Emilio Ambasz (born 1943) is an Argentinian-American architect, industrial and graphic designer. Ambasz has been called “the father, poet, and prophet of green architecture” as he anticipated much of what would become the sustainable architecture movement decades later.
He followed a vision of “the green over the gray, the soft over the hard” in which architecture dissolves into landscape, either by burying the buildings, completely or partially, or by taking vegetation to its facades, roofs and indoor areas.
Whereas many early ecological experiments leaned either towards technocratic solutions or a hippie back-to-the-land ethos, Ambasz formulated a quieter, more poetic ecology—less a matter of systems and performance than of meaning, symbolism, and the emotional experience of inhabiting a place.
It is an ethical obligation: to demonstrate that another future is possible. To affirm a different model of life to avoid perpetuating the present.Emilio Ambasz
Documentary film ‘Green over Gray’ (2024)
directed by Francesca Molteni & Mattia Colombo
I want to open my selection with his seminal building “Casa de Retiro Espiritual”, located at the heart of an immense estate in the middle of Andalusia.
The photos are captured by Michele Alassio.
A selection of architectural models, taken from the website Emilio Ambasz Museum.
