{"id":801459,"date":"2026-03-03T15:27:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/801459\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:27:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:27:19","slug":"gridded-concrete-cloisters-define-university-building-in-malaga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/801459\/","title":{"rendered":"Gridded concrete cloisters define university building in M\u00e1laga"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gridded volumes of exposed concrete<\/a> surround a series of courtyards<\/a> at the University of M\u00e1laga’s Faculty of Tourism, designed by local studio Vaillo + Irigaray Architects.<\/p>\n

Created as part of the university’s expansion of its Teatinos campus to the west of M\u00e1laga’s centre, the sprawling, low-lying campus provides 22,904 square metres of teaching spaces and student facilities.<\/p>\n

Vaillo + Irigaray Architects<\/a> divided the faculty into a series of courtyard-facing forms, drawing on the long history of cloisters and courtyards in both university buildings and Mediterranean architecture.<\/p>\n

\"FacultyVaillo + Irigaray Architects has completed the University of M\u00e1laga’s Faculty of Tourism<\/p>\n

“The project proposal aims to follow the tradition, deeply rooted in our architecture, based on a system of aggregating volumes around courtyards,” studio partner Yago Vaillo Us\u00f3n told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The courtyard typology is common throughout the tradition of educational architecture, given that the institution of the university originated in cathedrals between the 11th and 13th centuries,” he added.<\/p>\n

The Faculty of Tourism comprises three primary volumes, positioned according to the topography of the gently sloping site, which enabled a parking level to be sunk below ground.<\/p>\n

\"CourtyardIts gridded concrete volumes are organised around courtyards<\/p>\n

These rectilinear volumes are divided according to function, with each organised around a courtyard designed to have a distinct “personality”. One volume contains classrooms, another houses departmental offices, while the third has an auditorium, library and cafeteria.<\/p>\n

The classroom and office volumes both overlook gravel-lined gardens with concrete planters, while to the south, the cafeteria and auditorium overlook a paved courtyard with rows of palm trees.<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorTeaching spaces and student facilities are contained across its three volumes<\/p>\n

Surrounding these courtyards, the external concrete grid acts as a colonnade that shades the faculty’s cloister-like corridors that are lined with full-height glazing.<\/p>\n

“Each volume is organised around a courtyard, which reinforces the personality of each space, creating a green, cool, and welcoming area around which all activity revolves, thus becoming a protected outdoor social space,” Us\u00f3n explained.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Prestige<\/p>\n

Sanjay Puri Architects references stepped wells for Indian university\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

“A public scale closer to urban infrastructure is established,” Us\u00f3n continued. “The structure becomes the essential architectural element of the project, capable of organising the program and defining its image.”<\/p>\n

“The building’s image is formed by an exposed, in-situ concrete structure, both interior and exterior, with very slender, 15-centimetre-thick sections.”<\/p>\n

\"FacultyIts spaces include a skylit hall<\/p>\n

The faculty’s three volumes are united by a central hall at its heart, which was conceived as an internal courtyard. It is topped by a sawtooth, skylit roof that filters daylight through a ceiling of concrete beams.<\/p>\n

The corridors that wrap this central space connect directly to each volume’s cloister, uniting them all around a flexible, open area that can be used for events and exhibitions.<\/p>\n

\"CirculationThe building’s concrete grid shades its cloister-like corridors<\/p>\n

Surrounding the faculty building, a series of landscaped and paved slopes has been introduced, including a botanical garden, overlooked from perimeter windows set within the deep concrete grid.<\/p>\n

Other university buildings recently featured on Dezeen include an engineering building for Penn State University by American studio Payette,<\/a> which is wrapped in reddish brick and metal fins, and an Indian teaching building by Sanjay Puri Architects that references ancient stepped wells<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Rub\u00e9n P\u00e9rez Besc\u00f3s<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gridded volumes of exposed concrete surround a series of courtyards at the University of M\u00e1laga’s Faculty of Tourism,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,30272,130551,4022,2266,77,232320,126129,126130,218696,104,16,15,12060],"class_list":["post-801459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-concrete","tag-courtyards","tag-design","tag-education","tag-entertainment","tag-mu00e1laga","tag-sectionall","tag-sectionarchitecture","tag-sectionexclusives","tag-spain","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-universities"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116165951774188186","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}