Papers by ADELAIDA DEL PUERTO
The variety of soils, topography and distances between river Tagus and Montes de Toledo in Spain ... more The variety of soils, topography and distances between river Tagus and Montes de Toledo in Spain have been determinant factors for the development of agricultural vernacular architecture in this area. The aim of this research has been to analyze the architecture related to the landscape heterogeneity, that has determined the attraction/neglection of different cultures building the local History. All the isolated buildings studied, serving farming activities at the northwest side of the Montes de Toledo, have been extremely dependant on a wild environment in the surroundings of the mountains and a source of permanent enrichment in the shores of the river Tagus. The preliminary findings identify very different types of buildings reflecting the variety of physical, social and economic realities. These differences are materialized into different land divisions and very different architectural, structural and constructive solutions. The results of this research also show that creating a descriptive map of this architecture requires not just the definition of the different building types, but also the analysis of the progressive mutations and evolutions that happen as we descend from the mountains to the river. Most simple building types become more and more complex as orography and soil composition allow us to obtain of wider profits. Another vector of transformation that crosses our map from East to West are rocky outcrops and sandy territories that begin to appear to lend pass to the slate soils that reach the river in the west side. The local History research has permitted us to link up the constructive solutions with the historical events, and relating these architecture examples with other architectures developed in further places and inside the peninsula ibérica. Comprehension of the causal universe that lies behind any building fact has been one of the major objectives of this research.
El articulo profundiza en los avances en impresion 3D, en las posibilidades de aplicacion en el c... more El articulo profundiza en los avances en impresion 3D, en las posibilidades de aplicacion en el campo de la construccion sostenible y su importancia como factor de desarrollo futuro en el ambito rural.
WIT Transactions on State-of-the-art in Science and Engineering, 2016
The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the river Tagus as the place of the most ... more The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the river Tagus as the place of the most occidental encounter between Islamic and European traditional construction technologies. The research stems from a study of Vernacular Architecture in Toledo. The investigation process has included a first phase of field work followed by Archives research, once the case studies have been determined. Further literature review about border typologies has evidenced the links among history, landscape transformations and building technologies. Vernacular types of architecture in the Mediterranean fringe are usually studied as a whole. It is a vast area of very similar architectural solutions that seem to be born directly from the soil, the climate and cultures coming from the Middle East and northern Africa. But a closer look at this particular territory will reveal how traditional Mediterranean architecture is the result of the merging of two very different ways of understanding the built space, the relationship with the environment and the construction techniques. The Kasbah architecture, introduced by Islamic culture and based on a lack of interest of interacting with tough environmental surroundings, meets the European style of integrating hut architecture with the landscape. Landscapes of cattle pastures meet olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. The patio meets the front yard. Very interestingly mixed wall designs emerge from this convergence of the two cultures, but there are also some difficulties when constructing wooden frames and trusses, particularly in the southern areas. This article delves into the relationship among history, environment and mutations in architecture, focusing on the middle course of the river Tagus.
UCOARTE. Revista de Teoría e Historia del Arte
La arquitectura vernácula aislada, ligada a la agricultura, es un catalizador de procesos históri... more La arquitectura vernácula aislada, ligada a la agricultura, es un catalizador de procesos históricos y de la evolución de las relaciones entre hombre y territorio. El objetivo de esta investigación ha sido analizar la influencia del aislamiento y desprotección sobre estas arquitecturas, que viven bajo el influjo constante de la sucesión de pueblos y culturas sobre un área determinada. Obligadas a relacionarse de forma estrecha con el paisaje, disponen únicamente de recursos locales para su ejecución. Ambas premisas las convierten en un campo de estudio histórico y paisajístico de gran interés. El análisis de los casos estudiados en la franja de territorio entre los Montes de Toledo occidentales y el río Tajo, territorio fronterizo desde época prerromana y hasta avanzada la Edad Media, dejan patentes los procesos de evolución cultural desde tiempos prerromanos y hasta el Renacimiento.
