Project 1 Mansilla + Tuñón Architects

Building Information for a case study

León, Spain

2004

This playful concert hall occupies the south side of a large plaza in León’s historic center. Although conspicuously modern in contrast to the sixteenth-century Monastery of San Marcos nearby, the building responds to the traditions of its environment with sensitivity. Boasting a museum and music venue, its purpose is to revitalize the cultural life of this Spanish regional capital.

The white latticed façade is composed of five horizontal levels that reference a musical score, the vertical rectangular apertures resembling the notes. The apertures are a series of deeply recessed windows of various sizes that capture the daylight and filter it into the internal spaces. The pockets of illumination created by these openings cast changing shadows that animate the entrance foyer behind the façade and echo the way light pervade the nearby Gothic cathedral. The building is composed of two separate wings: the square-facing volume housing three floors of exhibition halls and an angled wing at the east end housing the auditorium.

The public entrance makes the divide between the blocks and a long ramp leads to the exhibition areas. These gallery spaces give the building a purpose beyond musical performances. The auditorium can be adapted for different events with movable seats and acoustic panels. Lines of cylindrical lights are suspended from the ceiling shells, illuminating the luxurious interior, lined with ribs of dark wenge wood. The darker tones of the auditorium contrast starkly with the luminosity of the entrance and exterior, where the light external walls give on to pale wood floors and paneling. Administrative spaces run along the southern edge of the auditorium whilst technical facilities and rehearsal rooms are accommodated underground.

Reference

Toler, P. (2016). Inventions in Architecture: From Stone Walls to Solar Panels. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC.

Figure 1. Reference link to the photo above:

https://artchist.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/auditorium-in-leon-by-mansilla-tunon/#jp-carousel-2349

Figure 2. Reference link to the photo above:

https://artchist.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/auditorium-in-leon-by-mansilla-tunon/#jp-carousel-2337

The parametric, conceptual mass family for my project

Building dimensions

Table 1 shows the dimension of openings in different levels.

Table 1. Information regarding openings

Openings’ level	No. of openings	Openings’ height	Openings’ width
1	11	170”	252”
2	10	200”	277.2”
3	9	260”	308”
4	8	330”	346.5”
5	7	490”	396”

LCM^* (11, 10, 9, 8, 7) = LCM (11, 2×5, 3², 2³, 7) = 2³×3²×5×7×11 = 27,720

^*LCM: Least Common Multiple

Building length = 0.1 × [LCM (11, 2×5, 3², 2³, 7)]” + 2 × wall thickness = 2772” + 20” = 2792”

Building height = 140” + 170” + 200” + 260” + 330” + 490” + 5 × ceiling thickness = 1,650”

Note: 140" is the height of the part below the first level of openings.

Building width = 396”

Mass design process

1. “Conceptual Mass” was used for creating the building’s form:

Families > New > Conceptual Mass > Mass

2. “Create Form > Solid Form” was used to create a cube with the following dimensions:

Length = 2792”, Height = 1,650”, and Width = 396”

3. Horizontal lines were used to identify the lower and upper levels of the five rows of openings. The thickness of the ceilings was considered to be 12”.

4. Vertical lines were used to identify the left and right sides of all the five rows of openings. The thickness of the wall was considered to be 10”.

5. “Create Form > Void Form” was used to create the final form of the building. The void depth was considered to be 386” (Figure 3).

Figure 3. The building form and the surface division

Surface division process

1. For each row, a reference line were created on the inner side of the wall, connecting the upper level of each row to its lower level, at the right side of the building.

2. For each row, “Offset” was used to create a reference line for the left side of each opening based on the wide of the openings on each level (Table 1).

3. Finally, “Reference > Point Element” was used to create points on both ends of each reference line. The purpose of creating such point elements was to identify where the facade modules would be manually attached (Figure 3).

The parametric envelop (facade) family for my project

Module dimensions

For each row, a specific module was created using “Generic Model Adaptive:”

Families > New > English_I > Generic Model Adaptive

In other words, totally 5 different modules were created with the same depth but with different height and width (Table 2).

Table 2. Information regarding opening modules

Opening level	Module height	Module width	Module depth
1	170”	252”	40”
2	200”	277.2”	40”
3	260”	308”	40”
4	330”	346.5”	40”
5	490”	396”	40”

Module design process

By defining different instances for each frame, we can simply control the façade pattern in this project.

1. Size of opening frames were controlled by the following instance parameters: opening frame’s width and height.

2. Size of windows were controlled by the following instance parameters: window’s frame width and height.

3. The location of windows were identified by the following instance parameters: distance left and down.

Table 3 shows all the instance parameters and their names used for creating the modules. It also indicates for which parameters a formula was defined. Figure 4 shows all the formulas that were used to parametrically create facade modules.

Table 3. The name of parameters used for creating facade modules

Parameter	Parameter name	Formula
Window’s height	WinHeight	✓
Window’s width	WinWidth	✓
Distance between lower levels of windows and opening frames	DisDown	✓
Sum of window’s height and distance down default	WinDownHeight	✓
Opening frame’s height	FrameHeight	×
Subtracting window’s height from opening frame’s height	FrameWinHeight	✓
The acceptable input value for the parameter distance down	DisDownDef	✓
The input value for the parameter distance down	DDD	×
Distance between left sides of windows and opening frames	DisLeft	✓
Sum of window’s width and distance left default	WinLeftWidth	✓
Opening frame’s width	FrameWidth	×
Subtracting window’s width from opening frame’s width	FrameWinWidth	✓
The acceptable input value for the parameter distance left	DisLeftDef	✓
The input value for the parameter distance left	DLD	×

Figure 4. The formulas used for parameters for creating facade modules parametrically

For creating a module for each opening level, the following steps were taken:

1. On a vertical reference plane, a rectangle representative of an opening frame, was created using the appropriate width and height (Table 2).

2. On each side of the opening frame, a reference line was created and were connected to the side by means of “Align.”

3. “Aligned Dimension” was used to label the width and height of the opening frame by the corresponding instance parameters.

4. Inside the opening frame, another rectangle representative of the corresponding window, was drawn.

5. On each side of the window, a reference line was created and were connected to the side by means of “Align.”

6. “Aligned Dimension” was used to label the width and height of the window by the corresponding instance parameters.

7. “Aligned Dimension” was used to label the distance of left and down sides of the window from the left and down sides of the opening frame, respectively, by the corresponding instance parameters.

8. The opening frame was selected and “Create Form > Solid Form” was used to create a cube with the depth 40” (Table 2).

9. The window on the behind surface of the cube and the opening frame on the front surface of the cube were selected. Then, “Create Form > Void Form” was used to create the module.

10. “Reference > Point Elements” was used to create a point on each corner of the opening frame on the front surface of the cube.

11. Each point element was selected and made adaptive using “Make Adaptive” (Figure 5).