Like huge trees, six pylons bearing “parasols” tower above the Plaza de la Encarnación in the historic centre of Seville, forming a shady roof. From the restaurant at the top, which was not to exceed the 28-metre ridge height of the cathedral, one has a view over the roofs of the city. Various uses are stacked vertically above each other here. In the basement is an archaeological museum, where a 40-metre field of excavations is spanned without intermediate columns by a two-storey-high steel Vierendeel frame. Above this, at street level, is a market hall, the roof of which is in a steel and concrete composite form of construction, creating a plaza five metres above ground level. Finally, at a height of 21.5 m, are bars and restaurants woven into a lattice grid of polyurethane-coated laminated-timber sheets. The main attraction of the development, however, is the breathtaking panoramic route that winds its way round the free form of the roof, which has a maximum length of 150 m and a width of 70 m. Two cylindrical load-bearing concrete towers clad in timber sheeting contain lift shafts and support a linking platform where the restaurant facilities are located. The platform is in a reinforced concrete composite form of construction from which the timber lattice grid is suspended. The shafts of the other four parasols and the 11,000 m² undulating roof structure consist almost entirely of laminated-timber elements. (Frank Kaltenbach)