Opening soon: "Made in Balears. International Photographers on the Islands"

Centre d’Estudis i Documentació MACBA, Barcelona. 18th October, 2013.

Next 18th October, the results of the research project "The construction of a touristic image through photography. The case of the Balearics" (I+D+i: HAR2010-21691), will be showed under the shape of a selection of photographies. The work has been done by the research group “Patrimonio audiovisual, mass-media e ilustración” from the University of the Balearic Islands.
 

Camins d'aigua

Constest for the restoration of the Museum and House Blai Bonet in Santanyí, Mallorca. 2009, Fundació Casa Museu Llorenç Villalonga, Pare Ginard i Blai Bonet.

The project consists in the restoration of the dwelling of the writer Blai Bonet (1926-1997).

2009, june. Façades: Palma Street (left) and Campos Street (right).

It is located in Santanyí. The house is a typical building of Mallorca made of “marés”, a kind of limestone. This house occupies the south of the building site. At the north there is another building, like a shed. Between both buildings there is a courtyard.

2009, june. Details of the courtyard.

The proposal is divided into two actions: restoration of the existing house for transforming it into a museum and elimination of the shed, where there will be a documentation centre dedicated to the writer.

Project.

Municipal Archive and History Museum in Sallent (IV – façades and sections)

Master thesis. July, 2008.

06 Sallent_A-B façades_

The main façades are simple. They are cleaned and painted, and on the base of each of them we can see the original stone wall.

The dimensions of the windows and doors are similar to most of the village ones. And most of them are the existing ones, but giving the wall surfaces a new and controlled order.

07 Sallent_C-D Sections_

The interior levels are maintained. They only grow a few centimetres because of the reinforcing of the horizontal structure.

In the museum the volume of the C room, dedicated to the industry of the village, the existing interior of the building is emptied. This is the response to get a more secure structure but also to rediscover the main walls.

08 Sallent_E-f sections_

We get rid of all the unoriginal elements on the back façade. So the wall is shown as it was on its beginnings.

09 Sallent_G section_

The top floor opens to the Riereta with a terrace protected from the north winds due to the pent roofs.

Municipal Archive and History Museum in Sallent (III – floors)

Master thesis. July, 2008.

03 Sallent_Basement and ground floor

The basement, an ancient wine cellar, is renewed to be used as a complement to the museum.

 

There are two spaces. The big one is for conferences, videos and other cultural activities. The small one is for kids, with small and mobile furniture.

The ground floor is where the users can enter into the different spaces. Through Clos Street, n.5, we can go up to the archive. Through n.9, we can visit the Riereta Park. And the access to the museum is on
Portalet street, from where the visitors will discover part of the building between interior and exterior, like a labyrinth that will guide them through the history.

04 Sallent_First and second floors_

On the first floor, the museum is keeps growing and turning around the archive. It is connected with the city wall with a little bridge that is renewed and from where the landscape can be admired.

On the contrary, the archive is closed to protect its documents that are received in this point.

The second floor turns the museum into an open space with a flat roof that is considered part of the exhibitions. From here we can “visit” the surroundings due to some explanations on the panels installed on the roof.

Meanwhile, in the archive there is space for saving the documents and for the offices.

05 Sallent_Third floor and roofs_

On the third floor the archive opens completely his walls to the sights, according to the pent roofs, so the users can relax his eyes. There’s also a flat roof working as an open rest room.

The pent roofs permit the building to adapt to the existing constructions around it.

Municipal Archive and History Museum in Sallent

Master thesis. July, 2008.

The master thesis can be viewed in UPC Commons. It consists in a case of restoration and a transformation from a dwellings building into an archive and museum.

The project has been done due to the help of the neighbours who let me into their houses.

We will be translating the text of the panels in new posts.

To sum up_

The project is located in Sallent, in the center of Catalonia. This position gives the village an especial character, equidistant from the sea and the mountains, like a crossroad.



The original village was limited by water which gave the population a natural protection: the Llobregat river, Cornet at north and the Riereta at the south, where the project lies.

The water was also the clue to the economic development of Sallent. It gave energy to the textile industry during XIX century and until the middle of XX century. Before that, the rivers were necessary to water the plantations.

Until XIV century the city wall was made by the houses with their own walls. On 1464 the bishop of Vic ordered to introduce new defence constructions.

So, between water and stone lies the project.

Archive and museum: Clos street n.5-9 and Portalet street

The building is located on one of the first crossroads of Sallent. Maybe it accomplishes a defence task as we can read on some texts from XVIII century and see in remainders of the city wall next to the basement.

Nowadays it’s used as a dwelling building, with some parts abandoned like the basement. So we proposed to turn it into an archive and a museum. At the same time, it can be opened to the street and to the back yard where we found the Riereta.

The archive is in the main building, growing high and defining its uses through different floors. From the top floor we can enjoy the view of the mountains and the Riereta.

The museum is located in the small building, arriving through Portalet street. From here we can visit some interior and exterior spaces to discover the building and its relation with the different historical phases.

The basement is opened to cultural activities such as some exhibitions related to the museum, but also other activities. It is divided in two spaces. The big one is used for lectures, videos, etc. The small one is dedicated to children.

The Riereta Park

In the backyard of the building we can find different levels of the city wall, and between them, the small mountain stream known as “la Riereta”. With some staircases, we can connect this new park with the village.

Opening this zone means to rediscover historical structures, but also to improve pedestrian paths.

The Archive and the Museum form the first important point in the park. The second point is an historical structure which nowadays is abandoned. This is transformed into an open pavilion for exhibiting sculptures. His roof can be used for entering the park and also for organizing dramatic works, projecting films…

After studying existing vegetation a new plantation is proposed, always with local species, and at the same time, in relation with exterior and interior pedestrian paths.