Architecture & Interior Design - Page 36 of 38

Two Spanish Buildings Among the RIBA Award Winners

SpainHouses.netJune 25, 2012June 27, 2012Leave a comment

The old bullring of Las Arenas, in Barcelona, and the Bilbao Arena Sports Palace are among the 59 prizewinners of the British architecture awards RIBA, according to the own organization.

The 59 buildings were designed by architects settled in the United Kingdom. The next July 23^rd six of these buildings will be selected in order to apply for the prestigious award Stirling 2012 ‘to the major contribution in British architecture’, that will be given in October 13^th.

The buildings designers will receive next Thursday a certificate from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in recognition of their excellency.

Among the award winners, the RIBA has chosen the Catalonian bullring of Las Arenas, because of its radical transformation, made by Roger Stirk Harbour & Partners. The bullring has been rebuild as a shopping center, but keeping its original facade.

Plaza de Toros de las Arenas Barcelona - Two Spanish Buildings Among the RIBA Award Winners — Las Arenas Bullring (Barcelona)

Palacio de Deportes Bilbao Arena - Two Spanish Buildings Among the RIBA Award Winners — Sports Palace Bilbao Arena

Source: publico.es

Alhambra. No need for words

SpainHouses.netJune 12, 2012June 19, 2012Leave a comment

The Palaces of Alhambra are one of those places you need to visit at least once in your life

The Nasrid architecture marked the end of the glorious period that started with the Umayyads in Cordoba in the 8th century. The architects of the Cordovan mosque, which was built a long time before the Alhambra, did not influence this architecture. It includes some of the typical elements of the andalusian architecture, such as the horseshoe arch with sprandel (square wide frame which envelopes the arch) and the arch scallops (arch scallop of triangular shape), as well as its own special elements such as the capitals of the columns of the Alhambra.

The greatest concern of the architects of the Alhambra was to cover every single space with decoration, no matter the size of the space. No decorative element was enough. Most of the interior arches are false arches, with no structure; they are there only to decorate. Walls are covered with beautiful and extremely rich ceramics and plasterwork. And the coverings have wooden frames that have been exquisitely carved, etc.

Just a hint of the uniqueness of the place. The Alhambra was built with its own special type of column, which is not used in any other building. This column has a very fine cylindrical shaft, the base of which has a big concave moulding and is decorated with rings on the top part. The capital is divided into two bodies and the first one, cylindrically shaped, has a very simple decoration and a prism with a rounded-angled base and stylised vegetal forms as decoration.

Relation link: Properties in Granada city

Cordoba’s Great Mosque: “La Mezquita”

SpainHouses.netJune 5, 2012June 19, 2012Leave a comment

The Mosque of Cordoba is one of the most precious architectural wonders in Spain

The Cathedral within the Mosque of Cordoba is located in the historic center of the city and shows a mixture of different architectural styles, as it was built and modified over nine centuries.

The most impressive is certainly its Moorish architecture, one of the most beautiful examples of this art in Spain. When one approaches the modest facade one hardly can imagine to find in its interior one of the greatest monuments of all the country. British author Gerald Brenan wrote: it is the most beautiful and original building of all Spain.

With an extension of 23.000 square meters it is the third-biggest mosque in the world. Its construction started in the year 785 and initiated the so-called Califal style, which combined Roman, Gothic, Byzantine, Syrian and Persian elements. This style dominated all the Moorish-Hispanic architecture of the centuries to come, up to the Mudéjar-style of Moors living in Spain after it was reconquered by Christians. Works took 234 years, so the original Gothic style is combined with Baroque and Renaissance elements Remarkable are the Cardinal's Chapel and its treasure, including a monstrance of Enrique de Arfe, an ivory crucifix of Alonso Cano and important sculptures and paintings.

Relation link: Properties in Córdoba city

Modern Architecture in Oropesa del Mar

SpainHouses.netMay 30, 2012March 31, 2020Leave a comment

Oropesa. Espegel-Fisac Arquitectos

Oropesa del Mar, in Castellón, Spain. It's hard to believe there's still good Architecture projects going on in Spain under this crisis. What follows is a good example of one of those current few modern architecture projects. Archdaily describes it:

"The building is organized in two pieces, shaping an L that defines the access square opened to Plana Avenue, being the natural way to the roads that are approaching from the urban center. The access from the square is common to the official buildings and housing, setting up one only entry point. The square is paved and gardened with palm trees.

One of the pieces accommodates the official buildings; the other, more complex, the housing. Both are joined by an exterior vertical communications core, formed by lift and stairs, and working as the access to the high level housing and also as an alternative and emergency way for the official part.

The residential part gives its back to the square, looking for the sun. The familiar houses are organized in the two low levels, two separated lines by an opened access corridor. Each house is disposed as an L, generating a private courtyard to which views and ventilation are directed to, with a southeast orientation".

...continue reading "Modern Architecture in Oropesa del Mar"

Zaldibar Kindergarten

SpainHouses.netMay 23, 2012May 28, 2012Leave a comment

Zaldibar Kindergarten in Spain

The proposal for Zaldibar kindergarten by VAUMM is composed of two buildings, connected by playgrounds. The plan responds to a simple strategy of settlement on the site, which is to get the most out of this relationship between full and empty.

