A short and elaborate Case Study on Metropol Parasol located at Seville (Spain) for the course of Urban Design from students of 7th Semester Architecture at VNIT, Nagpur (August- December 2016)

1. ARCHITECTS : J MAYER H. [BERLIN]
STRUCTURAL CONSULTANTS: ARUP & FFM
LEVEL: PRECINT LEVEL
AREA : 12000 SQM.
METROPOL PARASOL, SEVILLE (SPAIN)

2. Plaza de la Encarnación served as a
farmers’ market for till 1960s.
After the Market Place was
demolished, the public square fell into
despair and became an eyesore.
The plaza remained derelict for
nearly 30 years, only to be used
as a parking space before the
city officials decided that
something needed to be done
to rejuvenate the space.
BACKGROUND
Planning was done regarding
construction of a shopping
centre on the square, but
those plans were halted
when Roman ruins were
discovered at the site while
excavation.

3. The result, Metropol Parasol, is a contemporary timber structure that provides
a striking contrast to the city’s traditional architecture. #PLACEMAKING
#LARGESCALEARCHITECTURE

4. • After the demolition of Plaza de la Encarnación, the
neighbourhood became an area of dim streets, mostly
closed premises with very little business and many empty
houses.
• In 2004, city officials called for entries through an
international design competition to obtain proposals for
renovation the square and to activate the adjoining
commercial areas.
• Besides enabling a complex programme of uses, it was also
stipulated that the project had to constitute an architectural
landmark that would transform the square into an inviting
destination, even during the city’s scorching summers.
Mercado de Feria
Mercado de Entradores
CONCERNS
#FIGURE- GROUND RELATIONSHIP

5. DESCRIPTION:
• Metropol Parasol is the new icon project for Seville- a place
of identification and to articulate Seville’s role as one of
Spain’s most fascinating cultural destinations.
• Its role as a unique urban space within the dense fabric of
the medieval inner city of Seville allows for great variety of
activities like memory, leisure and commerce.
• A highly developed infra helps to activate the square,
making it an attractive destination for tourists and locals
alike.
• Its strong concern for specific ethical and social situation
moved the Plaza de la Encarnacion into the centre of urban
activity of Seville. Metropol Parasol is innovation at the
forefront of sustainable construction by
long-lasting adaptability of various
programmes, unique architecture design
of highest standards, efficient
construction and environmental
concerns.

6. QUANTITATIVE DESIGN PROGRAMME
• Responsible use and management use of natural resources
(eg. Timber from sustainable forests and certified sources)
• Reduced embodied energy due to the use of timber instead
of steel for parasols
• Use of growing material, local materials, recycled and
recyclable materials
• Long life cycle of construction due of long lasting low
maintenance materials
• Operation and maintenance: self cleaning skin polyurethane
coating as long lasting weather protection and solution
liquid free
• Low impact construction process
• Creation of an improved microclimate by shading of the
plaza and evaporative cooling over water features
• Adaptation of the scheme, keeping existing monumental
trees in the square
• Natural lighting, low energy public lighting
• Public furniture made of recycled materials
• Construction on columns provides additional usable space
without reducing the available space.

7. QUALITATIVE DESIGN PROGRAMME

8. DESIGN ELEMENTS
• Surface Water
The surfaces on the plaza are made of
permeable finishes to allow a direct
drainage of the locally intense rainfall to
the ground rather than public sewage.
• Green Power Generation
The Parasol integrates solar-thermal &
solar-electric panels for hot water
production for the restaurants and
bars and photovoltaic power generation for
fountains & public-lighting.
• Permeability
The structure was deliberately not made
continuous but left permeable, to let some
filtered light to the plaza & allow any warm
air generated on the plaza or the air-
conditioning equipment to escape.

9. • Shading
The Parasols provides shading from the intense
sun in the Southern Spain; on the plaza level this
leads to an extended usability & increase in
attractiveness of the public space, while for the
market this reduced the cooling load for the AC
equipment.
• Free Cooling
Water features distributed on the plaza provide a
source of cooling by evaporation; apart from an
eye catcher and focal point for social activities.

10. DESIGN PRINCIPLES• “…an urban democratic open cathedral without walls..”
The architect, Jürgen
Mayer H, was inspired
by the magnificent
fan tracery vaulting of
the cathedral when
he designed the
parasols.
Moreover, traces
of inspiration from
local vegetation
can also be
observed.
#SIGNIFICANCE
OF OBJECT

11. DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION
• The engineering strategy ensured that the loads of this enormous timber structure were brought to ground
among the precious ancient ruins with deftness and lightness of touch.
• The plinth is made up of huge Vierendeel trusses forming a box that sits atop five enormous steel trident
columns rising out of the museum level.
• The connecting steel platforms of the mushrooms, for the restaurant area and rooftop walkway, are
supported by a number of profiled hollow steel struts, which transfer their greater loads back to the
concrete core using a saw-tooth connector.

12. • The structural engineers developed the
innovative fork-headed connection detail
based on glued-in steel bars (FFM) — an
optimised bonding approach to aid with
rapid erection on site.
• Construction of the shading structure was
carefully considered. Connections between
the trunks of the mushrooms and the
canopy were site welded. To plan it,
Finnforest used a 3D contour of the
Parasol, allowing the scaffolding contractor
to work out the potential loads that it
would have to take to allow the canopy to
be constructed on it.
Construction of the timber structure began in
June 2008 and completed in March 2011.

