The Watermills of the Sierra de Cádiz (Spain): A Traditional Open Water Re-circulation System

Traditional hydraulic milling was the main productive activity in the Sierra de Cádiz (Andalusia, Spain), as evidenced by the existence of 85 mills spread throughout the region. Although the date of their construction is unknown, the first documentary evidence of their existence appeared in the 16th century. In the 18th century, a more comprehensive account of the set of mills in the Sierra was drawn up thanks to the Ensenada Cadastre. The majority were operational until the mid-20th century, albeit with some difficulties. The disappearance of this handmade trade has led to the obsolescence and abandonment of its architecture and infrastructure. However, the infrastructure remains there, as traces of a recent past in which it is still possible to see the Circular Water Story that made them work. This article explains the hydraulic system that was used by the mills in the Sierra de Cádiz. Located next to rivers and streams, they formed part of an open water re-circulation system, which captured the water at a specific point in the riverbed of origin, artificially diverted it to the mill and then ended up returning it to the same riverbed of origin, at a different point from the initial one. The methodology used is based on the preparation of graphic documents and photographic recognition to select the riverbanks that show the adaptations and variations of the water re-circulation system according to the hydrographic, topographic, and productive characteristics of each territory. As some of these old artificial riverbeds are still operational, today they are used as a natural resource to supply water to other productive activities, thus proving the usefulness of the system, the suitability of the construction techniques applied, and their consequent integration into the landscape. The research carried out justifies the need to protect and catalogue these architectural hydraulic systems before they disappear completely, in order to benefit from the learning that can be derived from the reading, interpretation, and transformation of the territory and its landscape

From research, teaching and the experimental learning of Architecure

En los años sesenta y setenta surgen en España un número significativo de nuevas escuelas de arquitectura que coincide con un tiempo de revisión de las tendencias y posiciones ideológicas que se habían ido desarrollando tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Surgirán nuevos arquitectos-profesores, reclamando la obra arquitectura como aprendizaje: un método idóneo y en una sólida argumentación docente para ese primer período formativo del arquitecto. El nuevo milenio traerá importantes cambios en la arquitectura y su enseñanza, donde la figura del arquitecto-profesor empezará a diluirse. Este número revisa las trayectorias profesionales y docentes de algunos de esos arquitectos-profesores, tomando como ejemplo la obra producida porque, en arquitectura, para la comprobación de ideas y conocimientos, sigue siendo necesaria una teoría y una praxis enunciadas y demostrada en los proyectos y en las obras.In the sixties and seventies, a significant number of new schools of architecture emerge in Spain, which coincides in a period of reviewing trends and ideological positions that had been developing after World War II. There will be new architects-professor, claiming the architectural works as learning: a suitable method and a solid argument for teaching that first training period of the architect. The new millennium will bring major changes to the architecture and education, where the figure of the architect-professor will begin to fade. This issue reviews the professionals and teaching careers of some of these architects, as exemplified by the work produced, because in architecture, to test ideas and knowledge, theory and praxis stated and demonstrated in the projects and works is still required

Technique and type optimisation: the case of the Officine di Smistamento of the Fiat-Lingotto (1916)

A principios del siglo XX, algunos edificios industriales realizados en hormigón armado, resultaron ser un campo experimental idóneo para la comprobación y consolidación del nuevo sistema constructivo, propiciando además la optimización de conocidos tipos arquitectónicos. Este artículo se centra en analizar un caso concreto: las Officine di Smistamento con las que se inició en Turín el complejo industrial de la Fiat-Lingotto. Función, construcción y forma derivan en nuevas expresiones que afectan a la definición del espacio arquitectónico y a la imagen del edificio. Las Officine di Smistamento modificaron el modelo de ciudad previsto para el sector del Lingotto. Entraron en juego aspectos urbanos que acercarían esta arquitectura a los presupuestos de la ideología futurista del momento. La metodología seguida consiste en el estudio de las investigaciones históricas precedentes y la profundización en el conocimiento de este ejemplo mediante un análisis gráfico detenido y la elaboración de dibujos específicos.At the beginning of 20th century, some industrial buildings made with reinforced concrete proved to be an ideal testing ground for the new building system and its consolidation. The new system also favoured the optimisation of the wellknown architectural types. This article focuses on analysing a specific case: the Officine di Smistamento with which the Fiat-Lingotto industrial complex was begun in Turin. Function, construction and form originated new expressions which affected the definition of the architectural space and the image of the building. The Officine di Smistamento modified the city model foreseen for the Lingotto district. Urban aspects came into play which would bring this architecture closer to the proposals of the Futurist ideology of the time. The methodology followed consists of studying previous historical research and delving into the knowledge of this example, by means of a detailed graphical analysis, and the production of specific drawings

