La Caja Agraria de Barranquilla
Fernando Martínez Sanabria and the architecture of place, a case for modern heritage
Framework. Master's thesis, École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-Val de Seine
Abstract
This thesis studies the Caja Agraria headquarters in Barranquilla, designed by Fernando Martínez Sanabria (1925-1991) and declared a National Monument in 1995. Abandoned at the time, the building was threatened by the extension of the Paseo Bolívar, a historic-centre regeneration project that assumed its demolition. The work places the building within the history of Colombian modern architecture and its author's career, then analyses it in plan, section and elevation: a siting derived from the lines of the Magdalena River and the Paseo Bolívar, a free plan, concrete sunshades set by solar study, and natural ventilation. It concludes that the Caja Agraria is an example of an architecture of place, adaptable to other uses, housing in particular, and that it can articulate the public space rather than obstruct it.
Research Question
How can the Paseo Bolívar extension be carried out while safeguarding Fernando Martínez Sanabria's Caja Agraria building?
Objectives
To understand the building's architectural qualities and its place in 20th-century Colombian architecture.
To build arguments that can change the perception of an exposed-concrete building seen as unpopular, by showing its historical and cultural value.
To open avenues for its rehabilitation, with the same programme or another, as part of the historic centre's regeneration.
Scope
The Caja Agraria building, a bank and office block that closes the north end of the Paseo Bolívar, the founding site of Barranquilla, near the Magdalena River. It is protected as a National Monument.
The Paseo Bolívar extension led by EDUBAR, already partly built behind the building, serves as a counterpoint to the analysis.
Methodology
Geographical, historical and architectural context, from the Modern Movement in Colombia to the architecture of Barranquilla.
Study of Fernando Martínez Sanabria's work, from early rationalism to organicism.
Analysis of the building from archival plans, sections and elevations: access, circulation, structure, spatial organisation, façade and relationship with the Bolívar monument.
Observation of how the public space is used on the completed part of the extension.
Findings
The form of the Caja Agraria is derived from the site. The axes of the river and the Paseo Bolívar organise the structure and the plan, and the façade engages with the Bolívar statue, framing it in three different ways depending on where the passer-by stands.
The exposed-concrete sunshades, drawn from solar study, admit indirect light and limit overheating. As long as the winds from the river and the sea blow, natural ventilation can do without air conditioning. The free plan and separate entrances make the building adaptable to other uses, mixed or residential.
By contrast, the completed part of the extension, mineral and shadeless, is little used. Demolishing the Caja Agraria would contradict the policy of regenerating the historic centre. The thesis proposes rehabilitating it as a link between two public spaces, with housing that would bring the centre to life in the evening.
Since the thesis
The building was not demolished: it has been rehabilitated and now houses offices.
Image credits
Caja Agraria de Barranquilla, south-east façade, 1961. SCA competition archives, Museo de Arquitectura Leopoldo Rother (Universidad Nacional de Colombia). Source: Carlos Niño Murcia.
References
Arango, Silvia. Historia de la arquitectura en Colombia. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, 1989.
Arrieta Barbosa, Armando ; Hernández Arévalo, Ruth. Los inicios de Barranquilla. Poblamiento en el Bajo Magdalena, siglos XVI al XVIII. Ediciones Uninorte, Barranquilla, 2006.
Avendaño, Guillermo ; Martínez, Fernando. « Caja de Crédito Agrario, Barranquilla, primer premio ». PROA, n° 144, 1961, p. 2-6.
Bell Lemus, Carlos. El movimiento moderno en Barranquilla. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, 2005.
Berty, Anne. Architectures colombiennes. Éditions du Moniteur, Paris, 1981.
Niño Murcia, Carlos. Arquitectura y Estado. Contexto y significado de las construcciones del Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Colombia 1905-1960. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, 2003.
Niño Murcia, Carlos. Fernando Martínez Sanabria y la arquitectura del lugar en Colombia. Banco de la República, El Áncora Editores, Bogotá.
Rojas Farías, Ricardo. Anatomía de una penumbra. Examen y diagnóstico del edificio de la Caja Agraria de Barranquilla de Fernando Martínez Sanabria. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Artes, Bogotá.