Fernando Vegas

Constructive features and preservation work of rammed earth architecture:the Islamic tower of Bofilla (Valencia)

The Bofilla tower (Valencia, Spain), at 800 years old one of the oldest buildings still standing in the whole region, is a rubble-reinforced rammed earth construction almost 20 m high. Its precarious condition called for preservation works and the enhancement of the surrounding archaeological site. However, these works involved a serious risk that the original construction might lose its hallmarks and its history, which had great narrative potential, due to the plasticity of the earth. Furthermore, as often happens, a great deal of the character and antiquity of the tower were linked to the erosion and abrasion of its rammed earth surfaces, so it was necessary for the preservation to try to alleviate or stop the degradation that threatened the towers survival and, at the same time, conserve its narrative potential, its aura and its ancestral character. After performing a comprehensive preliminary study of the construction and its state of repair, a large number of preservation tasks were carried out, from cleaning the façades by hand to reconstructing the structure of the tower in several spots, such as the south-western corner and, especially, the entrance in the northern façade, which was on the verge of collapse. Other operations included filling in the lacunae in the fabric both inside and outside the tower, micro-pointing the rubble filling in the most degraded areas of the southern façade and protecting and consolidating the crowning. In addition, new floors and a staircase leading up to the top of the tower were inserted in the places where their traces were still visible to avoid damaging the fabrics and to perform the most faithful archaeological reconstruction possible. The article addresses the study, reflections and technical operations carried out on the tower during the works on site, with the objective of maintaining the original materiality of the rammed earth fabric and the traces of its construction and life as a testimony of its history.

Is Gypsum External Rendering Possible? The Use of Gypsum Mortar for Rendering Historic Façades of Valencia's City Centre

Valencia is a city located in the East of Spain by the Mediterranean Sea. It has a huge historic centre with ancient winding streets that contains buildings with a singular architectural heritage. The buildings’ façades are protected by a traditional external rendering, sometimes in bad state of conservation or modified or substituted in restoration works. The study carried out on historic renderings in Valencia points out the great employment of gypsum mortar or gypsum-lime mortar, among other peculiarities. Gypsum external rendering is one of the many uses for gypsum mortars in Valencia traditional architecture. This fact contradicts the general belief of the exclusive use of lime mortars for rendering a façade. The knowledge of the characteristics of historic mortars will allow us to implement a proper restoration work of architectural heritage with suitable mortars, as it is essential to guarantee the adherence and compatibility of any repair.

Checking Gypsum as Structural Material

Gypsum, relegated in contemporaneous architecture to a secondary, auxiliary or decorative role, has been traditionally employed in some parts of Spain for building structural pillars, floors, massive walls, mortars, etc. The authors have studied this gypsum in its several local forms, from its firing in the kiln to the building process in order to unveil the reasons for its excellent structural behaviour. With the first hypothesis, several strength tests with present commercial gypsum have been made at the laboratory. They confirm the extraordinary structural performance of the material, if only some conditions are respected during the building process.

Al hilo entre la arquitectura y la arqueología: estudio y caracterización de construcciones bizantinas en Siria

A team of architects and experts from … has characterized and documented a couple of archaeological sites of Byzantine origin in Syria, settled along the river Euphrates, known as the cities of Tall as-Sin and Halabiya. The text figures out the surveys carried out from 2005 to 2010, the objectives and the methodology used and some results achieved during the years in spite of the recent civil war.

DEBATE AS A LEARNING STRATEGY. FLIP TEACHING AND USE OF ICTS

This text describes a teaching innovation experience in the framework of the department of Architectural Composition of Universitat Politècnica de València in three different subjects: Architectural Conservation (obligatory fifth-year subject from the Degree in Foundations of Architecture), Conservation of Non monumental Historic architecture (elective subject from the Master’s in Architecture) and Theory and History of Conservation (obligatory subject in the Official Master’s in Conservation of Architectural Heritage). The three subjects, worth important credits in theory, focus on skills based on the critical development of interlinked cultural, technological and material aspects of built historic architecture and criteria for intervention in architectural heritage. To do so the crucial flip teaching methodology, which encourages debate and confrontation, is particularly interesting. For the last few years the syllabi for these subjects have included a series of debates which students prepare for by studying the literature, initially working outside the classroom and promoting debate and critical analysis of these texts by specialists, theorists and/or regulation guidelines relating to architectural, monumental, traditional or vernacular conservation. The current proposal for these debate activities has been the introduction of digital technologies as a tool to encourage debate between students, making the activity more dynamic. The Socrative online platform was used in this experience as an immediate feedback tool, mainly because of the immediate response it offers to the questions posed, which could relate to the opinion held by the students, their degree of understanding of previously explained concepts or any other information whose interpretation could improve the learning process.

