Photo by Michelle Alasio
1. The Sketch
The place where architecture was invented
Sketch of the house
This is La Casa del Retiro Espiritual, designed by Argentine architect Emilio Ambasz.
Located in the hills of Córdoba, Spain, the house was conceived long before the site was found. It first appeared to Ambasz as an image, one that came to him as he was preparing for bed, nearly fifty years before he built it.
Ambasz describes architecture as an art that “invents a universe that doesn’t exist until it appears.” He doesn’t iterate through sketches but resolves everything in his mind, primarily by working in section.
And if you think about it, it makes sense, it’s through the section that we truly understand space.
That may be why this project feels so powerful. Ambasz had clearly envisioned the two perpendicular white walls before setting graphite to paper. He drew them only to ensure he wouldn’t forget.
Photo by Michelle Alasio
He believes that a good project can only begin with:
An Image that moves the Heart
As poetic as that sounds, I find it risky in today’s world, considering the rise of AI-generated images. I understand what my compatriot means, but I tend to believe more in a dominant idea, a conceptual backbone, rather than a single image. Perhaps it’s just a matter of semantics.
Emilio Ambasw and Associates I MoMa
What fascinates me most about this house is the tension born of contradiction:
the dwelling is hidden beneath the earth, full of organic forms, yet those whitewashed, orthogonal walls “screaming with their mouths shut” couldn’t be more rigid.
Photo by Michelle Alasio
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