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Published on 2 Comments on 18th Century Country House in Sils, Girona

Charming 18th century residence-hotel at the feet of the Pyrenees, Girona (Catalonia)

This 18th Century country house has been carefully restored as a luxury charming hotel in the countryside. Located at the feet of the Pyrenees in the Natural Park of the Alta Garrotxa (close to the Costa Brava), the estate enjoys calm and tranquillity for its owners and guests.

586529 45830 6 300x222 - 18th Century Country House in Sils, GironaThe present owner, an interior designer, put a lot of care and detail in every corner of the house, spent a lot of money in luxury furniture and dedicated a lot of time to decoration. When he started the renovation he was looking to have a luxury home for himself in the area during some years and to have guests from time to time that would give a certain ambience to the property. Business was not is final target at all.

The 150 hectares (370 acres) of land afford an excellent landscaped garden with a large swimming pool. The rest of the property is forest or potentially agricultural land. The property has also possibilities as hunting estate, etc.
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Published on Leave a comment on Madrid skyline to get a touch of nature

Argentinean architect Emilio Ambasz has decided to locate his Museum of Art, Architecture, Design and Urbanism in Madrid on the Paseo del Prado, close to the CaixaForum, the Prado, the Thyssen, and the Reina Sofía museums. The project, which will turn an abandoned lot into a 3,672-square-meter, five-floor building covered with plants that act as natural thermal control mechanisms, and with a foliage-covered roof that will collect rainwater, exemplifies Ambasz's concept of introducing greenery into the heart of the gray city. With a budget of 10 million euros, the Emilio Ambasz Foundation will take care of the design and construction as well as the running of the museum, which will include a program of grants for young architects.

Ambasz in Madrid 300x225 - Madrid skyline to get a touch of nature"I know it sounds presumptuous, but I lay claim to being the precursor of current architectural production concerned with environmental problems," says Ambasz.

From the beginning, Ambasz says he was obsessed with reconciling nature and artifice. His first built project, the Lucile Halsell Conservatory, in San Antonio, Texas, completed in 1988, is a collection of chimerical glass cones planted into earth berms like diamonds, invoking some vision of Arcadia, either ancient or futuristic, or maybe both.
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Published on Leave a comment on European Court rules Spanish mortgage law is abusive

The European Court of Justice have ruled that Spain’s mortgage law is incompatible with a European directive on abusive practices in consumer contracts, opening the door to more legal protection for households facing eviction from their family home.

mortgage news 300x219 - European Court rules Spanish mortgage law is abusiveThe ruling comes in response to a question posed by a Barcelona court in connection with the eviction of Moroccan immigrant Mohammed Aziz from his home in January 2011, after he failed to meet mortgage payments on a 138,000-euro loan granted to him by savings bank CatalunyaCaixa in July 2007.

The ruling will apply to all eviction cases now being processed across Europe but might not be applied retroactively, as pressure groups have been calling for. Amendments to the mortgage law, which is more than a century old, are now going through parliament, and it appeared as if the government was waiting for the Luxembourg-based court’s judgment before proceeding with the passage of the draft law.
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Published on 1 Comment on Impressive Villa for Sale in Marbella

5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, Area Lot 4,816m2, Built area 999m2, Seaside Resort, Brand New, Luxury property, In Urban Area, On golf course, In a mountain area, Marbella, Málaga

This magnificent villa is situated on one of the coast’s most prestigious and well respected golf and riding clubs. The property comprises impressive entrance hall, lounge, large Clive Christian, fully fitted kitchen, dining room, office, cloakroom and various utility areas. Five generous bedroom suites all provide unforgettable views, and 5 bathrooms with 999 m. The house offers comprising games room, and large terrace off 186 m, secured bodega for valuable vintages, safe long-term storage rooms; access to undeveloped areas suitable for cinema, gymnasium, discotheque or children’s play areas , extensives terraces, garden and swimming pool. Security within the estate is provided on a 24 hour. This villa has a plot of 4816 m.

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Published on Leave a comment on Modern Architecture in Spain: Bilbao City Hall by IMB Arquitectos

The new headquarters of Bilbao City Hall in San Agustín, is situated in front of the back façade of the Neobaroque Palace that holds the present Town Hall, built in 1892 by Joaquin Rucoba Architect. The recent building contains the technical offices of the Town Hall. The historic building will keep the representative image of the city corporation and the headquarters of the Mayor.

The treatment applied to the residual public spaces has the objective to fluff the urban fabric and increase the available area to generate a little plaza becoming an urban antechamber or lobby to access the Town Hall Headquarters. The fragmentation of the whole in two volumes has the will to integrate the building into the city plot, adapt the scale and the heights to the place and enhance the traditional pedestrian way across the parcel.

