Abstract
This contribution outlines the conceptual and strategic foundations of the Akra Leuké project, developed in the summer of 2023 within the framework of the public competition for the new Conference Centre of Alicante. The project was located at piers 7 and 9 of the port, an area of transition between the urban maritime frontage, the tourist harbour, and the port’s industrial expansion. The liminal condition of the site, combined with the competition brief’s stated ambition to generate a new iconic element for the city, prompted a reflection on the role of the architectural icon in the 21st century—understood as boundary and urban threshold—and on its potential redefinition as a space of mediation.
The proposal was structured around two main theoretical references: on the one hand, the notion of the monument as permanence, following Aldo Rossi’s formulation; on the other, the typological unease expressed by Rafael Moneo concerning the necessity for each generation to reformulate architectural types. Within this framework, the project offered a critical revision of the conference centre as a type, displacing it from its conventional functional and autonomous condition towards that of a public urban entity.
From a compositional perspective, the building was conceived as a node of circulation, capable of collecting pedestrian flows from the city centre and returning them to the urban fabric through a continuous spatial sequence. This topological operation sought to reverse the reading of the sea as a limit, proposing it instead as a point of return. The building was thus defined more as a threshold than as a destination.
From a formal and symbolic point of view, the project established direct relationships with recognisable elements of the context—Mount Benacantil, the Castle of Santa Barbara, the port front—while incorporating references to Mediterranean architectural tradition, in particular Greek temples and the public space of the agorá. The staircase occupied a central position, both in the exterior configuration, articulating public terraces overlooking the sea, and in the interior, where it assumed the role of a representational space, inspired by 19th-century theatres: not a mere circulation device, but a space conceived for seeing and being seen.
Ultimately, the proposal did not pursue iconicity as an autonomous gesture, but sought a typological, referential and permanent form. In opposition to architecture as spectacle, it proposed an architecture of structure; against formal exception, it advocated urban continuity.
The proposal was structured around two main theoretical references: on the one hand, the notion of the monument as permanence, following Aldo Rossi’s formulation; on the other, the typological unease expressed by Rafael Moneo concerning the necessity for each generation to reformulate architectural types. Within this framework, the project offered a critical revision of the conference centre as a type, displacing it from its conventional functional and autonomous condition towards that of a public urban entity.
From a compositional perspective, the building was conceived as a node of circulation, capable of collecting pedestrian flows from the city centre and returning them to the urban fabric through a continuous spatial sequence. This topological operation sought to reverse the reading of the sea as a limit, proposing it instead as a point of return. The building was thus defined more as a threshold than as a destination.
From a formal and symbolic point of view, the project established direct relationships with recognisable elements of the context—Mount Benacantil, the Castle of Santa Barbara, the port front—while incorporating references to Mediterranean architectural tradition, in particular Greek temples and the public space of the agorá. The staircase occupied a central position, both in the exterior configuration, articulating public terraces overlooking the sea, and in the interior, where it assumed the role of a representational space, inspired by 19th-century theatres: not a mere circulation device, but a space conceived for seeing and being seen.
Ultimately, the proposal did not pursue iconicity as an autonomous gesture, but sought a typological, referential and permanent form. In opposition to architecture as spectacle, it proposed an architecture of structure; against formal exception, it advocated urban continuity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | International ConferenceWATERLINES. |
| Subtitle of host publication | Research, Projects and Visions for the Connections between Cities and Waterfronts. |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Sept 2025 |
Keywords
- architecture
- Typology
- Waterfronts
