Architectural analysis of the Antezana Hospital: a 15th century noble house in the historic city of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, Spain)

This paper presents a multidisciplinary study of the Antezana Hospital, a former mid-15th century noble house. The aim is to identify the appearance, the construction techniques and the materials of the original house before becoming a hospital, highlighting the historic value of the building The methodology combines four main steps. First, the main historical dates were established based upon historic archives, drawings and photographs. Second, a materials characterization was carried out, analysing several samples of bricks and their associated mortars from different chronology and location. Third, a morphological analysis of the different materials and constructive elements was accomplished. And finally, an architectural analysis of the building was performed, allowing an interpretation of the building chronology and relating historical information with materials and construction techniques. This multidisciplinary approach provided new pieces of information that allow identifying the original construction techniques, which was not described in detail in the literature. According to the results, a link could be established between the Hospital and other contemporary buildings. Some architectural elements were related to other 15th century noble houses located in Toledo, while the materials were found to be similar to those of the original 15th century College of the University of Alcalá, founded by Cardinal Cisneros

Architectural analysis of the Antezana Hospital: a 15th century noble house in the historic city of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, Spain)

This paper presents a multidisciplinary study of the Antezana Hospital, a former mid-15th century noble house. The aim is to identify the appearance, the construction techniques and the materials of the original house before becoming a hospital, highlighting the historic value of the building The methodology combines four main steps. First, the main historical dates were established based upon historic archives, drawings and photographs. Second, a materials characterization was carried out, analysing several samples of bricks and their associated mortars from different chronology and location. Third, a morphological analysis of the different materials and constructive elements was accomplished. And finally, an architectural analysis of the building was performed, allowing an interpretation of the building chronology and relating historical information with materials and construction techniques. This multidisciplinary approach provided new pieces of information that allow identifying the original construction techniques, which was not described in detail in the literature. According to the results, a link could be established between the Hospital and other contemporary buildings. Some architectural elements were related to other 15th century noble houses located in Toledo, while the materials were found to be similar to those of the original 15th century College of the University of Alcalá, founded by Cardinal Cisneros

The Half-Life of Happiness: Hedonic Adaptation in the Subjective Well-Being of Poor Slum Dwellers to a Large Improvement in Housing

A fundamental question in economics is whether happiness increases pari passu with improvements in material conditions or whether humans grow accustomed to better conditions over time. We rely on a large-scale experiment to examine what kind of impact the provision of housing to extremely poor populations in Latin America has on subjective measures of well-being over time. The objective is to determine whether poor populations exhibit hedonic adaptation in happiness derived from reducing the shortfall in the satisfaction of their basic needs. Our results are conclusive. We find that subjective perceptions of wellbeing improve substantially for recipients of better housing but that after, on average, eight months, 60% of that gain disappears.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

The Half-Life of Happiness: Hedonic Adaptation in the Subjective Well-Being of Poor Slum Dwellers to a Large Improvement in Housing

A fundamental question in economics is whether happiness increases pari passu with improvements in material conditions or whether humans grow accustomed to better conditions over time. We rely on a large-scale experiment to examine what kind of impact the provision of housing to extremely poor populations in Latin America has on subjective measures of well-being over time. The objective is to determine whether poor populations exhibit hedonic adaptation in happiness derived from reducing the shortfall in the satisfaction of their basic needs. Our results are conclusive. We find that subjective perceptions of wellbeing improve substantially for recipients of better housing but that after, on average, eight months, 60% of that gain disappears.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Methodology for the study of the walls of the Patio de Santo Tomás, University of Alcalá

The main courtyard of the University of Alcalá, Patio de Santo Tomas, has un-dergone many transformations and changes of use since it was built in the 16th century. During the restoration works of the building, the wall renderings were removed, showing the building materials of the walls. It was observed that the historical building works were overlapped on the same plane of the wall. This exceptional event allowed a direct study of the historical evolution occurred on the building, through an analysis of the materials and the construction techniques. The aims of the study were: first, finding out the shape and size, building techniques and ma-terials of the original Patio; second, identifying the main elements and construction techniques of the different historical stages of the building; and third, surveying the successive building works undertaken in the building over the past five centuries. In order to achieve these goals, the methodology used combined historic and graphic documentation, stratigraphy, morphology and metric analysis and materials characterization

Shelter from the storm: upgrading housing infraestructure in Latin American slums

This paper provides empirical evidence on the causal effects that upgrading slum dwellings has on the living conditions of the extremely poor. In particular, we study the impact of providing better houses in situ to slum dwellers in El Salvador, Mexico and Uruguay. We experimentally evaluate the impact of a housing project run by the NGO TECHO which provides basic pre-fabricated houses to members of extremely poor population groups in Latin America. The main objective of the program is to improve household well-being. Our findings show that better houses have a positive effect on overall housing conditions and general well-being: treated households are happier with their quality of life. In two countries, we also document improvements in children’s health; in El Salvador, slum dwellers also feel that they are safer. We do not find this result, however, in the other two experimental samples. There are no other noticeable robust effects on the possession of durable goods or in terms of labor outcomes. Our results are robust in terms of both internal and external validity because they are derived from similar experiments in three different Latin American countries.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Shelter from the storm: upgrading housing infraestructure in Latin American slums

