Architectural Design Archive
in)-(between
The project consists of an institute for edfological research, which is a science concerned with the influence of soils on living things, particularly plants. The project must be located in the Galacho de Juslibol, a nature reserve north-east of Zaragoza, bordered on two sides by the river Ebro and by a rock wall 45 meters high, practically vertical.

The site identified for the project is a depression of this rocky wall, which divides it into two sides, along which run the ancient paths, which were located on the rock to avoid the swampy land of Galacho.

The building is designed as a platform that connects these two sides. The old paths become the access roads to the building, giving its internal circulation a public character. This internal circulation, which hosts the library and a cafè, becomes the building's void. The other elements of the program are used to generate this space: the required 9 classrooms in fact function as fulls, introspective spaces that receive zenith light thanks to skylights which also light the patios of the internal circulation, the 4 laboratories instead occupy the corners and receive light from selected openings on the sides. The roof is a public space that houses the plantations for the edaphological research and from which is possible admire the Galacho in all its extension.