#RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS
HOUSE OF THE INFINITE BY ALBERTO CAMPO BAEZA
A Spanish home with lines that trace the horizon and extend to the sea
Near the crossroads of the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean lies the House of the Infinite by Alberto Campo Baeza. With its idyllic location on the coast of Cádiz, Spain, the home is a pure extension of the horizon, a simple plane the reaches out to the expansive blue of ocean and sky.
Fascinated by Rembrandt’s 1655 etching titled “Christ Presented to the People”, an image which is dominated by the horizontal line of a podium, the architect created a house that is “all podium, only podium.” The horizontal plane, the impressive, sweeping platform that defines the home, is a stage from which everything unfolds.
The roof thus becomes more than utilitarian. It becomes essential, usable, a centerpiece for life. It is even the very entrance to the home. Cut as a “trench” in the platform, a stone stairway leads below. Two floors of enclosed living space were carved directly out of the rock and built up in Roman travertine, the iconic streaked stone.
Three stone walls surround the bare platform and protect it from the incessant winds as they barrel towards the sea, creating a stillness surrounded by the forces of nature. Standing on the bridge, opposite the barely visible horizon line, infinity seems very clear.
