woven vegetal veil shrouds proposed elche congress center by luca poian & frade arquitectos

"The proposed Elche Congress Centre 'Espardenyer' by Luca Poian Forms and Frade Arquitectos is planned for a site between the Spanish city's historic Vila and the contemporary district of Altabix. Conceived as a civic building with an urban role, the project occupies a transitional edge and treats it as a place of connection rather than separation, giving built form to a shared public space."

"From its site, the building addresses Elche's layered context through scale and orientation. A compact mass rises from a solid base, calibrated to the Mediterranean light and heat. With its facade of woven textiles, the volume engages the surrounding streets through porosity at ground level to lend shaded places for gathering. It reads as part of the city's fabric rather than an isolated object."

"A defining feature of Espardenyer proposal by Luca Poian Forms and Frade Arquitectos is its vegetal veil made from esparto, a material long associated with local craft and domestic construction. Woven elements filter sunlight and air, creating a moderated exterior envelope that responds to climate while offering a tactile presence. This layer operates as both environmental device and cultural reference, translating familiar techniques into a contemporary architectural language."

Espardenyer occupies a transitional site between Elche's historic Vila and the contemporary Altabix, functioning as a civic building that links rather than separates urban zones. The design presents a compact mass on a solid base, oriented and scaled for Mediterranean light and heat. A woven esparto veil forms a vegetal facade that filters sunlight and air, providing environmental moderation and cultural resonance. Ground-level porosity extends shaded public spaces into the surrounding streets, while interior circulation leads naturally to central performance halls optimized for acoustics and versatile civic programming for conferences, exhibitions, and informal use.

Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine