Golden skyline

The location is on the border between the existing town and the future expansion areas. The town to the north of the site is made up of perimeter blocks, including 'Can Serratosa', the current premises of the Vic Music School, which will continue to house the communal areas of the new Music School. The area to the south, along the River Meder, has an open and natural character. Llinas wanted to connect those two worlds in the new building. He turned first to the little avenue linking Can Serratosa with the site; this street forms the backbone of the project and provides access to all the new functions. The sloping, faceted roof, which spreads from the fly tower out over the classrooms and porches, is the second element used by Llinas to link the small-scale urban fabric with the larger scale of the theatre and the open landscape.

Finally, the architect deployed various materials to optically reduce or emphasize the building where necessary. He used concrete and basalt for the low facades and zinc for the raked roofs, so that the theatre does not look at all massive or overwhelming. The tallest section of the music school and the fly tower, on the other hand, were accentuated by means of a copper-aluminium alloy (TECU® GOLD). This gesture, says Llinas, 'leads the eye to the skyline of the complex and from there to the city of Vic's skyline'. (Kirsten Hannema)