07. Canteen Building at the Seat Factory. 1953-1956
Architects: César Ortiz-Echagüe, Manuel Barbero and Rafael de la Joya
Location: Passeig de la Zona Franca, s/n
Approach
The Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo, S.A., which produces light-duty automobiles in Spain, built a canteen for its staff at the Barcelona factory in keeping with Spanish social legislation. An area of land at the extreme southwest of the factory was chosen as the location. It was the only site not affected by the plan for future expansions that would surround the factory in the near future. The terrain was completely horizontal, made up of rubble piled up in order to raise the ground level, since this area of Barcelona is sometimes affected by flooding.
Programme
The canteen was meant to have the capacity to serve meals to 1,600 workers, 300 administrative employees and 100 technicians. There will be two successive shifts; thus, the surface can be reduced by half in the dining rooms, but not in the kitchen. The kitchen must be capable of preparing full hot meals for all the diners. There must be easy communication between the kitchen and dining rooms with large openings that allow quick service. There should be enough space so that, at any given time, one of the dining rooms can be transformed into a small showroom and lunch can be served in the event of receiving a group of visitors to the factory. The number of toilets and changing rooms must be sufficient, taking into account those already existing in other parts of the factory.
It will be important to achieve maximum economy in the maintenance costs for the building and facilities. Given the poor quality of the soil, a light construction will be required to avoid the costly foundations that have had to be used for the other factory buildings. The time spent at lunch should generate a calming physical and spiritual effect for the staff who are subject to the oppressive and monotonous tyranny of mass production during the working day. The buildings must meet the conditions of comfort and aesthetics to create an environment suitable for those purposes.
Ideas for the Development of the Project
We believe that the building must fulfil two missions: one, to be suited to serving a certain number of meals intended to satisfy a basic biological need and, two, to offer a pleasant environment that produces a calming effect. The first is a technical problem, which is resolved by technical elements of space, distribution, machinery and installations. The second is more complex, because of its human and personal aspects, and for that reason its solution must be simple. The best path is to take advantage of nature, vegetation, the air and the sun, but in an intimate and personal way. It is essential to avoid massive, anonymous agglomeration. In short: the design should be the garden and the individual. To that end, a series of independent gardens and pavilions were created, although they are connected by porches that create a sense of unity within the variety. The Spanish Mediterranean can be the site for wonderful gardens. It is easy for nature to be the main character in the architecture, and the construction can be limited to a mere protection against occasional inclement weather.
The ‘garden and individual’ we referred to above requires transparency for the garden and isolation for the individual. Aluminium and glass address the problem of clarity superbly. Brick solves the problem of isolation. With just those three elements: aluminium, glass and brick, we designed nearly the whole building.
Aluminium: lightweight and contemporary. Brick: envelope and tradition. Both are treated with the utmost respect, without coatings that detract from their aesthetic value and always in isolation, without mixing them. The only link that we have permitted between the two is with glass, which unites them without distorting them.
Execution of the Project
Given the high number of diners and to achieve the privacy cited above, the building was subdivided into six pavilions, connected and separated by five courtyards that create intimate and sheltered green spaces, in keeping with the design ideas. The pavilion located on the southwest end of the complex is intended for the engineers’ dining room. It can also be used for receiving visitors. The pavilions are all on a single level, with a gabled roof and large windows facing the garden on one of the façades, protected by shutters at the top and porches at the bottom. On the opposite façade, there is a row of smaller windows mainly for ventilation. A broad circulation gallery connects the kitchen with the pavilions. Beneath it there is a second underground gallery, which houses the installations for hot and cold water, steam, electricity, etc. The 1.60 x 1.60 module was adopted throughout the building, aiming for maximum uniformity in all structural elements.
Cuadernos de arquitectura, no. 28, pp. 8-13, 1956.