Carmel of St Joseph for the Discalced Carmelite nuns

(4)
Estudio de Arquitectura Antonio Fernández Alba
Antonio Fernández Alba
Francisco Gálvez Martín
Alejandro Palancares Gayo
Jesús Morín Alba
Estudio de Arquitectura Antonio Fernández Alba

The Carmelites are autonomous groupings with fixed communities of members, dedicated to meditation and contemplative life, with a timetable characteristic of the time of their foundation, dividing time into three fundamental cycles: work, prayer and rest.

View gallery

It is located on the outskirts of the city, near the so-called orchard of Friar Luis de León, in La Flecha, on two hills, in the dry areas of the fertile plain of the river, facing the great cirque of Gredos and the Vega del Tormes. It is a free-standing building arranged like an aqueduct on stilts that create a lattice of privacy in the cloisters open to the midday sun.

Inner cloister - Antonio Fernández Alba Architecture Studio
Detail of the façade of the refectory and the cells - Antonio Fernández Alba Architecture Studio

The traditional concept of the introverted building has been broken for the first time in the Carmelite standard. An axis of circulations and working relations links the two basic points in the building's programme, the chapel and the refectory with the adjoining services. The semi-basement floor is used as the convent's large warehouse. The first floor is devoted to manual activities and bookbinding work, which was introduced in the convent as a new way of working. The third floor is for individual cells. The roof of the building contains an open cloister with proportions of great spatial quality.

Partial view of the interior garden - Antonio Fernández Alba Architecture Studio

It has been built in exposed concrete without any treatment whatsoever, its appearance retains a certain relationship with an industrial-type language. The building's architectural discourse offers no points of disjunction, its expression is eloquent in the use of materials, reinforced concrete and reinforced glass.

Carmel Chapel - Antonio Fernández Alba Architecture Studio

General information

Carmel of St Joseph for the Discalced Carmelite nuns

YEAR

1968

Status

Built

Option to visit

Visit from public roads

Address

Rd. Aldealengua (SA-804) km.5,

37193 Cabrerizos - Salamanca

Latitude: 40.97825

Longitude: -5.59893

Classification

Building materials

Concrete

Glass

Construction system

Free-standing building arranged as an aqueduct on stilts.

Built area

501 - 5000 m²

Involved architects

Alejandro Palancares Gayo

Antonio Fernández Alba

Francisco Gálvez Martín

Jesús Morín Alba

Collaborators

Amadeo Gabino (Sculptor)

Involved architectural firms

Estudio de Arquitectura Antonio Fernández Alba

Information provided by

Fondo documental DOCOMOMO Ibérico

MITMA

Website links

DOCOMOMO Iberian Documentary Fund

Historical Service of the Official Association of Architects of Madrid (COAM)

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  • Convent model - Francisco Gómez
  • Initial sketch - Francisco Gómez
  • Detail of the façade of the refectory and the cells - Antonio Fernández Alba Architecture Studio
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Location

40.97825 -5.59893 8aa2b5a2-6797-42e2-844d-f6d73e530277 Built
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Built
Temporary
Lost
Unbuilt project

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