Archive Building in Bilbao
- Claudia Fuchs
The multi-faceted facade graces a new building near the Boulevard Gran Via in Bilbao’s Ensanche district, a late eighteenth century addition to the historic centre. Thanks to this striking outward gesture, the Historical Archive of the Basque Country stands out from the surrounding apartment buildings. This light skin cloaks the actual glazed facade. The angular folds vary from storey to storey; correspondingly, the way they reflect light changes, as well. The result is a shimmering surface. Quotes taken from items of the archive’s extensive collection embellish the glass. The collection is housed in three of the four subterranean levels that each stretch 70 metres, in other words, the entire length of the site. In contrast, the seven storeys above them, which contain exhibition spaces and the administration departments, are aligned with the neighbouring buildings and therefore measure only 25 metres. Toward the street, the fully glazed massing gives a glimpse of the structure’s inner workings. Transparency and views through are also the distinguishing features of the archive’s interiors. From the entrance one receives a view to the garden, the site of some of the archive’s events. A generously dimensioned stair leads to the upper levels. Fully glazed partition walls link the exhibition spaces to the circulation space and foster orientation. The spaces in the administration and documentation areas in the levels above have a flexible arrangement; translucent and transparent glass walls separate them. A 5 × 9 metre opening in the garden surface that tapers down to the lowest level allows light to enter the parking and archive levels.