On the urban and social condition of the infrastructures

La arquitectura del siglo XX, con sus teorías, sus propuestas, proyectos y realidades, ha sido la que nos ha enseñado a observar con renovado interés las infraestructuras y a considerarlas como una forma de pensar nuestra disciplina. En cada nueva situación la arquitectura ha señalado y diseñado los lugares de las infraestructuras; se ha modificado el contexto y se han vuelto a generar nuevas situaciones. Se incide directamente en la organización de las estructuras urbanas y territoriales, en la movilidad interior de las ciudades y sobre todo, en la manera que las personas acaban relacionándose. Aalto nos ofrece un claro ejemplo a través de dos infraestructuras aparentemente idénticas con resultados muy diferentes; un punto de vista desde el que pueden observarse otras propuestas de infraestructuras urbanas surgidas a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, o las nuevas tendencias de movilidad del espacio en un mundo globalizado con menor presencia colectiva y social frente al carácter individual de cada persona.20th century architecture, with its theories, its proposals, projects and realities have taught us to look at infrastructure with renewed interest and to consider them as another form in which to think about architecture. In each new situation architecture has pointed to and designed the locations for the infrastructures; the context has been modified and new situations have been generated. It is possible to extract from them their social component with a direct impact on the organisation of the urban and territorial structures, in the interior mobility of the city and above all, in the way that people relate to each other. Aalto offers us a clear example through two apparently identical structures with very different results; a point of view from which other proposals of urban infrastructures can be observed and which have emerged in the second half of the 20th century, or new trends of space mobility in a globalised world with a greater collective and social presence facing the individual character of each person

Constructing forms of thought

La construcción exige conocimiento y ayuda a entender la lógica de la arquitectura por encima de los avances y descubrimientos producidos por ciencias, ingenierías e industrias. En cualquiera de las tendencias o movimientos que a lo largo del pasado siglo se han reconocido en arquitectura, técnica y tecnología de la construcción se han tratado como un aspecto esencial de su producción cultural y arquitectónica, y fueron usadas para indagar nuevas formas, nuevas arquitecturas, tratando de resolver una demanda social que no encontraba respuesta con los medios habituales de construir. El aforismo de Mies van der Rohe, “sólo reconozco problemas de construcción”, además de aludir a un momento en el que la industria estaba llamada a tener una participación decisiva en el futuro de la arquitectura, el sentido universal que encierra, revela que, la cuestión de la construcción en arquitectura, es una forma del pensamiento que afecta al proyecto desde sus primeros momentos. Quizá, por esta razón, muchas de las arquitecturas que visitamos o estudiamos, se preocupan profundamente por cual sería en cada momento, la mejor manera de expresar la condición constructiva de lo formado.The construction requires knowledge and help to understand the logic of architecture over the progress and findings produced by science, engineering and industry. In any trends or movements throughout the last century have recognized architectural, technical and construction technology have been treated as an essential aspect of its cultural and architectural production, and were used to investigate new forms, new architectures trying to solve a social demand response was not the usual means of building. The aphorism of Mies van der Rohe, "I recognize only construction problems", and alluding to a time when the industry was destined to play a decisive role in the future of architecture, the universal sense it contains, reveals that, the issue of construction in architecture, is a form of thought that affects the project from its early stages. Perhaps for this reason, many of the architectures we visited or studied, care deeply about what would be in each moment, the best way to express the condition of the formed constructive

The large and the invisible

Todas las civilizaciones han hecho uso de la arquitectura para mostrar aquellas estructuras sociales, económicas y políticas que representaban los valores de una sociedad. Estas construcciones, más allá del valor que como arquitecturas poseen, se observan como resultado del acontecimiento en común que necesariamente implica su existencia. El debate moderno que se abre con las edificaciones de gran escala es la confrontación entre arquitectura y ciudad. Le Corbusier y Koolhaas aparecen como dos casos ejemplares, cuyas teorías y proyectos de gran escala tienen en común la búsqueda de nuevas situaciones enriquecedoras para las personas y para las ciudades. Los Wolkenbügel de El Lissitzky confirman la inexorable condición urbana de los grandes objetos, mientras que en el proyecto Noah’s Ark de Piet Blom, el edificio de gran porte es sustituido por mecanismos capaces de crear una estructura espacial diversa que satisfaga simultáneamente la pequeña y la gran escala.Las infraestructuras, redes y sistemas de comunicación, revelan su función vital en todos estos tipos de proyectos.All civilisations have made use of architecture to show those social, economic and political structures which represented the values of a society. These constructions, beyond their architectural value, are seen as a result of the common occurrence that necessarily involves its existence. The modern debate onlarge scale constructions is the confrontation between architecture and city. Le Corbusier and Koolhaas appear as two exemplary cases, whose theories and large scale projects have the commonality of seeking new enriching situations for the people and for the cities.The Wolkenbügel of El Lissitzky confirm the inexorable urban condition of the large objects, whereas in the Noah’s Ark project of Piet Blom, the large building is replaced by mechanisms capable of creating a diverse spatial structure that simultaneously satisfies the small and the large scale.The infrastructure, networks and systems of communication, reveal their vital function in all these types of projects

