Juan Luis Camacho Molina

Juan Luis Camacho graduated as an architect at the Madrid Higher School of Architecture in 1992 and subsequently took further training in fields such as heritage refurbishment and restoration. Throughout his career Juan Luis has been notable for a profound sensitivity toward architectural culture enabling him to create some of the finest urban ensembles in the Madrid region. In 1991 he chose to settle and practice in Chinchón, allowing him to be in direct contact with both the rural and the urban environment, an aspect that has greatly influenced his work.

The urban fabric of Chinchón that we can enjoy today is to a large extent the product of his quiet, steady efforts, with countless refurbishments and enlargements of historic buildings as well as new construction projects. Juan Luis’s most notable work includes the rehabilitation of iconic buildings such as Casa Dusmet in Chinchón, restored to accommodate the headquarters of the Arauco Foundation, or Hotel La Condesa, a new building designed in keeping with the town’s tradition of stately houses. As to his newly built residential complexes and houses, in which he has always sought to renew and update local tradition with new designs taking tradition as a reference, the one that best shows his invaluable contribution, given its scale and its influence in the townscape and also the account taken of the memory of the site, is La Chimenea, a complex of buildings forming one of the finest public spaces created in this region in recent decades, with a plaza functioning as an agora and an inner pedestrian street set out along the lines of a ruined former industrial compound. This project gives continuity to features of the region’s traditional architecture with a mixed solution of homes and commercial premises, always giving priority to the creation of community spaces of quality.

He has also worked in major public spaces with great heritage value, such as the Plaza Mayor of Colmenar de Oreja, where his contribution has helped revitalize that town’s historic fabric. His prolific work in this municipality again includes various residential complexes, in the town center or forming new neighborhoods. Notable among the latter for its exemplary nature is the ensemble of public housing that he designed on commission from the town council, organized around an attractive central plaza once again taking the region’s finest public spaces as a reference and designed with a meticulousness, a variety, and a range of details that set it apart from the repetitive, anonymous character of most such projects today.

While making use of any technical innovations allowing building performance to be improved, he has always asserted that true modernity sets out from the tradition of each place without breaking with its legacy, and that construction materials and techniques such as plaster, wood, stone, or roofing with arched tiles are vital to building a better future. In opting for such solutions, he seeks not just to preserve and continue the place’s aesthetic and cultural values, and to strengthen the link between architecture and landscape through a sensitive and coherent integration of buildings into their environment, but also to promote more durable and sustainable models of building. Thus, though his designs are intended not to attract attention but to set out from what already exists, to fill urban gaps, and to give streets and squares visual appeal and coherence, they ought to be known and recognized as an example of true commitment both to the community and to the environment.

The mark left by Juan Luis on the communities where he has worked goes beyond his architectural input. He is also an ardent promoter of culture and an advocate of local heritage. In 2014-2018 he chaired the Chinchón Tourism Association, organizing a range of cultural events aimed at highlighting the importance of the region’s traditional architecture and heritagein 2014-2022. His latest project, Arquitectura y Tradición (AyT), also reflects his commitment to disseminating and conserving heritage. This novel property concept involves both preserving notable buildings and forging a closer link between them and their prospective owners so as to actively foster the protection and conservation of this rich heritage.