The diversity of color and interior cladding, which can be used in each room, make contrast with the external image of two buildings designed to provide an oasis of calm in the stridency and disorder in the external environment.

...continue reading "Zaldibar Kindergarten"

Parque de la Música in Seville

SpainHouses.netMay 8, 2012August 5, 2019Leave a comment

Seville Parque de la Música. Architecture project by Costa Fierros Arquitectos - Sara Tavares Costa, Pablo Díaz-Fierros

32,487 square metres of a a unique urban renovation linked to Sevilla Underground infrastructure works, initiated in January 2009.

According to Arch Daily, this new Parque de la Música creates a new landscape to enjoy a walk around it or have a rest in the designated areas of the park, and the continuity of the different urban itineraries, making them more convenient and accessible for everybody.There is a dual purpose: a more cohesive city, regenerated and with better internal connections, and providing a more human and better quality outdoor space and therefore better quality of life for their inhabitants.

The park is organized along a North-South promenade that reaches the station level with a gentle slope. Other transversal circulations connect the main promenade with the surrounding streets and plazas.

...continue reading "Parque de la Música in Seville"

Come Join Us on Facebook!

SpainHouses.netMay 2, 2012August 5, 2019Leave a comment

We've recently created a new Facebook Page fully in English

Our motto on Facebook: "Real Estate web portal in Spain with the cause to serve Home Hunters"

Subscribing to our daily feeds you'll be informed in regards to the following:

Real Estate news on Spain

Interesting tips for expats living in Spain

Best selection of Houses from Monday to Friday every week.

Like it?

https://www.facebook.com/SpainHouses.net

Small Town of Pliego, Murcia. A quite Sunny Place to Live In

SpainHouses.netApril 24, 2012March 31, 2020Leave a comment

Cañadas Park will enhance the urban districts of Pliego, one of the best places of the seventh largest province in Spain, Murcia, to live in.

Murcia is the seventh largest province in Spain. In recent years, there has been a great development on Architecture, mostly orientated towards the construction of parks and open spaces. This architectural project we are presenting you today is called Cañadas Park.

The project started with ideas competition developed by Pliego City Council in collaboration with the Ministries of Public Works and Planning and the Ministry of Presidency and Public Administration of the Region of Murcia.

The small town of Pliego is in the northwest of the province of Murcia, 42 kilometers away from the city of Murcia. The village of Pliego has an urban design characteristic of Islamic rural farmhouses. As a result we have an urban sinuous and disorganized, whose logic is based on its own orographic.

The area is in the highest part of Pliego, between the urban districts of the village and the Sierra Espuña National Park. This project tries to link the new growth areas with the Sierra Espuña National Park.

...continue reading "Small Town of Pliego, Murcia. A quite Sunny Place to Live In"

Zubizuri Bridge in Bilbao by Santiago Calatrava 1

SpainHouses.netApril 17, 2012August 5, 20191 Comment

Bilbao is home for one the great architectural works of Santiago Calatrava

This graceful curving glass-decked footbridge, called as "Puente del Campo Volantin" or "Zubizuri", is one of the greatest designs of Santiago Calatrava. A short walk along the river from the Guggenheim Bilbao by Frank Gehry.

"As in many other designs by Santiago Calatrava, an apparent disequilibrium or rather a sense of frozen movement is heightened by the lightness of the structure".- said Philip Jodidio.

Calatrava's early career was largely dedicated to bridges and train stations, with designs that elevated the status of civil engineering projects to new heights. His Montjuic Communications Tower in Barcelona in the heart of the 1992 Olympics site, as well as the Allen Lambert Galleria in Toronto, Canada, were important works and turning points in his career, leading to a wide range of commissions.

...continue reading "Zubizuri Bridge in Bilbao by Santiago Calatrava"

From Prison to Cultural Civic Center. In Palencia, Spain

SpainHouses.netApril 10, 2012August 5, 2019Leave a comment

Rehabilitation of Former Prison of Palencia as Cultural Civic Center / Exit Architects

Remodelling this "neomudéjar" style prison must have been a tough enterprise. Its grey walls and shadowy passageways have turned in a widely open building. "The former Palencia Provincial Prison complex was created at the end of the XIX century", writes Victoria King for Arch Daily, "built with brick bearing walls following the “neomudéjar” style, and composed mainly of four two-storey wings and some other with one storey. On this building was planned a comprehensive refurbishment to transform the former use and convert it into a center that promotes the social and cultural activity in this part of the town".

As architects Ángel Sevillano and José Mª Tabuyo, from Exit Architects, say: "Our proposal intends to convert the former prison into a meeting place, recovering some of the old spaces, and creating at the same time new structures that make possible the new planned activities. It is a project that respects the existing building, which is given a contemporary, lighter appearance, and where the natural light will play a key role".

...continue reading "From Prison to Cultural Civic Center. In Palencia, Spain"