Situated across from a traditional cathedral in the Spanish town of Zamora is the ethereal Zamora Offices. Designed by the acclaimed Alberto Campo Baeza, this noble project is the recent winner of the 2015 BigMat International Architecture Award.

The building is delightfully simple, a true successor of the work started by post-industrial revolution architects. All unnecessary structure is removed, stripping the building to its bare essentials. To further subtract structural components, silicone is used instead of steel to bind the window panes together. The result is a purely uncluttered façade. So uncluttered that at moments it seems barely there at all. The structure is less solid and more weightless and airy, as if a gust of wind could blow it apart. Sky and trees are seen through the glass while reflected in the glass, solidifying the feeling that the building is there but not there. Stone walls, the same stone as the neighbouring cathedral, surround the offices and seem to protect and ground the whimsical glass box.

The aesthetic in these photographs seems to exist conditionally: the heavily exposed building will surely take on a new appearance with varied lighting or season. I would love to explore all the appearances that this chameleon-like project can take on.

Photography by Javier Callejas Sevilla.