Architects: Jorge Vidal Marcos Catalán Studio Photography: Eugeni Pons Construction Period: 2023 Location: Cáceres, Spain
The Garciaz Cortijo House is the result of an intervention in an old existing farmhouse, linked for dozens of years to livestock farming.
The proposed house recovers and enhances the local typology of “cortijo”, separating the program into several bodies of changing geometry, favoring integration into the landscape, as if it were a rural village.
Intermingling with the existing walls, the house proposes an access through the courtyard -south facing-, culminating in a sequence of outdoor spaces between oaks and rocks.
The construction of the entire project has been executed with a high degree of craftsmanship: the stone -slate and granite- was selected from a nearby quarry; chestnut tree trunks from the same plot were felled and dried, which would later be used for the beams, furniture and carpentry; the concrete for the lintels, perimeter rings, chimneys and spades contains aggregates and sands from the area; and copper was also manipulated to manufacture all the faucets in situ.
Read MoreThese decisions were made with the intention of carrying out a sustainable rehabilitation, based on 0 Km materials. In addition, these materials perform optimally in the extreme and changeable climate of the valley: the local stone walls, with high thermal inertia, store heat during the hot summer days of Extremadura and cool down at night. Likewise, in winter they also act as a heat reserve to face the cold nights of the region.
In order to bring the house closer to the landscape, and open it to the outside, a series of openings are proposed through large wooden frames, which not only frame the landscape, but also illuminate and ventilate the spacious living rooms. These boxes are inhabited windows: artifacts that contain sofas, shelves, benches… and that provide the domesticity that the interior of a house requires. In this way, the facades become a reflection of this interior life, rather than responding to purely compositional criteria.
The rehabilitation of Cortijo Garciaz focuses on the recovery of rural Spain. After years of depopulation and rural exodus, the reconstruction of old barns and stables stands as a beacon and example for society. Recovering our architectural heritage means not only keeping our culture alive but also continuing to work the land, livestock farms, and the much-needed connections between villages. For this reason, the Cortijo Garciaz estate started a new business, “Jamones Leandro”, reaffirming its commitment to rural Spain, offering a top quality product in keeping with the architectural values of the Cortijo.
Text provided by the architect.