The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the river Tagus as the place of the most ... more The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the river Tagus as the place of the most occidental encounter between Islamic and European traditional construction technologies. The research stems from a study of Vernacular Architecture in Toledo. The investigation process has included a first phase of field work followed by Archives research, once the case studies have been determined. Further literature review about border typologies has evidenced the links among history, landscape transformations and building technologies. Vernacular types of architecture in the Mediterranean fringe are usually studied as a whole. It is a vast area of very similar architectural solutions that seem to be born directly from the soil, the climate and cultures coming from the Middle East and northern Africa. But a closer look at this particular territory will reveal how traditional Mediterranean architecture is the result of the merging of two very different ways of understanding the built space, the relationship with the environment and the construction techniques. The Kasbah architecture, introduced by Islamic culture and based on a lack of interest of interacting with tough environmental surroundings, meets the European style of integrating hut architecture with the landscape. Landscapes of cattle pastures meet olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. The patio meets the front yard. Very interestingly mixed wall designs emerge from this convergence of the two cultures, but there are also some difficulties when constructing wooden frames and trusses, particularly in the southern areas. This article delves into the relationship among history, environment and mutations in architecture, focusing on the middle course of the river Tagus.
El proceso de análisis y valorización de construcciones aún no estudiadas, supone no solamente la... more El proceso de análisis y valorización de construcciones aún no estudiadas, supone no solamente la generación de documentación a través del trabajo de campo. El primer paso es la compresión de los procesos históricos de los que han sido partícipes de forma intensa. Actas de congresos y estudios históricos permiten el conocimiento de la evolución general de la estructura del territorio y de las posibles incursiones de técnicas constructivas. Pero un conocimiento más detallado requiere del estudio de documentación presente en los Archivos Históricos, y esa búsqueda no se limita al estudio de cartografía histórica. Existen otros documentos , de reducido valor intrínseco y que se crearon con el fin de gestionar información a nivel burocrático que pueden llegar a ser cruciales para el estudio de las tipologías y de su evolución en el tiempo. Relacionar paisaje y arquitectura supone el estudio perceptivo de las construcciones y su integración con el medio, además de la profundización en aspectos botánicos, geológicos, climáticos y agrícolas. Ese estudio integral puede contribuir a la comprensión real de las decisiones constructivas y de estructura del territorio que han conformado lo que hoy conocemos como Patrimonio Construido en el ámbito rural. Este estudio analiza la arquitectura vernácula ligada las actividades agropecuarias entre la cara Norte de la franja más occidental entre los Montes de Toledo y el río Tajo, en el área limitada por los afluentes Gévalo y Torcón.
Refurbishment of architectural and urban spaces is crucial to the continuity of the social and ec... more Refurbishment of architectural and urban spaces is crucial to the continuity of the social and economic existing structures. In the Mediterranean area, one of the main difficulties on the adjustment to new programs of needs, is the structural rigidity. This paper delves into the original sustainability of existing buildings in the fringe of territory between the Montes de Toledo and river Tagus in Spain. And into the opportunities of performing low cost and high quality refurbishment interventions, that are capable to meet the present encounter between history, environmental sensibility and technology.
Isolated vernacular architecture shows how historical processes and the evolution of the relatio... more Isolated vernacular architecture shows how historical processes and the evolution of the relationship between man and territory have materialized over time. The aim of this study has been to find out the influence of isolation and vulnerability on this architecture, based on the study of the different cultures and peoples that occupied this particular area through history. Traditional architecture is always strongly related to territory, as local resources are the only means for materials for their construction. Both premises make it a broad study area to analyze history and landscape in relation with construction and sustainability. The variety of soils, botanical species, topography and distances between river Tagus and the Toledo mountains in Spain has been a crucial factor for the development of local traditional architecture. This paper analyzes how the landscape heterogeneity has determined its different building types and construction details, and how the strong relationship man-territory has influenced the architecture sustainability. Decisions that determine the sustainability of buildings are in close relation with the way nature is interpreted. Roofs are the maximal expression of resources minimization. From intuitive trusses to technical structures, wood consumption is minimal as it is a scarce resource. All the isolated buildings studied, related to farming activities at the north-west side of the Toledo mountains, have been extremely dependent upon a harsh environment in the surroundings of the mountains, and a source of permanent economical resources on the banks of the river Tagus. The results of this research project show that creating a descriptive map of this architecture does not only require the definition of the different construction details, but also the analysis of the progressive changes that happen as we descend from the mountains to the river. These variations enable the integration of man, architecture and nature in a mutually respectful existence .
This paper analyzes the importance of the graphic tools we use for the megacities, cities and rur... more This paper analyzes the importance of the graphic tools we use for the megacities, cities and rurban area representation. These tools will determine the way decision making happens and, consequently, the validity and appropriateness of the strategies arising from those decisions.
Citizens, who have become new actors on the scene of planning, and the development of new digital and mobile technologies are a new resource of data representation and planning decisions.
