7/18/2011

Municipal Archive and History Museum in Sallent (II – context)


Master thesis. July, 2008.

01 Sallent_Territory_

Chronology

  • 100 B.C.         Iberian village, on the Cogulló mountain.
  • 12/12/955      A document talks about a piece of land located "ad ipso Sallente" or "next to the Sallent".   "Sallent" means waterfall.
  • 1246              Until 1811, Sallent belongs to the Bishop of Vic.
  • 1339              Start of the construction of the “Sèquia” (an irrigation ditch). It transports water from Balsareny to Manresa, but it’s no good for the mills of Sallent.
  • 1713              Armendáriz’s troop causes a fire in the village.
  • 12/24/1747    A flood destroys two arcs of the gothic bridge over the Llobregat River.
  • 1826              Torres i Amat, a textile industry, starts using the first mechanical looms of Catalonia.
  • 1860               The golden age of textile industry. In the village we can find: 11 industries, more than 600 inhabited buildings, schools…
  • 1912               Creation of Orfeó Sallentí and Eléctrica Sallentina.
  • 09/1918          Inauguration of the Mancomunitat Library.
  • 1931                Beginnings of the work on the near mines.
  • 1960               Beginnings of the crisis of the textile. The village population stops growing.

Back façade. Left: photograph, 2008 / Right: model of the project

02 Sallent_Project zone_

The village grew next to the Llobregat River, because water has been very important through its history. From its origins, Sallent was located in the piece of land limited by the Llobregat River, the Cornet River and the Riereta.


Water was also very important to Sallent economical development. It was essential to agriculture and after, it gave energy to textile industry.

On other occasions water was a problem. Often there were floods that destroyed the houses next to the Llobregat River.


Until XIV Century these houses formed the city wall. But in 1464 the Bishop of Vic ordered to renew the systems for protecting the village. Nowadays, we can still find some of these walls.


And between water and stone lies the Project.
Plan of Sallent. Published by Carreras Candi on 1920.
The Project building is located in Clos street, one of the first streets of Sallent, and next to Santa Maria church. So we can think on the building as an important point of defence. In fact, it is near to ruins of the city wall and its own walls (especially those of the ground floor) are very thick for a dwelling building.