Facing an extremely complex program, combined with the restraining conditions of the plot´s size and its position within the urban fabric, the project´s main objective is to offer a design in which all of the functional, technical and theatrical aspects are resolved in the best possible way. To present an architectural solution that is genuinely useful. In order to minimize the negative impact that the construction of the required building volume might have on its fragile, historic surroundings, the project pursues a smooth connection of two very dissimilar building forms, as well as the reinforcement of the pedestrian character of the Calle 11 and the consolidation of the backside of Bogotá´s cathedral. Additionally, an exact fit with the adjacent buildings is proposed, both in height and in the size of the courtyards, promoting an architecture that contributes to the consolidation of city´s morphological structure.

Based on the conviction that architecture should be conceived from an understanding of the technical systems that underlie the architectural systems, the project presented by Bermúdez Arquitectos involves concrete, expert proposals from each relevant discipline. It is an architecture that is engendered simultaneously with its intrinsic technical systems.

Due to its particular corner location, the project should articulate the meeting of two different building code instructions that determine urban form and public space. On Carrera 6, it should match tall buildings of seven floors and up, generous sidewalks, and 3 meter wide cantilevers at 4 meters from the ground. In contrast, along Calle 11 the volumetric conditions of the colonial buildings of only two stories high should be met, with eaves of 1 to 1.2 meters over narrow sideways and minimal traffic lanes.

The proposed system of overhangs of the exterior reception area on Carrera 6 responds to the cantilevers of the neighboring buildings ´Stella´ and ´Universidad Autónoma´ and consolidates the modern, mid-20th century urban profile. The building volume recedes at the corner, in appreciation of the nearby facades of the cathedral, the colonial houses and the Centro Cultural Gabriel García Márquez. On Calle 11, the project establishes a continuation of the existing colonial morphology, by means of a building plane that does not exceed the eaves of the historic structures and extends the rhythm of the colonial façade openings. The perforated wall creates a solid urban perspective for the Calle 11, generates an exterior reception area that sets back the main building volume necessary to house the required program, and precedes the passageway towards the interior of the urban block.

The proposed scheme materializes the encounter of two different types of public space. It responds to the void of the current parking lot of the cathedral (closed off by a wall that adds no spatial qualities to the Carrera 6). Functionally, the theater´s restaurant located on Carrera 6 allows for the creation of new urban balconies, not unlike the colonial cabinets, that enrich the urban scenery. Finally, the transparency of the southwest corner of the urban block offers the passerby a clear reading of the new structure, and for it to be visually related to its context.