Architecture by Alberto Campo Baeza

Today I found some much needed architecture inspiration, it’s been a little while and I’ve been that way inclined for some time. In fact, as I’m not a trained architect myself I often learn things through general research, films, and other informative material on the subject. My bookshelf is stacked full of publications on famous architects and architecture, from the likes of Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto, even a newer generation like Norman Foster and Tadao Ando. So when I saw that the American Academy of Arts and Letters had announced the recipients of its 2013 architecture awards I was quite intrigued, searching up the winners and some of the most notable buildings in recent times. One of the winners was Alberto Campo Baeza in recognition of significant contributions to architecture as an art, since we haven’t showcased the firm before I thought I’d present a few of their builds and explain my thoughts on them.

Alberto Campo Baeza has been practicing and teaching architecture in Madrid for over 35 years. One of the key elements to his works is the control of light, creating timeless forms that are both contemporary yet distinct in their look. Each build has a strong focus on function, a creation of a space that we, as humans, can move through and live in. I found when browsing through the portfolio a real respect for the local context, such as the actual location it surrounds and its general environment, which isn’t something all architects look at in enough detail. Overall you can tell Alberto is quite the perfectionist and is meticulous when it comes to the small intricacies that give the build that extra special feeling.

You can spot a lot of these particular concepts and thoughts of Alberto’s, mainly the lighting, on his Vimeo page where the firm has set up a camera in a particular space of a build for a whole 24 hours. One that’s especially vivid is the embedded film below of his 2012 build named Atrio Caja Granada, one of his bigger ones, which very much reminds me of Japanese architect Tadao Ando or Louis Kahn and his use of concrete, how the light rises up and down throughout the day, and the lighting at night or early morning also causes interesting effects throughout. Each hour it looks like a totally different space altogether.

Saying that, the most groundbreaking build of all for me is the Offices for Junta Castilla León in Zamora, Spain (pictured above). The transparent glass box, made to seem as if one is working within the garden of the property, is very impressive and beautiful on the eye. Although the facade looks impractical this particular element is built in a special way to hold heat in the winter and expel heat and protect the building in the summer. So overall a lovely piece of simplistic design. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the imagery below and you’ll delve more in to Alberto Campo Baeza on the relevant links below.

campobaeza.com
flickr.com/campobaeza

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