A Mediterranean Case Study: The Stgilat Aiguablava Villa

The Stgilat Aiguablava villa, designed by Enric Ruiz-Geli/Cloud 9, is a pilot housing project based on ‘smart’ Mediterranean architecture.

It was built with leading-edge technology and digital and sustainable manufacturing, integrated with the environment in the Empordà valley and the Costa Brava region.

For the main residence, the Catalan vault (Volta Catalana) has been reinvented using advanced fibreglass engineering.

The Cloud 9 studio has collaborated with the prestigious ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, on the design of an experimental pavilion, which stands adjacent to the house. This is defined as a ‘Mediterranean case study’.

For this project, state-of-the-art materials have been used to create lightweight, sustainable structures.

Begur, Girona (Spain), February 28, 2019. Today, the latest project by architect Enric Ruiz-Geli/Cloud 9, the Stgilat Aiguablava villa, was presented in Aiguablava, a town on Catalonia’s Costa Brava coast.

A MEDITERRANEAN CASE STUDY

The main aim of this project isn’t to design a villa, but to carry out a case study.

Ruiz-Geli references architects such as Richard Neutra and Eames who helped to define this concept. In Los Angeles in the 1950s, Richard Neutra established a new form of construction with prefabricated parts and rapid manufacturing and assembly. This inspired a revolution, reducing costs and opening the market up to the middle class.

In a similar way, Stgilat Aiguablava represents a pilot housing project based on a ‘smart’ version of Mediterranean architecture. Leading-edge technology and digital and sustainable manufacturing integrated with the surrounding nature brings innovation to the Empordà valley and the Costa Brava, considering that the region’s landscape is an invaluable asset that provides cultural a backdrop.

The project’s client is a Central European family, passionate about Mediterranean culture and lifestyle, and whose priority was the quality of architecture and R+D+I (research, development and innovation) over luxury in order to achieve a space of well-being.

With this in mind, Ruiz-Geli uses a holistic approach, presenting a style of architecture that evokes sensorial, corporal experiences on every level.

THE MAIN RESIDENCE: THE REINVENTION OF THE CATALAN VAULT

The reinvention of the architectural element Catalan vault (Volta Catalana) in this project has been done using advanced fibreglass engineering, while the challenge for artisan ceramist, Toni Cumella, has been to create ceramics for the vault that are in harmony with the surrounding nature.

INTEGRATION OF THE LANDSCAPE AND LOCAL CULTURE: EMPORDÀ

The key to this project is its integration with the environment. Architect Enric Ruiz-Geli, born in Figueres, a small city in the middle of the Catalan Empordà, establishes a dialogue with the landscape, culture and materials of the region in order to shape the project.

The ceramics, the warm Mediterranean materials, the freshness, the sun and shade, the colours, the terraces and the curves of the coastline are elements that have inspired and conditioned the design of the Stgilat Aiguablava villa.

THE EXPERIMENTAL PAVILION

The project includes an ephemeral and experimental pavilion, dedicated to innovation and designed in collaboration with the prestigious ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena – one of the best artistic centres, in which director Zack Snyder and the Apple, BMW and Tesla designers were trained.

The lightweight structure and the pavilion’s windows with natural pine resin filter allow us to create symbiotic relationships between technology and nature in order to achieve a deeper emotional connection, producing a space of refuge and privacy.