Offices Zamora

Project Description

To build with air, the abiding dream of every architect.
Facing the cathedral and following the outline of the kitchen garden of the former convent, we built a strong box of stone walls open to the sky. Its walls and floors are made entirely of stone, the very same stone as the cathedral. It is a real hortus conclusus. In the corner facing the cathedral there is a massive stone measuring 250x150x50 cm, a veritable cornerstone, with the chiseled inscription: HIC LAPIS ANGULARIS MAIO MMXII POSITO.
Within the stone box, there is a box made only of glass, like a greenhouse, with a double façade similar to a Trombe wall. The external layer of the façade is made of glass, each single sheet measuring 600x300x2.4 cm and all joined together mostly with structural silicone, as if it were made entirely of air.
The trihedral upper angles of the box are made entirely of glass, accentuating the effect of transparency even further, precisely what Mies was looking for in his Friedrichstrasse tower. It is a trihedron built with air, a true glass corner. The following is engraved on the glass in acid: HOC VITRUM ANGULARIS MAIO MMXII POSITO.
The stone box is made of memories, with its cornerstone rooted deeply in the soil. The glass box is made for the future, with its glass corner merging with the sky.
To build with air, the abiding dream of every architect.