On 24 September 2024, A Architecture in Belgium and Bozar are inviting Ensamble Studio to give a lecture in Brussels. On this occasion, rediscover the practice of the architectural duo Débora Mesa and Antón García-Abril through a number of iconic projects.
The Hemeroscopium House
Architects Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa are superstars of the architectural avant-garde. In 2008, they built the Hemeroscopium House, made from concrete beams and channels originally intended for motorway construction and irrigation systems.
The vision behind this project was to transform weight into lightness. A water-filled channel became a floating pool. At the top of the house, a 20-tonne granite boulder embodies the force of gravity and acts as a counterweight to the entire structure.
The Truffle
The Truffle is a small cabin, a space for contemplation inspired by Le Corbusier’s ‘Cabanon’. It is a piece of nature built from earth, full of air, which blends into the natural environment.
To build it, a hole was dug in the ground and a form was created by filling this hole with bales of hay. This ‘mould’ was then flooded with concrete and covered with earth. Over time, an amorphous mass was revealed. A cow named Pauline was brought to the site; she fed on the compressed hay for a year. Once she had finished, the interior volume emerged, adorning the Galician coast.
The Musical Studies Centre
The Musical Studies Centre resembles a stone box, the perception of which changes depending on the distance from which it is viewed: from afar, it resembles a rock on a carpet of green grass; at a medium distance, the once-perfect prism appears blurred and its edges distorted by the light and the uneven surface of the granite slabs; up close, one can appreciate the incisions made into the structure, which reflect the activities taking place inside.
Located in one of the most significant green spaces in the vicinity of the old quarter of Santiago de Compostela, the Musical Studies Centre is dedicated to postgraduate studies for musical development and the training of musicians from the Galician Orchestra. The aim of the project was to create architecture deeply rooted in Galicia. One gets the impression that the building has always been there.
