Land+Living: Paisaje de Canoas

Architecture — July 27, 2009 Posted by James

Water Sports Center in Zahara de la Sierra, Cádiz, Spain

Spanish architect Julio Barreno Gutiérrez designed this boathouse just outside the small town of Zahara de la Sierra on the shore of the man-made lake, El Embalse de Zahara. The small structure serves as a boat storage facility and also houses changing rooms and restrooms for boaters, and is meant to be part of a larger recreation area in development.

While small and utilitarian, the structure responds elegantly to the native landscape, the high waterline of the resevoir, and the local vernacular of the "pueblo blanco" hillside town. The design was awared the 2008 Torres Key Prize by the College of Architects of Cádiz given every two years to honor the best new buildings in Cádiz. The architect describes the town "as a dense liquid falling down along the slope" and the small parcels and buildings along the shore as "small white pieces" scattered below; a green and white pixelated landscape.

Architect Julio Barreno Gutiérrez is an Associate Professor for the School of Architecture at the University of Seville.

Location: L+L Maps - Paisaje de Canoas

The deformed shape of the building in plan is derived from the existing site conditions (location of the road, aerial electrical lines, and high water line, as well as the "terreno" soil conditions) which precluded perpendicular geometry. The building also serves as an "interchanger," a stop in the path for changing and the collection of gear as one moves from the parking area to the pier. The structure is built using the current favored local construction materials--cast concrete painted white, and black roofing tiles.

The interior space is divided into two halves (the boat storage area and the changing area clad in red tile) lit by a series of square skylights punched into the ceiling. Detailing pragmatic is yet meticulous. A wide porch with large access doors opens at the north end of the building.

The white hillside town ("pueblo blanco") of Zahara de la Sierra.

A simple sketch describes the building as it relates to the landscape in section.

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