INTRODUCTION OF THE SUSTANAIBILITY’S CONCEPT IN THE ARCHITECT’S TRAINING. APPLICATION AND RESULTS

This article presents the results of the application of the Project for Educational Innovation and Improvement “ARQUITECTOS para el FUTURO. La sostenibilidad como factor de calidad en la arquitectura” [“ARCHITECTS for the FUTURE. Sustainability as a quality factor in architecture”] (PIME/UPV 2017-2018), through several degree and master’s subjects within the current training of architecture students at Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Although sustainable thought, design and construction are not innovative activities, as it has been shown to be so by such architects as nonagenarian Balkrishna Doshi, recent winner of the 2018 Pritzker Award, Alejandro Aravena (Pritzker 2016) or Diébédo Francis Kéré (Global Award for Sustainable Architecture 2009), among others, at the UPV School of Architecture a lack of understanding of the term has been observed, as has its subsequent misguided and fragmented application. In view of the above, this project was implemented to generate teaching/learning of new knowledge, skills and competences relating to the concept of ‘sustainability’. The execution of the project was based on the learning by doing methodology through three main practical tasks. The first was to identify and define the three fields environmental, socio-cultural and socio-economic on which sustainability is based. The second was to examine the sustainability of historically relevant architectural constructions and 21st-century works. Finally, learning and becoming skilled in the operation of the certification tool has shown the high cognitive level of students, their extensive cultural baggage, predisposition to teamwork and excellent skills in critical thinking. Results have exceeded the initial expectations for the project, which has produced the interest of our students in increasing their knowledge of design, composition, materials, building techniques and authors working in the field of architectural sustainability on the one hand, and on the other a fluidity in the analysis of architectural works and development of critical thinking on these in terms of sustainability.

REINFORCEMENT OF INTERDISCIPLINARY SKILLS IN THE FIELD OF ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION/CONSERVATION. THE “CABAÑAL RECORD”

The “Cabañal Record” educational experience, which took place in the 2015/2016 academic year at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the Universitat Politècnica de València, has provided a common framework for the development of interdisciplinary skills, both characteristic and tangential to two disciplines, Conservation and architectural composition. The work presented by the authors is linked to the development of a joint project carried out by students from three different subjects (Architectural Conservation, Architectural Composition, Conservation of Non Monumental Historic Architecture). This teaching action aims to ascertain the architectural details of a historic neighbourhood in the city of Valencia, the Cabañal, whose unique urban layouts and residential buildings stand out for both their architectural value and their extreme decay. Under the lemma “learning to conserve” the students executed three axes of action based on recording information and onsite didactic experience. First, the historic blocks were documented, selecting unique buildings within them and studying possible conservation projects applied to specific cases. Subsequently, constructive characteristics common to several historic buildings were identified, propping them up and classifying them with a view to identifying conservation criteria. Finally, the distinctive composition characteristics of the historic buildings in the neighbourhood were studied to be used as guidelines in the design of new buildings and for empty plots. These three joint actions were then combined in an exhibition open to the entire School and providing a common interpretation of the project carried out.

RESPONSE, ACCEPTANCE AND IMPACT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARTHEN ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN AT THE UPV

The work presented was developed in the framework of educational and dissemination activities promoted by the UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture, Constructive Cultures and Sustainable Development at its headquarters at the UPV (directed by F. Vegas and C. Mileto), and in collaboration with the UPV Summer School and Childrens School. Within this framework a series of activities were carried out at the Childrens School, aimed at children aged 1 to 3, and at the Summer School for those aged 6 to 12. These activities focused on the learning, promotion, and development of earth as a material associated to a wide range of sustainable and ecological construction techniques. This resource is both ancient and contemporary, and linked to numerous cultures. These activities were carried out in June and July 2016. For the most part they consisted of practical workshops adapted to each level, where students were able to learn about earth and the different earthen construction techniques through experimentation and active methodologies proposed. This promotion of the learning of all facets of alternative techniques favoured aspects which highlighted unconventional constructive systems as possible tools for generating economic and cultural wealth through a sustainable economy. To ensure objective responses and feedback on the immediate and mid-term impact of these activities among the children, a series of surveys were drawn up and completed by the workshop monitors and the parents to assess the impact of these workshops among children. Ultimately, this aims to obtain a series of guarantees to ensure the correct development of the activities for each level and matching the intellectual growth and development of the children. This direct feedback is essential for the consolidation of some activities, as well as for the modification, adjustment, or even replacement of activities which may not have properly attained the initial objectives.

El panteón de la familia Soriano Manzanet

Esta boveda nace como un homenaje tanto a la tradicion ceramista de la zona, como a la tecnica de la boveda tabicada, tan arraigada y propia de la historia del Levante. El diseno del panteon ha requerido trabajar con programas de ordenador especiales de diseno tridimensional y la solucion final se ha decantado solamente despues de realizar 23 variantes consecutivas del mismo, que perseguian un resultado optimo a nivel estetico y estructural. Todas las curvas presentes en el panteon responden a perfiles de catenaria, unas curvas con una extraordinaria dificultad de expresion matematica y grafica, que permiten sin embargo optimizar el funcionamiento estructural del conjunto.

RES‐COMPETITION. FOSTERING MOTIVATION AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING THROUGH NEW TEACHING METHODOLOGIES

The project, focusing on learning architectural conservation, is being conducted within the framework of a project for innovation and teaching improvement (PIME/UPV 2015 -2016). It seeks to introduce innovations to a significant part of the core course of architectural conservation (RES) taught at the School of Architecture in the Polytechnic University of Valencia, with a view to enhancing student motivation. The subject of RES has been taught since the 2006/2007 academic year with a wide range of methods, basically relying on the approach of “principles into practice”. In this context, the object of study, carried out within a PIME project is the historic fisherman’s quarter of Valencia, known as Cabañal. The existing historic urban patterns, buildings, and their details have been carefully studied. Students were guided during fieldwork, search for historical documentation, surveys, analysis of materials, constructive techniques and causes of decay. Based on all these contributions they presented some intervention criteria aimed at protecting the richness of the “architectural prose” discovered in the district. Subsequently a competition of ideas between different teams involved in the study of the district was eventually promoted. The competition improves real professional skills, while bearing in mind that the municipality should be partially involved in the study. The students also have the opportunity to exchange ideas, preparing final posters of the proposals to exhibit in the School of Architecture.