FACT SHEET

AccesitArchitectural Competition
Title:Bullring Regeneration
Location:Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
Year:2004
Program:culture
Status:competition
Team:Josean Ruiz Esquiroz
Nacho Ruiz Allén

Collaborations:   Sara López Arraiza

TEXT

The rebuilding of the Bull Ring constitutes a reflection on the need to create a stage that may both hold bullfighting performances and welcome different kinds of events throughout the year.

This brings about the creation of an equipment whose urban importance makes it measure up to the rest of stage buildings in the city. Therefore, the space around the building—mainly the way you reach it—becomes especially important.

The Bull Ring is located in a small park where the scenic value is given by a lush forest stand, a true visual obstacle. This space, which should work as a linking element, constitutes an urban “cul de sac” whose only interest is the Bull Ring. As a result, the decadence of the building itself drags along the disuse of the whole place.

To correct this situation, we have suggested several measures that are directly related to the genesis of this proposal:

– Redesigning the park’s contour line—affecting as little as possible the forest stand—, in order to create two connecting routes between the opposite extremes surrounding the building.

– Accessing the inside of the scenic site at the same level as the arrival to the plot.

– Refilling the strip of land located behind the premises, and connecting it with the upper road.

– Redefining and relocating the annexes.

– Approaching the building to Fuertes Acevedo street thanks to a cantilever above the trees, which creates an image visible from the road and asserts the building’s presence.

The future of the building designed depends, to a large extent, on the success of these strategies to revitalize the park.