Tucked among the unassuming stone-fronted buildings of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwest Spain—the traditional end point of the Camino de Santiago, where pilgrims arrive at the cathedral to visit the tomb of St. James—is an unlikely outpost of one of the most influential architects working today.1 For much of his career, David Chipperfield has worked between London and Berlin where his internationally renowned practice has gained a reputation for considered, conscious architecture: offices, housing, civic buildings and, above all else, cultural projects that integrate their historical context and local culture. But in recent years, Galicia has become a working base for the architect. It’s a place he knows well—he’s been vacationing here for more than 30 years, after having designed a seafront retreat in nearby Corrubedo in the 1990s.

“David Chipperfield has worked between London and Berlin where his internationally renowned practice has gained a reputation for considered, conscious architecture: offices, housing, civic buildings and, above all else”

When it opened in 2022, the Santiago de Compostela office joined a network of studios in Milan, Shanghai, Berlin and London, where Chipperfield first founded his practice, David Chipperfield Architects, in 1985. Over the subsequent four decades, he became recognized for major commissions such as the restoration of Berlin’s Neues Museum, Turner Contemporary in the UK, and the St. Louis Art Museum expansion in the US; he received a knighthood in 2010 and the Pritzker Prize in 2023. Chipperfield’s work now spans Europe, Asia and North America, with projects in the works for Australia and Africa.

Words, photography and the film by Elena Bazu.
— March 2026 around Stroud, UK.