Weave of history

Granada is characterized by two poles: The architecture bears stucco from the Muslim-Moorish dynasty, but the life of the inhabitants is typically Spanish. The narrow alleyways smell of cheap leather and oriental spices – in between tapas, Andalusian wine and the sounds of swallowed consonants.

Granada also developed from two urban cores. Albaicín, the Moorish quarter, winds its way up the hill north of the Alhambra. Gypsies built cave dwellings here from the 19th century onwards and brought flamenco to the city. The second historical core is the Realejo district, originally the Jewish quarter.

Granada, a city of education

Today, Granada is above all a university city – with 60,000 students, it is one of the largest educational institutions in Spain. The Escuela Técnica Superior Arquitectura, or ETS for short, was founded in 1994. For this purpose, the University of Granada acquired the building complex of a former military hospital located at the foot of the Alhambra – in the Realejo district.

In front of the campus is the oversized square “Campo del Principe”, which was created during the drastic urban planning changes of the Renaissance. From here, you can see the elongated façade of the ETS, which looks homogeneous with its white paint. In fact, behind it is an almost 14,000 square meter, historically grown network of buildings. At the end of the 1990s, this was to be made suitable for future architects to study. An international competition was held, which was won by Spanish architect Víctor López Cotelo.

The most important feature of the ensemble is the three inner courtyards: two of them are directly adjacent to each other and date back to the Renaissance, while the third and largest courtyard is located in the south-west of the complex and has been redesigned. These outdoor spaces provide orientation, not least because López Cotelo repeatedly creates visual connections to them and also to the surrounding alleyways. Despite the complexity of the building, it is therefore impossible to get lost. In order to create a system of paths without dead ends, it was necessary, among other things, to make openings – for example to the independent building of a former officers’ clinic, which was integrated into the complex in 1909 – which can still be seen today in the lower building height to the Campo del Principe.

You can find out more in Baumeister 1/2016