La Ciudad del Motor -Motor City is to be a major new leisure and cultural zone within a new motor sports centre in Alcañiz, Aragon, Spain. The project of Foster + Partners was chosen on the Motor City competition in which were presented projects also of Jean Nouvel, Dominique Perrault, UNStudio and MVRDV.
The Ciudad del Motor of Aragon is a multi-functional complex composed of four principal areas dedicated to technology, sports, leisure and culture. The sports area of the Ciudad del Motor of Aragon will be a multi-functional installation for motor competitions and specialized professional activities such as racing competitions, karting, gravel circuits, popular track days, training and trials, driving schools and guided tours. The public area will include multi-functional complex, hotel, residence and technical sports center.
The design of Motor City is inspired by the sleek aerodynamic aesthetic of the racing car. The smooth forms and volumes of the building are sculpted by solar and wind patterns with a lightweight roof that floats over the entire complex. Motor City will use passive environmental controls as well as harnessing renewable energy, enabling the whole complex to be carbon neutral.
The roof integrates sustainable design elements such as photovoltaic cells and solar thermal tubes on its surface together with an array of wind turbines. The sweeping roof culminates in a tower which gives the development its identity. When illuminated at night, it will become a beacon for Motor City, echoing the nearby Parador of Alcañiz announcing a new era of sustainable development for the region.
‘Motor City, said Lord Foster, will be an exciting twenty-first century culture and leisure destination for the city of Alcañiz and the wider region of Aragon.’
The practice is opening a new office in central Madrid in May to look after and develop its work in Spain. This competition win is the latest in a group of projects the practice has recently won throughout Spain that includes Madrid’s City of Justice, the headquarters for Repsol YPF, a winery for Faustino and a masterplan for Seville.
The ciudad del Motor of Aragon is constructed on 3,5000,500 m2 of land located 5 kilometers from Alcaiz. It is situated in the center of an area with population of 25 million people, since Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona, Valencia, Pau and Toulouse are all located within a distance 300 kilometers. It is connected to principle nerve centers, making it a special meeting point equipped with important connections and means of communication.
‘Motor city, Foster commented further, is inspired by the contours of the landscape, with volumes that are sculpted by the elements, it will form a dynamic counterpoint to this historic City - a carbon neutral centre of excellence for motor sport that will be an exemplar of sustainable design for Spain with a place on the world stage.’
Norman Foster + Partners - www.fosterandpartners.com
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