A trade fair venue such as the one that is the subject of this tender in Liège has an institutional dimension coupled with the fact that it is a public amenity. This means that an architectural challenge is also a great opportunity to transform the immediate urban vicinity and enhance the city as a beacon of architecture.This contextual dimension and the quest for urban value have to coexist with the organisational and functional efficiency of the programme of a trade fair venue. These two factors are not in the least contradictory. The programme to be completed may be summarised in terms of the following aims: 1) The utmost clarity to deal with the attendance of vast numbers of people in very specific periods of time; 2) the demand for a swift and effective management of the exhibition spaces, minimising the assembly times and movements; 3) the adaptive capability of these exhibition spaces to the various demands typical of a trade fair venue, and 4) clarity with regard to movement through and access to the venue.The access plaza not only gives the building a public character and increases its potential to regenerate the context, it also regulates access to the building in a clear manner in so far as it is a space that precedes the entrance. All visitors who arrive from the tram station or parking spaces situated at the southern end are funnelled by an 'access gate' to this plaza. Once they have passed through the 'access', visitors are surprised to encounter the space of the plaza. It is on the eastern side, opposite the plaza, where the large utilities area is located, ideal for the convenient transit of trucks and the parking spaces allocated to exhibitors, employees and users other than the general public. All of the car parks are enveloped as green spaces.The floor space, once one crosses the concourse that is open to the access plaza, which can also be used as an exhibition space, is resolved by the central layout of all of the halls, joined together and in continuity, in such a way that they can easily and immediately be joined or separated. These halls with this layout are bounded on three sides: to the west, north and south, by pedestrian walkways so that the public can gain easy and immediate access and, more importantly, the halls can be joined together without having to rely on the layout of the access points.A 1,000 m² hall is an exception to this central and linked layout of the rest of the halls. It is situated at the southern end of the plaza and forms the entrance from the access route marked out by the tram stop.Nevertheless, this positioning means that it can respond to certain exhibition uses that call for contact with the plaza, as well as other types of uses.We propose a section of the building in which the roof structure possesses great architectonic expressiveness, while at the same time qualifying the internal space. This is a programme in which it is essential to have clear surface spaces that are not constrained by the building's structure, and this means that the horizontal structure acquires importance in itself, becoming a special part of the project that helps us to shape attractive spaces.

This proposal started off with deliberations on the project at large, including the future of the Velarde and Oviedo-Portal mansions. It could not be any other way. Only through consideration of the larger scheme of things can there be any guarantee of an optimal operational future for an institution as important as this one.
We also understand that the proposed new layout makes it possible to organize construction work in phases, and in such a way that museum operations are at no time interrupted.The objectives/guidelines of the architectural action are:-An image and identity that, over and above the historic- architectural substratum of the site, will give the Fine Arts Museum of Asturias its own uniqueness as an institution.-Respect for that historical substratum.-Diaphanous spaces that facilitate exhibition montage and make it possible to contemplate artworks with sufficient perspective, unlike how things are at present.-Clear-cut internal functioning.-Clear-cut accesses.-A substantial increase in exhibition floor area.

The basic form of the building is determined by its context and the continuity, both in terms of concept and program, which it establishes with the adjoining Palace of Bendaña, currently the Naipes Fournier Museum.In the permanent exhibition halls, all horizontal surfaces, floors and ceilings, are very dark. The wood floor (almost black) and the continuous ceiling (also black) form a closed and dark ‘box’ or chest delimited by the facade walls clad externally in a folded skin of bronze sheet, with pieces that are superposed or stepped depending on the lighting needs. 

But these dark spaces are traversed by white glazed prisms – round which the exhibition of pieces is organized – that shall draw light in from the roof at daytime, coming from an internal illumination in the darkness. These prisms shall be inlaid with graphics and information to describe the items, but beyond this pedagogical task, their light will speak of the adventure of interpretation, the metaphor that makes reference to light in a dark space, to the hope of being able to interpret aspects from our past.Towards the interior of the plot, the access courtyard is configured by more transparent boundaries: it is the bronzed skin that opens up with constant rhythm allowing space to signal visitors into the exhibition areas.

This proposal started off with deliberations on the project at large, including the future of the Velarde and Oviedo-Portal mansions. It could not be any other way. Only through consideration of the larger scheme of things can there be any guarantee of an optimal operational future for an institution as important as this one.
We also understand that the proposed new layout makes it possible to organize construction work in phases, and in such a way that museum operations are at no time interrupted.The objectives/guidelines of the architectural action are:-An image and identity that, over and above the historic- architectural substratum of the site, will give the Fine Arts Museum of Asturias its own uniqueness as an institution.-Respect for that historical substratum.-Diaphanous spaces that facilitate exhibition montage and make it possible to contemplate artworks with sufficient perspective, unlike how things are at present.-Clear-cut internal functioning.-Clear-cut accesses.-A substantial increase in exhibition floor area.