Cañada de Agra (II)

This article is part of the Hidden Architecture Series “Tentative d’Épuisement” , where we explore the practice of an architectural criticism without rhetoric and based mainly on the physical experience of the work itself. Este artículo forma parte de la serie “Tentativa de Agotamiento” , comisariada por Hidden Architecture, donde exploramos la práctica de una crítica arquitectónica ausente de retórica y fundamentada sobre todo en la experiencia física de la propia obra. Every image by Hidden Architecture Further reading on Cañada de Agra (I) La Mancha. As we move southwards, gradually turning our backs to the west, the vast ochre-coloured plain that is here the Meseta gives way to rock formations with a sharp outline. Barren lands, once infinite wheat fields, say goodbye to receive fields of olive trees planted in nets. Climbing lightly, smaller in size and elongated in shape, other olive trees, freed from their productive duty, appear from steep edges. The vertical sun reveals a soil of extraordinary hardness. A harshness mitigated at intervals by patches of green, sprouting from underground water sources. Small oases of refuge in these lands always beaten by the wind. Giants with outstretched arms, some of them still quixotic, the younger ones wearing anodised suits, agitatedly bid us farewell, warning us that the mountains that rise up there hide the blue of the sea. La Mancha. A medida que nos desplazamos en dirección sur, virando poco a poco nuestra espalda a poniente, la extensa planicie de color ocre que es aquí la Meseta deja espacio a formaciones rocosas de afilado perfil. Tierras yermas, en otro tiempo infinitos trigales, se despiden para recibir campos de olivos plantados en malla. Trepando ligeros, talla menor y alargada figura, otros olivos liberados de su productivo deber se asoman desde escarpadas aristas. El sol vertical revela una tierra de extraordinaria dureza.