Writer: Gem Barton
Junta Castilla y León in Zamora by Campo Baeza
“It is a stone box open to the sky that holds a crystalline box and protects it and tempers it, immersed in the midst of a wonderful garden.”
It has been some time since my appetite for simplicity has been so contently satisfied. This project by Spanish firm Campo Baeza in Zamora looks akin to an art gallery or a museum rather than offices. Good thing or bad – that is a question of personal taste – and taste is something this project has in abundance.
High walls built from the same stone and in similar dimensions as the Zamora cathedral, follow the site boundary enclosing the space, yet simultaneously opening it up to the sky. This ‘secret garden’ contains a perfectly controlled transparent glass box sandwiched between trees, plants and flowers.
Principal Alberto Campo Baeza has architecture in his blood; he has been a professor at the Madrid School of Architecture for more than 25 years, he has exhibited at MAXXI and has countless commendations to his name. With a handful of prestigious projects already in progress for 2012 this is an exciting time for the Campo Baeza team.
Collaboration: Pablo Fernández Lorenzo, Pablo Redondo Díez, Alfonso González Gaisán and Francisco Blanco Velasco.
Images by Javier Callejas
Surely the ultimate expression of concept in the realisation of a brief. Dreamlike transparency in a rigid enclosure in a tight, historic urban setting. Where can I find clients like this? Will be referencing this next time I’m struggling to get a scheme past Edinburgh planning.
This is HOT! possibly inside as well…? perfectly controlled in passive solar heating sense? would love to know how they pulled that off, seems to be some clever shading. love it in many ways.