In the Shadow of the Alhambra

The young Granadine architect Alejandro Muñoz Miranda (1974) debuts with two buildings whose interwoven interior spaces are inspired in the geometric patterns of Islamic tilework. We feature his Granada Business Confederation Building and his Uion Headquarters Building in the latest issue of Bauwelt (German only):

Ein Häus für Gewerkschaften, ein Häus für Unternehmer
Bauwelt 42.09, November 6, 2009, pages 14 -21.

In the headquarters of the Granada Business Confederation, this play involves the virtually cubic space of a central atrium that is illuminated by smaller cubic volumes in three of its upper corners, which house clerestory windows and skylights. The cubic volumes interpenetrate one another, and generate other geometric forms in their intersection....

The interior public spaces of the unions' building respond to a completely different understanding of the uses of architectural space. While the atrium of the Business Confederation is treated as purely formal, static and representational, the interlocking voids of the unions' building are highly social in character, bringing to mind the interior spaces of Aldo van Eyck and Herman Hertzberger.

Photos of the projects on the Bauwelt webpage:
Business Confederation
Union Building

First Floor Plan, Union Headquarters Building