Residencial Illa de la Llum (Barcelona)

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Medit's commentary

[Illa de la Llum] The fourth residential complex built inside Miralles' Diagonal Mar Park. The Illa de la Llum (Catalan for 'Light Block') consists of three buildings: two towers (25 storey -88 meters tall- and 17 storey -63 m-) and a lower 4 storey structure. The private area around the complex features several facilities like a swimming pool, a paddle tennis court and a gym. This is probably the most interesting project, architecturally speaking, of the five complexes inside the park, though, in my opinion, it has failed to reach a final positive result. Clotet & Paricio took their chances by experimenting with the typical mediterranean, vernacular screens on windows: the buildings are entirely cladded with mobile, aluminium panels with louvers. They protect the large terraces of each dwelling unit and become a kind of light and air filter for the rooms. However, as much interesting the intentions were, the final built towers look more like post-Little Boy Hiroshima structures than anything else (though I also think the particular cladding aesthetics work better for the horizontal body, just like it does for the Forum Center (the geriatric hospital) nearby, also by Clotet & Paricio).