Architecture Emerges on the Scene

Las alteraciones que una nueva arquitectura produce en un entorno habitado revelan la condición múltiple de la realidad creando situaciones transgresoras. Esta situación tiende a reconocer los lugares a través de aquellas arquitecturas que inducen a una acción participativa de las personas, intensificando la condición dinámica del espacio. El término espacio-soporte alude a una idea de lugar más amplia que supera los habituales conceptos de pertenencia y permanencia. En una sociedad diversa e independiente y, en muchas ocasiones, multicultural, el tiempo se mide en relación con la diversidad y la durabilidad de las acciones que esos espacios contenedores son capaces de albergar.The alterations that new architecture produces on an inhabited environment reveal multiple conditions of reality creating transgressive situations. This situation tends to recognise the places through these architectures that induce participative action of people, intensifying the dynamic condition of the space. The term space-support alludes to a broader idea of space that surpasses the habitual concepts of belonging and permanence. In a diverse, independent and, often, multicultural society, time is measured in relation to the diversity and durability of the actions that these container spaces are capable of housing

Design methodology for a school prototype: Jean Prouvé’s Jules Ferry School Group in Dieulouard, France, 1952–1953

The catastrophic destruction of buildings in France during World War II demanded that reconstruction become one of the primary objectives in the immediate post-war period. This favoured a culture of experimentation, and created a context for Jean Prouvé to develop designs for school buildings. He developed these designs with a research-based process focusing on technical solutions and their prototypes, and with models whose fundamental premises were rapid and easy assembly-disassembly, lightness and economy. The constant correlation between the projected object and the object created in the workshop shaped the basis for the precision of his designs. This article analyses the methodology followed by Prouvé in the Jules Ferry School Group in Dieulouard, France (1952–1953), in the singular context of the post-war period, illustrating the route followed in developing the model rather than the aesthetics of the building. The prototype used in his schools, and the models generated from this system, demonstrate his architectural methods

Alfred Roth: the new school

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From profession to teaching: Manuel Trillo and his trips to England and the collective housing in "La Motilla"

Este artículo analiza la relación entre los viajes a Inglaterra de Manuel Trillo, el proyecto de viviendas colectivas en La Motilla y su investigación docente sobre vivienda y ciudad. La construcción del Edificio de Oficinas del Sevilla 1, obligó a Manuel Trillo en el año 1971, a realizar un primer viaje a Inglaterra descubriendo una arquitectura nueva y tecnológica. El interés por las teorías de Archigram, la arquitectura de Stirling y Alison&Peter Smithson motivaron, al poco tiempo, un segundo viaje. El aprendizaje que deriva de ellos, tuvo una primera consecuencia en las viviendas de La Motilla, trasladando a Sevilla modelos residenciales visitados en Inglaterra de los Smithson y de Stirling. La creación de ciudad con vivienda colectiva se convertirá en el principal campo de reflexión, investigación y práctica docente del profesor Manuel Trillo: desde la década de los setenta hasta sus últimos años en activo; en la escuela de arquitectura de Sevilla y en su breve pero intensa estancia en la escuela de arquitectura de Valladolid. En el año 2003, volverá a realizar un tercer viaje a Inglaterra; la historia parecerá repetirse, proponiendo de nuevo otras arquitecturas posibles para la ciudad de Sevilla cuando, al paso de los años, ni la tecnología ni la industrialización eran ya obstáculos para su realización.This article analyses the relationship between Manuel Trillo’s trips to England, the collective housing project in La Motilla and his academic research on housing and the city. The construction of the Seville 1 office building, forced Manuel Trillo in 1971, to make his first trip to England and discover a new technological architecture. The interest in theories of Archigram, architecture by Stirling and Alison&Peter Smithson motivated, soon after, a second trip. Learning that derived from them, had a first result in the homes of La Motilla, transferring to Seville residential models by Smithson and Stirling in England. The creation of the city with collective housing will become the main field of reflection, research and teaching practice of Professor Manuel Trillo: from the seventies until his last active years; in the School of Architecture of Seville and in his brief but intense stay in the School of Architecture of Valladolid. In 2003, he made a third trip to England; it seemed that history repeated itself, proposing new and other possible architectures for Seville when, over the years, neither technology nor industrialisation were obstacles to its execution