Author: Grant Ley
Hometown: Mundelein, IL
After returning from our winter travels, we dove right into a two-week intensive workshop that looked at creating an outdoor performance center for the ruins of a 12th century church, located in the small town of Sant Joan de les Abadesses, about an hour and a half north of Barcelona.
Sant Pol is a small church of Romanesque characteristics built in the 12th century. It was expanded throughout the years, but ultimately was mostly destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, leaving only the front facade and the apse intact. Our challenge was to integrate design, site history, and structure together to create a lightweight permanent structure for outdoor performances on the site of the old church. For the first time in a studio setting, we worked not as individuals, but as groups, with all members contributing to the design process with some truly fantastic results.
Hometown: Mundelein, IL
After returning from our winter travels, we dove right into a two-week intensive workshop that looked at creating an outdoor performance center for the ruins of a 12th century church, located in the small town of Sant Joan de les Abadesses, about an hour and a half north of Barcelona.
Sant Pol is a small church of Romanesque characteristics built in the 12th century. It was expanded throughout the years, but ultimately was mostly destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, leaving only the front facade and the apse intact. Our challenge was to integrate design, site history, and structure together to create a lightweight permanent structure for outdoor performances on the site of the old church. For the first time in a studio setting, we worked not as individuals, but as groups, with all members contributing to the design process with some truly fantastic results.