Tàpies

Design and installation of a sunshade in the exterior courtyard of the Tàpies Foundation for the summer open-air exhibitions.

The idea of covering the backyard of the Antoni Tàpies Foundation in Barcelona comes from the interest in using this space for the months of summer as an alternative room for exhibitions that can be placed outdoors.

From this initial proposal, we had to keep in mind several determining factors, such as respecting the rear façade of the main building, neither touching it nor approaching it with the covering, incorporating a pergola for climbing plants, and not exceeding the height of the patio.

Then it was decided not to design an hermetic or waterproof covering, but one that could be used to protect from the sun and would let the rain and air come through it. It would also be transparent in order to keep the reference of the interior façades of the backyard. This is how we decided to use a material which is very common in greenhouses and cultivation gardens: A woven fabric made of black plastic threads which offers the possibility of having different kinds of shadow, depending on the holes of the fabric.

The final adopted solution was to cover the space in its longest direction, dividing it into shadow stripes that emphasise the longitudinal direction of the original space. The result is clearly one of a covered garden, where works related to cultivation and flowers take place.