Ángel Casas, Ricardo Santa Cruz, Modesto Cendoya (not documented), Teodoro de Anasagasti, José Felipe Jiménez Lacal; Pablo Loyzaga (sculptor), José María Rodríguez-Acosta, Granada, Spain, 1916-1930
212. Ángel
Casas, Ricardo Santa Cruz, Modesto Cendoya (not documented), Teodoro de
Anasagasti and José Felipe Jiménez Lacal; Pablo Loyzaga (sculptor)
& José María Rodríguez-Acosta /// Estudio – Carmen (house and
gardens) of the painter José María Rodríguez Acosta /// Granada, Spain
/// 1916-1930 Of Houses guest curated by The Intertwining (Paula V. Álvarez Benítez, Nuria Álvarez Lombardero, Álvaro Carrillo Eguilaz, David Arredondo Garrido, Francisco González de Canales, Vincent Morales Garoffolo and Juan Antonio Sánchez Muñoz): “Some might say that this house is not a house: there are no bedrooms,
no family dining room, no kitchen. Actually, a carmen, an ancient
housing typology of the hills of Granada, in origin was a recreational
home with a minimal functional program and a powerful relationship with
the landscape, immersed in gardens and orchards. It was, in short, a
place to retire to. José María Rodríguez-Acosta conceived these spaces
—building and garden— as a place to paint, meditate and (sometimes)
entertain. The garden was carefully laid out and planted along a steeply
tiered slope before the building; historical architectural elements
brought from elsewhere, his collection of antiques and new art pieces as
well as an ancient preexisting network of caves were integrated into a
surprisingly cohesive design. As the garden grew and the house rose,
Rodríguez-Acosta, along with a controversial succession of architects,
became the architect himself, playing the leading role in an open design
and creative learning process that materialized this site-specific
bridge between classicism, the most avant-garde formal and spatial
notions of the time, and the singularities of the cultural and physical
context. The result is that the house is an architectural self-portrait,
and it is in this exercise that it truly became a home.” (Text: Vincent Morales Garoffolo & Juan Antonio Sánchez Muñoz. Photos 1-5: © Pepe Marin, Blanca Espigares Rooney, Macarena Tejero. Courtesy of Fundación Rodríguez-Acosta.)
