Comments on: Picos de Europa / Capilla-Vallejos Arquitectos

By: L dog

L dog — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:28:06 +0000

very nice lighting inside

By: Ringo

Ringo — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:54:42 +0000

for students like me, details like that on how to make architecture like this is a preoccupation and generosity to be thankful..

By: sullka

sullka — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:12:56 +0000

Nice to see some Capilla Vallejos in here.

This building is form the late 90s, and yet it looks like recently designed, that’s good architecture, ageless.

By: vibenade

vibenade — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:33:00 +0000

excellent!! but it’s feel like very japanese huhu

By: Marcus

Marcus — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:00:40 +0000

A great design and great presentation. I like the contrast of the feild stone and the wood planks on the face of the building. I can see this structure in any part of the world and thats what makes it great architecture. I agree with Waxman, I’m an Architecture student and this is a prime example of the work that schools should show students. I’m tired of the blob design. We should master the fundementals before we explore complexity.

By: francis

francis — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:12:14 +0000

It is easy to be drawn to the “box” architecture because the architectural vocabulary and grammar used are easy to understand. For everything, once the language used is understood we can fully appreciate and justify our opinion of it. Credit to Arch Daily and the architects for publishing such a comprehensive set of photographs and drawings.

Thankfully we live in a world of diversity, in “god’s rich tapestry”. I cannot live in a world that is predominantly one form.

By: waxman

waxman — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:50:06 +0000

OK this is a love-in. Not only do I agree with the comments of lucas and glenn above, but look at the quality of the drawings – legible, crisp clean + elegant. This is the kind of work you should show architecture students, not the whiz bang starchitect *&!@.

By: Terry Glenn Phipps

Terry Glenn Phipps — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:14:01 +0000

This building is an antidote to the calibre of architecture and discussion of late. Likewise, someone has taken the time and trouble to make excellent professional photographs.

It strikes me that this building falls into a tradition of parks architecture which has a pretty terrific history. I still remember fondly the visitors center at the Great Meteor Crater in Winslow Arizona (Philip Johnson) from when I was six-years old. The idea, I think, to this kind of architecture is sensitive siting and providing both a juxtaposition to and transition into a natural landscape. Somehow, it just seems that the school of thought that says to make this kind of building disappear is less satisfying.

Here the minimal amount of transparency and the materials palette are absolutely spot on. Seeing this does make one want to go there.

Back to the photography for a moment. Notice that these architects have taken the time and trouble to use a professional photographer an proper equipment to document their work. As a result the photographs, by definition very wide angle, are absolutely linear and without distortion. The result gives the appearance of an architectural elevation.

This is what great photographers like Marvin Rand and Julius Schulman always did, and what photographers these days don’t bother to do anymore. Even I can (and do) take architectural snapshots with a 12mm lens. However, I don’t confuse these with real architectural documentation. This is a tradition that I don’t think we can afford to lose.

Terry Glenn Phipps

By: Lucas Gray

Lucas Gray — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:04:10 +0000

Wow. Yet another stunning building. Fantastic material palate and simple and elegant form.