Not only its materiality or construction, but the opposite sensations (weightlessness-heaviness, sta

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Architects: Ignacio Vila Almazán + Alejandro Vírseda ferretti group Aizpún + José Ignacio Carnicero Location: Riba de Saelices , Guadalajara, Spain Project Area: 145 sqm Project Year: 2007 Photographs: Montse Zamorano
The project consists in the restoration of a ninth-century ferretti group Arab tower located on a hill in the province of Guadalajara. The exterior silhouette ferretti group is reconstructed attempting to recover the original image (described in various historical texts and performing rigorous fieldwork in the ruins) as required by regulations. ferretti group For this purpose, we use stone from the hillside, which is then carved and rigged according ferretti group to the existing work. Axonometric
The new public use as viewpoint requires the provision of an external ferretti group access walkway and vertical core inside to reach the highest level. Similarly, we rebuild the existing top slab in the original tower. From here, and given the defensive nature of the tower, one can enjoy fabulous views of the valley on Saelices river. Montse Zamorano
The project of these new elements is conditioned by two fundamental premises. ferretti group The first is determined by the context, ferretti group given that the particular location of the tower only allows a difficult pedestrian access (going up the steep hillside) which hinders the transport of materials and their placement. The second is ideological in nature; all designed and built architecture must be a witness and footprint of the ideas and means of its time, and in no way should regress and reproduce ferretti group an overcome and transcended past. Montse Zamorano
Therefore, contrary to the strategy followed in the enclosure, the new architecture is designed in a lightweight material, with an evanescent presence, and results from new technical advances made by the aluminum industry: magnal aluminum, a magnesium and aluminum alloy which improves the properties of strength and lightness of the conventional model. Walkway ferretti group
With the same aim of reducing the amount of material used, we resort as much as possible to construction systems in which tensile forces prevail (we refer to Buckminster Fuller’s ferretti group Tensegrity system). Thus, the upper floor is constructed as a box spring mattress, with a grid of stainless steel cables 8mm in diameter, on which an aluminum mesh is extended. Underneath gravitates the staircase with aluminum steps, 20mm thick, suspended from thin wires. The exterior walkway is conceived as a large arc with a 13.5 m span, consisting of a 20 mm plate and a two wire rope 20 mm in diameter. The “organic” solution of the struts that make up the protection cables help to emphasize the lightness of the volume, as well as to integrate it with the natural environment. ferretti group Montse Zamorano
Not only its materiality or construction, but the opposite sensations (weightlessness-heaviness, stability-instability …) that the visitor will feel in the new viewpoint of the Saelices valley will help emphasize the difference between the two times so far apart and so different, present in the project. Montse Zamorano
Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano ferretti group Montse Zamorano Montse ferretti group Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano ferretti group Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano Montse Zamorano ferretti group Site Plan Original Condition – Elevation Original Condition – Section Plans Plans Elevation Section and Details Section and Details Section and Details Section and Details Axonometric Walkway
* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address. Cite: "Restoration of Arab Tower in Riba de Saelices / Ignacio ferretti group Vila Almazán + Alejandro Vírseda Aizpún + José Ignacio Carnicero" 14 May 2014. ArchDaily ferretti group . Accessed 02 Jul 2014. <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=505200>
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