CAMILA’S BEACH
Camila’s beach is a really peaceful place placed in Mallorca. I’ve been going to there for 4 years because my friend invites me every year. This beach is in the north of the island, is always a very empty place but with lots of wonderful views and nature. She alway sais that is her own beach because is really tiny and her dream since she was a little girl was to buy it.
The beach is hidden between many colourful houses. You need to go down a wide hill to achieve the beach. The view from the top of the hill, were you can see the houses surrounding the sea, some types of vegetation over the hill, the mountains in the back of the picture and finally the sea like a plate dazzling with its blue.
My friend and spend the hole week I’m there in the beach. The most beautiful hours is when there is no one and the sun is going down, the moment you don’t have that much light but you are able to see clearly the pink, orange, yellow and violet clouds that light up the sea. This moment of the day is my favourite, you can hear the sound of the waves crossing the light sand. You can feel the touch of a sand like it is cotton and alreagmdy kind of cold at this time.
What do you think make you be at ase ?
It make me be at ase because its a quiet moment, is a mix of the person who give me peace and the place that transmites me the same peace. We start having deep conversations, as if the place and the moment push as to it. It make relax, feel the sand on the tan places of my body and the gentle breeze that removes the hair of my face, percibe the little movements of the waves and the colours that surround all the sea, like a dream come true.
Is there any disruptive element ?
There is no disruptive element if the day is great and the weather accompanies it. As it is and open place, the adverse weather conditions can ruin the moment. Such as lots of rain, a very strong wind or the sea overwhelmed and it makes lots of noise that interrupt the quiet moment. Maybe if you go really late, you can also have some cold.
Do you think you’d feel the same way in another space right now ?
There are some places that give me some of the feeling i have in this beach but i don’t think the same exact warmth. Also I go to that beach with my person and in summer, so its not the same moment and the same feeling. Mallorca and the daily routine I have when I’m there is unique and very harmonious.
Do you think the particular conditions of this space may influence its occupants ? How
O course I think the conditions of the place, change the perception of how the occupants feel on it. You have to be safe in the place, surrounded by the things that you love, with good weather conditions, a place that suggest you positivity, warm, space and light. Its very important to give the place the good conditions to the people be comfortable on it.
Would you change anything ?
The beach of Camila is perfect….the colours, the feelings, the emotions, the nature and amenity, perfect for a summer day. But it is true that some other places can be more comfortable, like a closed space, with furniture for any condition and safe from any circumstances. This place for me gives me security because I know every people of the surrounding houses and I have the security that nothing can occur to me, but this can be totally different to someone that don’t know about this information.
ATMOSPHERES by Peter Zumthor
The book sheds light on the poetic yet circuitous process of the architect to make his buildings converse with their surroundings. Expanding their building’s beauty to evoke an atmosphere that is abstract yet much desired and felt by the people occupying the space. Peter Zumthor, a Swiss architect is well known for his tempered, atmospheric attentiveness towards built form and their surroundings. A few of his famous structures are Therme Vals, Klaus Field Chapel, Kolumba Art Museum, Swiss Sound Box and Kunsthaus Bregenz. They encapsulate the enrichment Zumthor talks about, the seamless amalgamation of his personal and philosophical trials with architecture and its propinquity with vicinal landscapes. He describes the notion of the environment, by defining nine basic things to achieve the ideal relation between building and surrounding.
Written in an active voice almost seem like a dialogue in self-reflection and analysis, meandering through questions, answers, examples, thoughts and anecdotes.
“Beauty Is in the eye of the beholden“.
The author speak us about the nine basic advises that are always present in his architecture projects. He teach about the atmosphere of a place. One exact moment can mean and feel something to you, the noise, the perspective, the light… those can mean everything to how you feel in the space. This kind of sentiment can never be repleaced, is unique. This mood, that places requieres peace, security, boundless, and that’s about creating a good atmosphere in the places you construct so that the other people can feel the exact same thing.
this nine themes are very important to Zumthor, such as being very present in every work. The general one is the ”The body architecture” where he relate the body to the architecture, the material presence of things in a place. Even a collection of things that don’t make sense, can have lot of significance. ”Material compatibility”, which tell us that mixing material can be unique, and can make them have proximity between them; ”The sound of a space”, where even a lonely room can have a noise, not a caused by a friction, also the temperature that suggest you, can be physical or psychological. The surrounding objects can also mean everything, they have to transmite peace and balance.