13. How Did They Open Up “The Urban Umbrella” ?
Phase 1: Concrete structure
The steel structure of the museum and marketplace and
the steel/concrete structure for the high-level cafe are
completed. Two of the concrete cores that house lifts and
four concrete plinths have been constructed.
Phase 2: Timber Trunks
Construction of the timber
trunks starts with the base
plates at the top of the
concrete plinths. The
timber panels, which are
up to 16m high, are then
set up according to a
sequence which ensures
temporary stability at all
times.

14. Phase 3: Main Structure
The individual elements immediately
above the trunks are prepared at the
plaza level before they are hoisted into
place at high level. The fire protection is
constructed at the lower half of the
trunks.
Phase 4: Scaffolding Up
Scaffolding is built to temporarily support the
main timber structure outside the area of the
trunks. Work started at the rear of the site and
two cranes were needed to attend to the
simultaneous erection of scaffolding and timber.

15. Phase 5: Scaffolding Down
Scaffolding is taken down zone by zone, from the outside of
the structure inward, with continuous control of the structure
ensuring safety. The overall plaza is repaved and all urban
infrastructures finished.
Phase 6: Finishing Touches
The entire scaffolding has been taken down, and
the high-level walkway constructed on top of the
timber structure. All services, such as lightning
protection, are installed within the timber
structure.

16. DEVELOPING A STRUCTURAL STRATEGY
• Optimising Jurgen Mayer H's design was one of the first things that needed to be
addressed. The scheme as proposed maintained a classic separation between the
outer visible cladding and the hidden structure required to make it stand up, making
use of steel structural tubes that would then be covered in metal cladding.
• The revised approach in the design development phase involved looking at dual-layer
steel shells and the use of steel foam. In the end, the design team chose to
concentrate on a supporting structure made out of curved lamina.
• There were two options feasible: a radial disc configuration directed outwards from
the supporting beams, or an orthogonal arrangement supported from the trunks.
Although the former would be statically more efficient and saves material, there
would be problems with the constantly changing geometry of the connecting
interfaces, so the latter was chosen.

17. • Given the enormous number of connections, it was
presumed that the structure should consist of welded steel
sheets, but analysis of the structure showed that these thin
steel sheets would buckle long before the required loading
capacity was reached. In the end team opted for Kerto-Q
LVL. Even though these would be thicker than the steel
sheets, they would weigh less and would also be more stable
and would not suffer from crumpling, due to their thickness.
• Because the roof is not closed, to give the form rigidity,
additional steel diagonals were needed to give the timber
structure the rigidity to carry the load. These are positioned
around the concrete cores and lend stiffness to the structure.
However, since the arrangement of the steels influences the
appearance of the Parasols, these are positioned as
inconspicuously as possible.
• The use of cross-laminated timber ensured that the
structure could work at optimum loading strengths, as well
as making it resistant to the harsh effects of moisture,
making it eminently suitable for use in outdoors.
LVL : Laminated Veneer Lumber

18. MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES
PPP (PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP)
A partnership between a public sector entity (sponsoring
authority) and a private sector entity (a legal entity in
which 51% or more of equity is with the private partner/s)
for the creation and/or management of infrastructure for
public purpose for a specified period of time (concession
period) on commercial terms.
During the concession time, the private partner is
entitled to earn the amount that he invested along with
the profit, by charging the users – the amount being
monitored by the public sector entity.
After the concession time is over, the infrastructure is
handed over to the public in all its totality.

19. The design was procured
using a form of PPP
contract between the
Seville city government
and Sacyr.
It involved Sacyr putting up
half the construction cost,
the architect working
under the contractor, and
the other consultants
being appointed by the
architect.
Under the PPP, Sacyr
maintains ownership and
management of the site
for 40 years, before the
whole building is handed
back to the city in
perpetuity.
Construction began in 2005, with an estimated cost of
50 million euros and a projected completion date in
2007. However, unknown to the public, the project soon
faced difficulties.
By some estimates, due to delays, the total cost of the
structure approached 100 million euros.

20. OUTCOME
Local Effect:
Activation
Development in the
neighbouring areas
The Parasol have also become
A centre for public demonstrations
and protests where people gather
for common interests- a space par
excellence within which the political
exists as a public expression of the
plurality of the people within it.
#PROTECTION & ENHANCEMENT OF THE HUMAN NETWORK ; #PUBLICDOMAIN

21. The use of the plaza to for mass public
gatherings- for concerts, celebration, etc.. .
When viewed from different angles, Metropol
Parasol has a fantastic, daring, creative and
inventive sculpture-like repetitive geometric plan.
Residents of Seville have distinct feelings towards
Metropol Parasol.
Although there are many who admire, but it is
not uncommon to find a few disappointed by the
galactic waffle-like structure landing in such a
traditional city.
But so did most Parisians hated EIFFEL TOWER in its inception...!
And the rest is history !!!

22. THANK YOU !
MANSI RAWAT BA13ARC028
SAURABH DEOTALE BA13ARC043
PRASAD THANTHRATEY BA13ARC049