An architect always works from the same basic principles. Architects have been playing with three-dimensional space and light in their designs for centuries. A beautiful example is Casa Sayrach in Barcelona (1915), as well as the modernist villa Villa La Gaviota (1999), our latest project in Spain which was published today.
We welcome you to the July 2023 Edition of “Through Different Eyes“, in which we look at various design principles: using asymmetry, organic forms and finding harmony between the interior and exterior.
All year around, Brinkman Fine Real Estate invites you into a carefully curated portfolio of properties in The Netherlands and beyond, each one a masterpiece of architectural distinction.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Manuel Sayrach, Casa Sayrach, Barcelona, 1915.
THE POSSIBILITIES OF A THOUGHT
Although the design of each architectural building varies, an architect always works from the same basic principles. Architects have been playing with three-dimensional space and light in their designs for centuries. Ultimately, the architect puts his stamp on his creation by emulating an architectural style combined with his own artistic creativity. So too in the case of the modernist Villa La Gaviota (1999), our latest project in Spain which was published today and about which you can read more in this edition of “Through Different Eyes”, and also in the case of Casa Sayrach in Barcelona (1915). Despite the two villas being built almost a century apart, the architects follow the same design principles: using asymmetry, organic forms and finding harmony between the interior and exterior.
Casa Sayrach was designed by Catalan architect Manuel Sayrach (1886-1937) in 1915. The corner house has five floors with high ceilings, letting in plenty of natural light. The interior is defined by an organic interplay of lines and elements of Art Deco. Throughout the house, mobility is suggested by the rotating, asymmetrical ornaments, which emphasise the three-dimensionality of the rooms.
This style of ornamentation can be traced to Catalan modernism, which was at its peak at the beginning of the 20th century. Within this style, nature was taken as the starting point. Sayrach was overtly inspired by his predecessor Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), using the Sagrada Familia as a model for the ornaments of his villa and Casa Milà as inspiration for the construction of the corner house. Sayrach was additionally inspired by nature and marine elements of the Catalan landscape as a tribute to his own culture. Indeed, he believed that architecture should be linked to the heritage of a country’s traditional culture.
Moreover, Manuel Sayrach, like Gaviota’s architect Alberto Rubio, made himself a master at using light and shadow in his designs. He called his creations ‘philosophy of light’, as he connected the outside world with the inside world in both the theme of his ornaments and also employed natural light as ornamentation. The changing incidence of light on his three-dimensional ornaments repeatedly creates a new interplay of lines through the shadows.
Our project published today, Villa La Gaviota, designed by Alberto Rubio (1954), was built according to the same principles, expressed in a completely different way. Inspired by the characteristics of a bird, the villa blends completely with the surrounding nature through its organic design. Rubio brings the outside world inside and vice versa to create harmony between the two worlds. Rubio also uses geometric and organic forms and deploys natural light and shadow as ornaments.
In both villas, the main concept is to create harmony in the designs. Both Sayrach and Rubio see harmony as the source of life, which both architects have realised in their creations. Breaking away from conventional, classical architectural styles and finding unity in organic forms and natural light create the buildings’ agility in two completely different ways. These two structures thus exemplify the numerous possibilities of creativity from the same core idea.
Source: Aparici Turrado, Isabel. Manuel Sayrach 1886-1937: Arquitectura I Modernisme a Barcelona. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2018.
Text: Anna Vlaardingerbroek, Student History of Art
LATEST LISTING:
VILLA LA GAVIOTA
LATEST LISTING: VILLA LA GAVIOTA
At Brinkman Fine Real Estate, we often say that a house is more than just a house. It is a home, a sanctuary; it is family; it is character, an identity, a friendship. And sometimes, it is also a work of art.
Villa La Gaviota is such a house – more than a masterpiece of architecture, it is a soaring sculptural expanse that pays tribute to the splendor of the Mediterranean landscape and the sea. Appearing from above like seagull on the verge of flight, from within, La Gaviota nearly dances, a choreography of space and air and shelter, of light and shade and form.
“I think architecture, for good or bad, is very influential on human living,” explains Alberto Rubio, who designed La Gaviota – one of the first of his so-called “bird houses” – in 1998. “The idea is that a sculpture is thought of as something to be seen, but not lived in. My idea is that people have to live in the sculpture, and when you make your life in a sculpture house like this, then I believe your life changes”.
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LATEST LISTING: FIN DE SIÈCLE
LATEST LISTING: FIN DE SIÈCLE
At Brinkman Fine Real Estate, we often say that a house is more than just a house. It is a home, a sanctuary; it is family; it is character, an identity, a friendship. And sometimes, it is also a work of art.
Villa La Gaviota is such a house – more than a masterpiece of architecture, it is a soaring sculptural expanse that pays tribute to the splendor of the Mediterranean landscape and the sea. Appearing from above like seagull on the verge of flight, from within, La Gaviota nearly dances, a choreography of space and air and shelter, of light and shade and form.
“I think architecture, for good or bad, is very influential on human living,” explains Alberto Rubio, who designed La Gaviota – one of the first of his so-called “bird houses” – in 1998. “The idea is that a sculpture is thought of as something to be seen, but not lived in. My idea is that people have to live in the sculpture, and when you make your life in a sculpture house like this, then I believe your life changes”.