2020_10_08_ARQ_carlos_canovas_presentacion_libro_xl

In the framework of the Architecture Week, the University of Navarra hosted the presentation of the book "XL". It is "a tribute to the 40th anniversary of School of Architecture, which shows an avant-garde building in its time through the eyes and vision of two current photographers of great prestige", detailed the director of the School, Miguel Ángel Alonso del Val, referring to work by Carlos Cánovas and Montse Zamorano.

Both artists participated in the presentation of the work, together with the publisher of the book, the architect professor Jorge Tárrago. As Carlos Cánovas -recently awarded the award Príncipe de Viana de la Cultura- explained, all the photographs he has taken show the presence of vegetation: "It is my way of understanding the relationship between the building and its surroundings".

"I am not a photographer of architecture," he added at presentation, "but of urban and semi-urban spaces. In this assignment I made sure that the sessions took place on very sunny days, so that the photographs would have a light that would give new lines to the already predominant geometry of the construction, and that would provide different volumes".

The sessions of work of the renowned photographer from Navarre did not exceed one hour and average or two hours: "Beyond that, in my opinion, it is very difficult to maintain the attention I require". His approach was organized into photos of the exterior, photos of the interior and photos of the contents. Regarding the latter, Cánovas was so amazed by the workshops and classrooms of the School that he admitted he would have "loved to study architecture".

A versatile and timeless space

The same feeling was expressed by the photographer who co-authored the photographic reports for the tribute book: "When I worked at the School for this assignment I thought it would have been great to study (she is an architect) in a space with such homogeneous light and such a great spatial quality".

Montse Zamorano -considered by the professional website Metalocus as one of the 10 best architectural photographers in Spain and author of works for programs of study such as Foster and Partners, Álvaro Siza or Héctor Fernández Elorza- has pointed out, on the other hand, that she prefers to work in very long photography sessions: "That way I can make myself position of how the light behaves in the space throughout the day and choose the moment I consider best to portray that space".

At the event, which was also broadcast online director of the School of Architecture thanked the support received by the companies Construcciones San Martín, ROCKWOOL and Hispalyt, "without whose support it would not have been possible to produce such an ambitious book with such attention to detail". "XL" is available for sale at available publishing house Eunsa.