José Garrido
Capileira
Explored on October 24, 2013
Capileira, Andalusia, Spain.
Technical data: Nikon D800 | Nikkor AF-S 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED at 22mm | Induro AT213 tripod + BHL2 ballhead.
1/200s | f/8 | ISO 100.
Processing: Lightroom 5 | Photoshop CS6 | Nik Sharpener Pro 3 | Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
In search for inspiration to sort out the questions that arise in the work of an architect, we are often drawn to the geniuses of our time and their latest creations. Even though that approach might have proved useful and cost-effective in most cases, I am a big believer in looking for our sources a bit further back in time.
Las Alpujarras, an otherwise wild territory of hills and valleys on the Southern foothills of Sierra Nevada that extends over the provinces of Granada and Almeria (Spain), saw its first settlers in the 8th century. The smart engineering work of those people, who channeled the water from the abounding streams in the area to villages and terraced plots, made it possible the development of an incipient economy based on the cultivation of Mediterranean crops. Most of the villages were established in the steepest places within this territory, so as to dedicate the little flat land available for cultivation.
Out of necessity, those pioneers developed their own construction techniques to build small, flat-roofed houses more akin to the styles found in Northern Africa and some areas of the Middle East, than to those accustomed in Europe. The absence of any sort of urban planning legislation gave rise to an actual maze of narrow, winding streets punctuated with passages like this one that can be found in Capileira. Nowhere more than here does form follow function, the core principle of modern architecture.
I was lucky enough to enjoy the first years of my life in Laroles, a small village in Las Alpujarras similar to that depicted here. If you want to read more about this region in the eyes of a stranger coming to live here, I highly recommend you head over Chris Stewart's autobiographic novel Driving Over Lemons.
Capileira
Explored on October 24, 2013
Capileira, Andalusia, Spain.
Technical data: Nikon D800 | Nikkor AF-S 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED at 22mm | Induro AT213 tripod + BHL2 ballhead.
1/200s | f/8 | ISO 100.
Processing: Lightroom 5 | Photoshop CS6 | Nik Sharpener Pro 3 | Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
In search for inspiration to sort out the questions that arise in the work of an architect, we are often drawn to the geniuses of our time and their latest creations. Even though that approach might have proved useful and cost-effective in most cases, I am a big believer in looking for our sources a bit further back in time.
Las Alpujarras, an otherwise wild territory of hills and valleys on the Southern foothills of Sierra Nevada that extends over the provinces of Granada and Almeria (Spain), saw its first settlers in the 8th century. The smart engineering work of those people, who channeled the water from the abounding streams in the area to villages and terraced plots, made it possible the development of an incipient economy based on the cultivation of Mediterranean crops. Most of the villages were established in the steepest places within this territory, so as to dedicate the little flat land available for cultivation.
Out of necessity, those pioneers developed their own construction techniques to build small, flat-roofed houses more akin to the styles found in Northern Africa and some areas of the Middle East, than to those accustomed in Europe. The absence of any sort of urban planning legislation gave rise to an actual maze of narrow, winding streets punctuated with passages like this one that can be found in Capileira. Nowhere more than here does form follow function, the core principle of modern architecture.
I was lucky enough to enjoy the first years of my life in Laroles, a small village in Las Alpujarras similar to that depicted here. If you want to read more about this region in the eyes of a stranger coming to live here, I highly recommend you head over Chris Stewart's autobiographic novel Driving Over Lemons.