Las Lomas de Marbella

If someone had told me a year ago that I could enjoy staying in Marbella, I would not have believed them. The parts of Spain that I love are its rural areas and mountain villages. However, here we are, enjoying immensely our stay in this special place. I’m clearly not going anywhere today (many thanks for your well-wishes yesterday), so it’s a good time to write a little bit about Las Lomas de Marbella.

The architect Donald Gray designed four “villages within cities” on the Costa del Sol. His goal was to create an alternative to the ubiquitous concrete apartment-block expansion that was taking place during the Franco years. He began Las Lomas in 1973, and continued to work on it until 1984.

Gray wanted to create a community where you could walk out your door in the morning and feel glad to be alive. He drew upon the lessons he learned from living in the small mountain villages of the Alpujarra. The streets here are narrow and winding, more like paths than thoroughfares. No cars are allowed within the urbanization. They are parked at the edges, and residents walk to their homes through a variety of small plazas and gardens. Buildings and greenery frame peaceful corners of such beauty that it is a visual treat for us to walk back and forth to our house each day. Being able to sit at the table on our patio and not hear a single car is pure bliss!

Video interview with Donald Gray: https://culturasconstructivas.org/en/initiative…Read more