Skip to content

Since at least Babylonian times, hanging gardens of significant scale have been thought of as wondrous things. But beyond the spectacle of the garden itself, is the structure within which the garden is created. Capella Garcia Architecture have designed this hanging garden or, as they tend to be known these days, a green wall, to be around for some time. The garden especially when the planting is fully mature will be wondrous if not on the scale of the ancient mystical gardens. But I imagine that many, even without the plants, would be happy to sit and stare at the structure for a while.

Green wall products on the market tend to be cheap plastic affairs that can accommodate plants of a certain limited size. They tend to been used as a canvas in which different coloured, or structured plants are used as pixels to draw a large, if abstract design.

This project in Barcelona  (Spain) has a substantial galvanized steel frame creating eight levels which are accessed via a stair. It is altogether more substantial than the usual living wall described above, and with imaginative management could become a type of social garden where local residents could come together to tend it, exchanging flowers, produce, gossip and goodwill.

Architecture in Barcelona 01 - A green wall by Capella Garcia Architecture in Barcelona

...continue reading "A green wall by Capella Garcia Architecture in Barcelona"

If we go to early 2.000, during the years before the housing bubble burst in 2007, in Spain were being built in the vicinity of the 700,000 homes year, with a large speculative component, driven by low interest rates and ever-rising property prices, what homeownership turned into a very interesting investment option.

As of August 2007, there was a slowdown in demand has meant that much of the housing stock built and not sold, has become a major burden on the balance sheet of banks and savings banks, main financing actors of the projects.

Currently a new scenario is opened for visionary overseas profitable hunters
From a investor point of view, there are three benefits this situation bring in.

• Large brand new finished housing stock with high quality construction level
• Deep prices repositioning
• Favorable financing conditions

First, according to the Ministry of Fomento in its report of January 2012 stated an excess of 676,038 new homes in our country available for sale, where Andalusia, Valencia and Catalonia represent over 50% of the total. ...continue reading "Spain: a land of opportunities for overseas investors?"

3 bedrooms, Built area 116m2, Second Hand, Asset from banking Stock, Good financing conditions

Situated in the lovely white town of Arcos de la Frontera, Cadiz, the home is surrounded by a quiet and peaceful area; ideal to enjoy life in a town of Southern Spain, just 45 minutes by car from Cadiz city. It is also perfect for nature lovers, as the region is perfect to go hiking.

See more info clicking on the following link: spainhouses.net

986119 56895 7 - Great Opportunity: Home in Cadiz for Less than 85,000 €!
...continue reading "Great Opportunity: Home in Cadiz for Less than 85,000 €!"

This pavilion, located in Salobreña (Granada), does not have a specific use but it is carefully designed to fit into its surrounding landscape in a specific way.

Jesús Torres of García architects, who is Spanish, but who is currently living in Paris, was inspired by Oscar Niemeyer’s approach to building in harmony with nature.

On one side the building is clad with timber slats, whilst on the other it is apparently clad in landscape and sky. Of course this is just the reflection of its surroundings in the mirrored glass, but it was the intention to produce this illusion. It works in part at least, because of the minimal detailing to the glazing.

Inside the pavilion is open and flexible providing the perfect environment for exhibitions and other small scale events.

The building is very powerful in its own modest way.

The Non Program Pavilion - The Non Program Pavilion, Salobreña, Granada
...continue reading "The Non Program Pavilion, Salobreña, Granada"

There is one construction-based sector where the machines have not stopped working and where at times it is difficult to find qualified staff to carry out certain jobs. With building cranes in hibernation and more than 200,000 people out of work in Malaga province that may be hard to imagine, but it is true. This sector is within in the triangle formed by Marbella, Estepona and Benahavís and last year it generated more than 250 million euros worth of business and about 4,000 jobs, of which 1,000 were direct.

Villa in Marbella1 - The construction of luxury homes escapes the crisis and requires qualified workers
...continue reading "The construction of luxury homes escapes the crisis and requires qualified workers"

2

6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, Area Lot 4,500m2, Built area 400m2, Seaside Resort, Brand New, In Rural Area, Swimming pool, Parking for 8 cards, Balearic Islands

The house of this week is a luxury and minimalist villa for sale, situated in Ibiza, newly remodelled with fine materials and top quality.  Surrounded by bush, it has magnificent sea views and sunsets. The area is very quiet and peaceful.

