ARTeria Valencia Cultural Complex
Building the Future of Contemporary Music Education

The design of ARTeria Valencia, the home of Berklee Valencia, grew from the idea of capturing, in a new context and in a brand new building, the energy that Berklee and SGAE have generated throughout their long histories.

THE SETTING

The ARTeria Valencia Cultural Complex is located in the Quatre Carreres district, in the Ronda Sur area of Valencia near the new dance and music conservatories.

THE DESIGN

Architect Antón García-Abril’s design combines function and aesthetic, tradition and innovation. The complex is comprised of two basic elements – a two-story plinth, or horizontal base, and a vertical tower soaring 24 stories above it. The plinth will accommodate spaces for leisure activities, an auditorium with a 1,425 seat capacity, and a residential area for teachers and students with 100 apartments and parking for 410 vehicles. The roof of the plinth is a massive public space with a capacity for 15,000 people, and it will be the setting for artistic and cultural activities.

The high rise will include classrooms, labs, practice and ensemble rooms, recording, production and post-production facilities, a library, a multi-media center, and offices. This setting will provide both a rich educational experience and broader, more effective services to SGAE members.

The ARTeria Valencia building comprises four-story blocks piled vertically in a gradual rotation, forming a helix of spaces that will be home to open-air urban plazas – one every four levels. Each plaza will give students a place to meet, socialize, and create music, all while looking out on spectacular views of Valencia’s historic quarter, the Valencian orchard, and the Mediterranean Sea.

And while the structure reflects Spanish architectural examples dating back to the early Romans, it also addresses progressive environmental concerns. Its Mediterranean construction takes advantage of the natural resources of sun, vegetation, rain, and winds to minimize environmental impact and energy consumption.

THE ARCHITECT

Architect, critic and college professor, Antón García-Abril Ruiz was born in Madrid in 1969 and graduated from E.T.S.A. (the architectural school) in Madrid in 1995. He has a European PhD and received The Spanish Academy Research Prize in Rome. García-Abril founded Ensamble Studio in 2000, leading a team in search of architectural application of conceptual and structural experimentation. He won the first prize at the Venice Architecture Biennial 2000 and was selected finalist for the Mies van de Rohe award in 2005. He writes regularly about architecture in El Cultural supplement of El Mundo, a daily newspaper. He also teaches in E.T.S.A. Madrid, and has been a guest professor at Cornell University and other American and European universities. He has finished the headquarters of SGAE’s ARTeria Noroeste in Santiago de Compostela, and has started construction of The Museo de América in Salamanca, La Casa del Lector in Matadero Madrid, and the ARTeria Valencia Cultural Complex.