Archaeological Ensemble of San Esteban

To build in order to explain what is being built.

Andalusia’s archaeological remains and San Esteban Palace are the objects of explanations. The architecture used, shapes and light are the means of expression.

Regarding the urban context, efforts are directed towards recovering the formal and spatial autonomy for the space next to San Esteban. So that citizens, who visit this place, go across the square or stop along the landscaped flowerbeds, could detach themselves from the presence of residential housing and commercial buildings within the perimeter, and focus their attention on the archaeological ensemble of San Esteban.

All activity generated around the area, in the square, will transmit images and concepts of the medieval town’s origin: the streets and urban layout, yards…The Interpretation Centre and the square are, themselves, a trail of the old layout, which thus becomes present in the city life. Part of the museum is on the street. The medieval city becomes part, once again, of citizens’ routine and daily lives.

The attention that the place demands and the surprise factor help with communication. The strategic location of the Interpretation Centre tower makes it become the background of the perspective from all access points of the square. In this way, the tower draws attention to this place uniqueness. Once in the square, glass skylights surprise us and leave us guessing the existence of another world, a different place underneath the horizontal plane. This plane is organized with streets that follow the skylights layout, housings with courtyards that are reproduced in the square’s landscaped flowerbeds, etc.