating a safe and organized environment. Furthermore, the design allows for reducing accessibility to only the shaded semi-outdoor spaces at the city level, 24/7. This ensures that the congress center remains an inviting and active place for the community even during non-event periods. By providing public access to the shaded areas, such as the stoa and atriums, the congress center continues to serve as a gathering space, promoting social interaction and a vibrant atmosphere throughout the day and night.
Mediterranean Frame
At Dock Seven, we strategically positioned the “Mediterranean frame”, an urban infrastructure to house the new congress center. This frame creates a network of captivating semi-outdoor, sheltered spaces and provides essential shading for the ceramic cells by embracing this dualistic approach. We proposed the required auditoriums, the foyers with the rest of supplementary functions, and the offices at a short distance from the waterfront to accommodate the designated building program. By harmonizing with the seawater, the congress center transcends its primary function and becomes a dynamic catalyst for cultivating a vibrant hub of ideas and immersive experiences.
Architects: P4architecture
Design Team: Alkiviadis Pyliotis, Chara Kaika, Evangelos Fokialis, Konstantinos Pyliotis
Contributor: Panayiota Kyriakou
Architect Consultant: Francisco Colom Jover
Interior Design Consultant: Andreas Petropoulos
Civil Engineers Consultants: Skalos EPE
3D Visualization: blankwall.avs, P4architecture
Marble Model: Dousis Marble (Konstantinos Dousis, Nikolaos Doulos)
Project Type: International Competition for Alicante’s new Congress Center, Honorable Mention
Project Year: 2023