This paper provides empirical evidence on the causal effects that upgrading slum dwellings has on the living conditions of the extremely poor. In particular, we study the impact of providing better houses in situ to slum dwellers in El Salvador, Mexico and Uruguay. We experimentally evaluate the impact of a housing project run by the NGO TECHO which provides basic pre-fabricated houses to members of extremely poor population groups in Latin America. The main objective of the program is to improve household well-being. Our findings show that better houses have a positive effect on overall housing conditions and general well-being: treated households are happier with their quality of life. In two countries, we also document improvements in children’s health; in El Salvador, slum dwellers also feel that they are safer. We do not find this result, however, in the other two experimental samples. There are no other noticeable robust effects on the possession of durable goods or in terms of labor outcomes. Our results are robust in terms of both internal and external validity because they are derived from similar experiments in three different Latin American countries.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Methodology for the study of the walls of the Patio de Santo Tomás, University of Alcalá

The main courtyard of the University of Alcalá, Patio de Santo Tomas, has un-dergone many transformations and changes of use since it was built in the 16th century. During the restoration works of the building, the wall renderings were removed, showing the building materials of the walls. It was observed that the historical building works were overlapped on the same plane of the wall. This exceptional event allowed a direct study of the historical evolution occurred on the building, through an analysis of the materials and the construction techniques. The aims of the study were: first, finding out the shape and size, building techniques and ma-terials of the original Patio; second, identifying the main elements and construction techniques of the different historical stages of the building; and third, surveying the successive building works undertaken in the building over the past five centuries. In order to achieve these goals, the methodology used combined historic and graphic documentation, stratigraphy, morphology and metric analysis and materials characterization

Multidisciplinary Integrated Study of Saint Ildephonse's College, University of Alcalá (Madrid, Spain)

This paper present a multidisciplinary study of the Saint Ildephonse's College, the first building of the University of Alcalá, founded in 1495 and declared World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1998. During the last restoration of the building, carried out in 2011-2012, all the walls’ coatings were removed and the historical materials came out to light. The aims of the study were: to identify the different stages of the building’s history, supported by direct measuring and sampling; to understand the changes suffered by the building in the last five centuries; to formulate a feasible hypothesis of its initial configuration. The study integrated a stratigraphic study based on a photogrammetric survey, a morphological analysis of the masonry patterns, materials characterization, a metric analysis of the original remaining parts and an architectural assessment of the construction chronology. Material samples were taken from the walls of the College and the characterization results were put in discussion with published data, reviewing the historiography of the building. Four historical stages were identified, corresponding to: the original 15th century building and the 16th century stone façade; the construction of a clock tower and a granite cloister inside the central courtyard during the 17th century; the refurbishment works and change of use into a religious school in the 19th century; the return of the University in the 20th century. The analysis of the original building’s remaining parts allowed to propose a hypothesis of the original two-storey building constructed with rammed-earth and brick masonry, which was previously unknown. The same constructive pattern and metrics was also identified in the side wall of the University Chapel, which was built simultaneously to the College. The original walls did not have any brick-row between the rammed-earth boxes, which was commonly used in the area of Toledo. Instead, this constructive technique is related to the rammed earth constructions used in the area of Spanish-Islamic kingdom of Granada. The biography of Cardinal Cisneros could explain the use of this technique in the centre of Spain

Multidisciplinary Integrated Study of Saint Ildephonse's College, University of Alcalá (Madrid, Spain)

This paper present a multidisciplinary study of the Saint Ildephonse's College, the first building of the University of Alcalá, founded in 1495 and declared World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1998. During the last restoration of the building, carried out in 2011-2012, all the walls’ coatings were removed and the historical materials came out to light. The aims of the study were: to identify the different stages of the building’s history, supported by direct measuring and sampling; to understand the changes suffered by the building in the last five centuries; to formulate a feasible hypothesis of its initial configuration. The study integrated a stratigraphic study based on a photogrammetric survey, a morphological analysis of the masonry patterns, materials characterization, a metric analysis of the original remaining parts and an architectural assessment of the construction chronology. Material samples were taken from the walls of the College and the characterization results were put in discussion with published data, reviewing the historiography of the building. Four historical stages were identified, corresponding to: the original 15th century building and the 16th century stone façade; the construction of a clock tower and a granite cloister inside the central courtyard during the 17th century; the refurbishment works and change of use into a religious school in the 19th century; the return of the University in the 20th century. The analysis of the original building’s remaining parts allowed to propose a hypothesis of the original two-storey building constructed with rammed-earth and brick masonry, which was previously unknown. The same constructive pattern and metrics was also identified in the side wall of the University Chapel, which was built simultaneously to the College. The original walls did not have any brick-row between the rammed-earth boxes, which was commonly used in the area of Toledo. Instead, this constructive technique is related to the rammed earth constructions used in the area of Spanish-Islamic kingdom of Granada. The biography of Cardinal Cisneros could explain the use of this technique in the centre of Spain