Casa de Retiro Espiritual, Córdoba, Spain, Section
Emilio Ambasz
Argentine, born 1943
1979
An ink-and-graphite sectional drawing showing Emilio Ambasz’s design for a subterranean spiritual retreat in Córdoba, intended to tuck the building beneath the earth and turn the roof into planted landscape.
You first notice a calm horizontal incision through the ground that reveals a curving, cave-like chamber at left, a rhythm of columned rooms topped by small roof gardens in the center, and a single tall vertical shaft rising above ground at right, all drawn in soft earth tones and precise line.
The work exemplifies Ambasz’s late-1970s strategy of integrating architecture and landscape—burying buildings and creating planted roofs—which helped advance ideas about ecological, low-profile design and green-roof architecture.
Medium
Ink and graphite on paper
Dimensions
11 1/2 x 15 5/8" (29.2 x 39.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
482.1990
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