More info clicking here.

23742 989447 foto19204468 - Detached villa for sale in Ibiza, Balearic Islands
...continue reading "Detached villa for sale in Ibiza, Balearic Islands"

1

This is a series of sustainable public spaces, a meeting point for those who live in the area of Vallecas, a suburb of Madrid. It is on a 500 x 50 m road, a pilot experience for the climatic adaptation of outdoor spaces, awarded in 2004 at the Eco-Boulevard competition organized by the Residential Innovation management office within the Municipal Housing Corporation of Madrid and funded by the European Union (LIFE programme). The tree of air is a light structure that is self-sufficient and can be dismantled. It consumes only what it can produce through photovoltaic solar energy collection systems. Selling this energy to the power network generates a superavit on the annual balance sheet and this is reinvested in the maintenance of the structure. “Three Pavilions, or air-trees, work as supports, open to multiple activities chosen by the users. Installed in the non-city as temporary prostheses, they will be used only until the inactivity and climatic adaptation problem is corrected.”

Eco Boulevard1 - Eco Boulevard, Ecosistema Urbano Architectos, Madrid

Eco Boulebard3 - Eco Boulevard, Ecosistema Urbano Architectos, Madrid

Via: mimoa.eu

In Alicante, the euros are flowing in from Moscow. Russians have become the saviors of the Mediterranean province's property market and tourism sector, and now that Cyprus - their former Eden - has been bailed out by the EU, Russians are turning to Alicante to lay down their money. First they come on vacation for a few days to check out the beaches and the climate on the Costa Blanca, and later they return to purchase a holiday home, cash in hand - no down payments, no mortgages necessary.

Alicante1 300x225 - Alicante's property market is finding salvation in Russian investorsClients from Russia have overtaken the British in the foreign home-buyer ranking. Half of the 7,000 residences sold to non-Spaniards in Alicante province last year went to Russian families, a market that represented less than five percent of the total just four years ago.

What with the Russians buying and the British selling, the area of La Vega Baja is experiencing a new property boom that places Alicante at the top of the Spanish list of existing home transactions. According to Public Works Ministry figures, the province topped the list of home sales to foreigners during the first nine months of 2012. Most of the total of 2,501 transactions involved Russian buyers. Málaga was a distant second on 1,111.
...continue reading "Alicante’s property market is finding salvation in Russian investors"

7 bedrooms, Area Lot 2,700m2, Built area 1,118m2, Swimming-pool, Seaside Resort, Second Hand, Luxury property, In Urban Area

Luxury villa just minutes from the city of Marbella (Málaga), internal and luxurious urbanization Los Monteros with 24 hour security. 200 meters from the beach. In an area equipped with all the services and shops. A newly built exclusive house with exceptional qualities. Exquisite design. Comfortable and spacious. Ability to negotiate the furnishing. Marinas, golf and golf, airport, all within minutes.

See more info clicking on here.

962486 558662 24 - Stunning Villa for sale in Marbella (Málaga)
...continue reading "Stunning Villa for sale in Marbella (Málaga)"

This is a monumental tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks on March 11th, 2004, Madrid.

It consists out of 2 parts, intimately related: the glass cupola and the room underneath it. From this room, visitors can watch the inside of the cupola, where messages are visible, printed on the glass. These messages were written in the successive days after the bombing. The 11 m high glass cupola is formed by 2 different layers: transparent colourless glass blocks and an ETFE membrane. The blocks are glued together with acrylic glue that hardens when exposed to ultraviolet light. The glue is still transparent, but the ETFE foil contains a 97% transparency, subject to change, according to the pressure within the room. The messages will be seen through the glass skin during the day, and appear different during the night. The room is accessed directly from the main lobby of the station of Atocha. The blue coloured space is like “an empty space, in silence, with the light as a protagonist”.

Atocha - Architecture in Spain: Atocha Monument, Madrid

...continue reading "Architecture in Spain: Atocha Monument, Madrid"