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Carles Díaz
Eduard Permanyer
Enric Torrent
An inverted tower, a ziggurat upside down; relatively small compared to its neighbours, yet with a strong presence in the overall composition of Plaça Europa. Usually towers lose surface area as they ascend; however, it is the upper floors that are later the most sought. We studied a building with a square footprint, with maximum occupancy at the top, which gradually loses surface area, eroded at the corners, as it descends, reaching its minimum surface at the ground floor. The glazed corners progressively enlarge as they approach the ground and move away from the light. However, the majority of the façade avoids the fully glazed curtain wall, a climatic aberration used indiscriminately (the influence of Coderch's Lycée Français is evident). The central opening on the upper floors was a demand from the client that distorted the radical nature of the project.
Photographs by Carlos Campoy