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Arch2O.com - Architecture & Design Magazine
The Almanjayar zone, the area chosen for the construction of the administrative headquarters ‘Almajayar Offices’ of the Andalusian Regional Government in Granada, did not provide any sort of stimulus for the building?s design or layout. The chosen site was bordered by residential buildings to the west, a large shopping centre to the south, a supermarket to the north and eternally unfinished construction to the east.
Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos – Photographs : Duccio Malagamba
In essence, the public administration?s precise aim was to attempt to rezone the area through the presence of this new building; undoubtedly a positive approach in terms of urban development, but one that also presented a serious challenge to the design of the building, as it did not have any nearby reference points or positive urban information to draw on. Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos – Photographs : Duccio Malagamba
This led to the design of a building whose unique exterior facade avoids replicating any of the lines of the nearby buildings. In fact, the building takes its shape from a new space, a precisely geometrical courtyard that occupies the centre of the building and around which the entire structure is organised.
Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos – Photographs : Duccio Malagamba
In essence, the whole complex revolves around this space; each structure progressively increasing in height...