Inside the building the aim has been to create flexible terms of use in the different floors, which are able to generate different types of offices, from the closed one to open work areas or common elements to relax. From the point of view of the Environmental improvement it has been adopted different strategies and actions to increase the quality of the work area and minimize energy consumptions and CO2 emissions.

Bilbao City Hall by IMB Arquitectos - Modern Architecture in Spain: Bilbao City Hall by IMB Arquitectos

Bilbao City Hall by IMB Arquitectos2 - Modern Architecture in Spain: Bilbao City Hall by IMB Arquitectos

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Published on Leave a comment on Spain Better to Rent than the UK

Investors now get better gross rental yields in Barcelona and Madrid than in London or Paris. Assessing house prices and For rent house 300x199 - Spain Better to Rent than the UKthe amount that could be eared renting our property, the findings by a Spanish property portal concluded that gross residential rental yields in Barcelona (4.1 cent) and Madrid (4 per cent) are now better than London (3.4 per cent) and Paris (3 per cent).

Falling house prices and the glut of people who cannot afford to do anything other than rent means that investors are winning at both ends of the Spanish property market. Not only are they able to pick up bargain real estate, but are then able to set a high amount of rent, increasing their income.
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Published on 1 Comment on Outstanding Country House in Inca, Baleares

6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, Area Lot 127,000m2, Built area 600m2, Second Hand

Extraordinary country house situated in Inca (Baleares) newly built but in a traditional Majorcan style, offering exquisite features and architectural details. Located in a peaceful, exclusive mountain valley, offering a wonderful micro climate throughout the year, but only a few kilometres from the town of Pollensa. The house is surrounded by extensive grounds with fabulous views over the bay of Pollensa. The ground floor comprises an entrance hall, a living room divided into two separate areas with an open fireplace, a light and airy dining room, a classical style kitchen with a central island and two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. The ground floor is also surrounded by wonderful covered porches leading out to a large swimming pool with spectacular views. A third bedroom with en-suite bathroom is located on the middle floor and the other three en-suite bedrooms are situated on the top floor and offer terraces with panoramic views.

46353 929154 foto 1 - Outstanding Country House in Inca, Baleares
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Published on Leave a comment on Architecture in Spain: Casa Son Vida, Palma de Mallorca

Located near Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Casa Son Vida brakes the boundaries in matters of luxury and futuristic home approaches. The project comes from tec Architecture in collaboration with Amsterdam-based Marcel Wanders Studio, responsible for designing the interiors. This villa is said to be the first of the 6 planned luxury residences in this exclusive area.

Here is some further information from the architects: “Casa Son Vida 1 aims to redefine the notion of the luxury villa by moving most of the paradigms of luxury towards a more contemporary and forward-looking expression of architecture and technology. The project pushes the envelope in every direction and every sense; it is highly sustainable, basically off-the-grid, gives an unheard of sense of space and place, explores new construction technologies, and enters into a critical dialogue with the decorated box buildings in its vicinity. Casa Son Vida 1 is unavoidably exuberant and unabashedly outrageous.”

Casa Son Vida - Architecture in Spain: Casa Son Vida, Palma de Mallorca
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Published on 3 Comments on Families join waiting list to squat in empty apartments in Málaga

News that an organised group of squatters had moved into an empty block of flats in Malaga’s Calle Ventura Rodríguez has given hope to more families with few or no financial resources.

hipoteca - Families join waiting list to squat in empty apartments in MálagaCouples with young children, or with babies on the way, have turned up at the building in the hope that there would be room for them, but have been turned away. Under the organisation of PAH (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca) formed to fight against evictions due to mortgage default, 17 family groups have been accommodated in the 14 apartments. Due to the unexpected demand the association has started a waiting list and plans to comb the city in search of new potential squats. These, explained PAH member Fali Doblas, must be uninhabited buildings that belong to banks, builders or public administrations.

In the case of Ventura Rodríguez, the building belongs to Bankinter since it was repossessed when the builders went bankrupt. On Wednesday bank sources confirmed that no action had been taken yet but that lawyers were studying the possible legal routes to take. The bank stressed, however, that it has halted all eviction procedures in mortgage default cases.
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Published on Leave a comment on Theatre in Almonte, Huelva, by Donaire Arquitectos

The building is located in Almonte (Huelva), on the site of an old winery. It has the challenge of integrate the existing old buildings, declared as cultural interest, and being part of a cultural complex of a total of three buildings and a common space. This space turns into the main place of the town and an important meeting area.

An opportunity to work on light, material and space. The path chosen to work on these concepts, is the contrast. Contrast between outside and inside, between old and new, including a monumental scale and human scale. And the journey as the thread that sews and explains the intervention. A large area covered with large proportions and controlled height works as a high threshold. A monumental scale lobby welcomes the visitor showing the scale of a public building.

Theatre in Almonte - Theatre in Almonte, Huelva, by Donaire Arquitectos

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