TRANSFORMATION

When the Government of the Principality of Asturias took over the Universidad Laboral building in Gijón back in 2001, it decided to renovate a space of great complexity in order to consolidate its educational functions, while at the same time creating new and complementary uses. It was at that time that the idea of a superimposing a new city on Moya’s original ideal city came about; a 21st century centre of creativity and production, with spaces dedicated to learning and teaching; spaces to see, hear and consume cultural products; a space in which to share networks, to interchange knowledge and to convey ideas.

Aforesaid plan defined what was to become the overall refurbishment of a complex building on a monumental scale, given its 130,000 m2 surface area.

From the work that began back in 2005, and which has covered some 80,000 m2 of La Laboral’s entire surface area, the following elements have emerged: a centre of art in what were once vocational training workshops; a newly-built television studio, which completed the work on the erstwhile convent of the St. Clare nuns, and which has now been transformed into the headquarters of the Principality of Asturias Radio and Television company; a spectacular library, thus completing an unfinished part of Moya’s original project; the Corinthian courtyard, which has been transformed into a warm welcoming area thanks to this new glass roof; the magnificent assembly hall, technically equipped… not to mention thousands of metres of refurbished floor space to house the Vocational Training Centre, the Jovellanos University School and the Superior School of Dramatic Art.

After two years of work, which had not interfered in the day-to-day life of the building, La Laboral City of Culture opened its doors to the general public in March 2007 for two weeks to afford thousands of people a chance to get to know these new spaces; visitors who could also witness the transformation process to which theatre was being subject, or who could simply re-live their amazement at the size of the impressive church. The LABoral Centre of Art and Industrial Creation also opened in 2007, a unique space for artistic interchange which has quickly gained an international reputation for itself.