Due to the global migration movements and the drastic and frequent economic changes, we will have to develop new tools to represent issues like shrinking and growing processes. Urban morphology changes are moving the boundaries between formal and informal fringes, and between different social strata. Opposite ways of creating a city and opposite economical expectations are separated again by a river, a street or a highway. Slums and formal cities are now in close contact with each other.
We have experienced the results of highly controlled and highly designed un-slumming projects in many of our western suburbs. During the 70s, 80s and 90s the degradation, sense of not belonging, family unsustainability, economical high dependence and the lack of spaces for a social reproduction were common issues all over the continent. We can use our modern devices, our digital proximity and interconnection to collect and interpret what is really happening in the informal city in order to protect its values instead of erasing them.
With 3D printing, the market of objects is being replaced by the market of data. Bits substitute ... more With 3D printing, the market of objects is being replaced by the market of data. Bits substitute atoms while
rigid and hierarchical socioeconomic structures are being replaced by shared and flexible systems. These
radical changes on what we are interested in and how we decide our socioeconomic influence as citizens, are
about to change completely the way we work, consume, live, build and organize the territory and the city.
Crowdsourcing and Digital Fabrication are changing the economic terms, as they democratize the means of
production, funding and innovation. Urban shapes have always been drawn by the socioeconomic processes.
In the present and near future the massive transportation of commodities, that once shaped our cities and
territories, is going to decrease radically with its subsequent morphological changes.
This paper is at the interface of innovation, architecture and urbanism, and delves into the effect of the
ongoing innovations on issues like sustainability and socioeconomic development.
Uploads
Papers by ADELAIDA DEL PUERTO
Citizens, who have become new actors on the scene of planning, and the development of new digital and mobile technologies are a new resource of data representation and planning decisions.
Due to the global migration movements and the drastic and frequent economic changes, we will have to develop new tools to represent issues like shrinking and growing processes. Urban morphology changes are moving the boundaries between formal and informal fringes, and between different social strata. Opposite ways of creating a city and opposite economical expectations are separated again by a river, a street or a highway. Slums and formal cities are now in close contact with each other.
We have experienced the results of highly controlled and highly designed un-slumming projects in many of our western suburbs. During the 70s, 80s and 90s the degradation, sense of not belonging, family unsustainability, economical high dependence and the lack of spaces for a social reproduction were common issues all over the continent. We can use our modern devices, our digital proximity and interconnection to collect and interpret what is really happening in the informal city in order to protect its values instead of erasing them.
rigid and hierarchical socioeconomic structures are being replaced by shared and flexible systems. These
radical changes on what we are interested in and how we decide our socioeconomic influence as citizens, are
about to change completely the way we work, consume, live, build and organize the territory and the city.
Crowdsourcing and Digital Fabrication are changing the economic terms, as they democratize the means of
production, funding and innovation. Urban shapes have always been drawn by the socioeconomic processes.
In the present and near future the massive transportation of commodities, that once shaped our cities and
territories, is going to decrease radically with its subsequent morphological changes.
This paper is at the interface of innovation, architecture and urbanism, and delves into the effect of the
ongoing innovations on issues like sustainability and socioeconomic development.
Citizens, who have become new actors on the scene of planning, and the development of new digital and mobile technologies are a new resource of data representation and planning decisions.
Due to the global migration movements and the drastic and frequent economic changes, we will have to develop new tools to represent issues like shrinking and growing processes. Urban morphology changes are moving the boundaries between formal and informal fringes, and between different social strata. Opposite ways of creating a city and opposite economical expectations are separated again by a river, a street or a highway. Slums and formal cities are now in close contact with each other.
We have experienced the results of highly controlled and highly designed un-slumming projects in many of our western suburbs. During the 70s, 80s and 90s the degradation, sense of not belonging, family unsustainability, economical high dependence and the lack of spaces for a social reproduction were common issues all over the continent. We can use our modern devices, our digital proximity and interconnection to collect and interpret what is really happening in the informal city in order to protect its values instead of erasing them.
rigid and hierarchical socioeconomic structures are being replaced by shared and flexible systems. These
radical changes on what we are interested in and how we decide our socioeconomic influence as citizens, are
about to change completely the way we work, consume, live, build and organize the territory and the city.
Crowdsourcing and Digital Fabrication are changing the economic terms, as they democratize the means of
production, funding and innovation. Urban shapes have always been drawn by the socioeconomic processes.
In the present and near future the massive transportation of commodities, that once shaped our cities and
territories, is going to decrease radically with its subsequent morphological changes.
This paper is at the interface of innovation, architecture and urbanism, and delves into the effect of the
ongoing innovations on issues like sustainability and socioeconomic development.