Recovery Plan of Immaterial / Intangible Heritage of Lorca through architectural elements.

Index 1_ Introduction 2_ Context 3_ Objectives 4_ Methodology 5_ On what specific areas of Lorca have I developed the questionnaire? 6_ Chance of union 7_ Union links 8_Development of the paths

A) The art of needlework in silk and gold. B) water as a key element for Lorca’s society.

1_ Introduction

This is the Final Project of architecture from Enguix Maria Ybarra (University of Alicante). With title: RECOVERY PLAN OF INMATERIAL / INTANGIBLE HERITAGE OF LORCA THROUGH ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS. We would highlight two particular aspects in which I support at all times and is manifest of the architecture I believe in: 1_ Social cohesion within a catastrophe. 2_ Do not base the architectural recovery of a damaged town after a disaster relying exclusively on the singular monumental heritage, but the tool to highlight revitalization and social intangibles.

2_ Context In a society with more problems every day and more polarized; there are still common needs such as: relationship, work, food, education, housing, health, culture, etc... The result of all these common elements can serve as a link of this increasingly divided society. That is why we stand architecture is not a specific building monumental architecture that can lead to polarization of society. Defend friendly architecture that brings society together. Understanding the city as support where interrelate with each other, work, feed ; in short: to de alive. My project talks about creating a formula where some of these social demands are achieved through architecture. Architecture is a tool in my project to meet the social needs common in a society increasingly broken.

The city of Lorca suffered a terrible earthquake on May 11, 2011 which directly affected more than 90,000 people. We chose Lorca (Murcia, Spain) as a city where we will carry out the project because we wanted a particular location, meaning that the formula for my project could be applied to many other cities where as well as Lorca, are broken in one way or another.

3_ Objectives WHAT MAY BE THE ROLE OF ARCHITECTURE AFTER A DISASTER? The immediate response of the Administration (Ministry of Culture, the City Council of Lorca and the Community of Murcia) was the design of the Recovery Plan for Cultural Heritage of Lorca. The red line shows the urban boundary of the city of Lorca. The orange spots point out the highlighted elements in the existing Plan.

We understand that the layout of the Estate Recovery Plan is limited not only in territory but on a social standard. My project will try to be an alternative to the existing plan, expanding the term of Heritage to Intangible and Immaterial elements as well as the common monuments in themselves. Precisely these "Intangibles" elements have recently been added in the list that the Ministry of Culture establishes as B. I. C. (Assets of Cultural Interest in Spanish or Bien de Interés Cultural Spanish) and this elements are in fact the constituent identity of the society.

4_Methodology

HOW TO IDENTIFY INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND IDENTITY IN LORCA (MURCIA, SPAIN)? HOW TO IDENTIFY COMMON NEEDS AFTER A DISASTER? I first developed a questionnaire seeking to obtain information about Lorca’s society. In this questionnaire I approach the problem from the past: trying to identify significant cultural assets and existing needs due to the disaster, I also challenge the current post-disaster conditions at the same time that I research about the needs and future goods that citizens consider important to maintain and reassess.

While I have carried out the survey, I have carried out interviews with renowned architects from Lorca, and other influential people in Lorca and Murcia, while the presidents of residents associations of the neighborhoods that announce on the next point, the archivist of the municipal archive of Lorca and I have researched through the archaeological Museum of Lorca and its published magazine La Alberca with articles on the topics I discuss in my project.

5_On what specific areas of Lorca have I developed the questionnaire?

Since Lorca's population is about 90,000, but only 60,000 live in the centre, the questionnaire was completed by 600 people. Of the 600 people, 200 are from the neighborhood of La Viña, 200 from the San Fernando neighborhood and 200 of the High Slums Areas (Santa Maria, San Juan, San Pedro, San Cristobal, etc.). I have identified what I call "Hot Spot". These are the gaps left after the disaster and which are not treated as the historical center. Some of these neighborhoods were discriminated by the society already before the earthquake. Thus are: - Socially weak hot spots: Las Barriadas Altas (The High Slum) and San Fernando. - Areas most affected by the earthquake: La Viña and San Fernando. That is why after the earthquake both cases are the focus of my project, both for its historical and social evolution as the scourge received on last may 11th, being isolated neighborhoods eager to stay and survive. Link of the video interviews developed: http://vimeo.com/36423500

6_ Chance of union WHY NOT TO USE AS AN EXCUSE THE DISASTER HAPPENED (EARTHQUAKE) TO UNITE LORCA SOCIALLY? -We understand that Heritage is the people, which knit and build the city. Taking that to account, the project is titled RECOVERY PLAN OF INMATERIAL / INTANGIBLE HERITAGE OF LORCA THROUGH ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS. - It will identify three blocks of localized and specific interest. - It is an answer towards the future after analyzing the past and the current situation. - The three elements or blocks of interest are: * CENTRE It’s traditionally recovered through the most significant civil and religious buildings. This involves in many cases the gentrification of the architectural element. This traditional view of "clean up the center" leaves beside heritage aspects of great interest which I try to collect in the following sections. * BOUNDARY SPACES: HOT SPOTS. What are these spaces? Are the gaps left after the disaster and not treated as in the previous section of the historical center (singular civil and religious buildings). - Socially weak hot spots. - Areas most affected by the earthquake. On these two hot spots we show the architecture as a recovering element of the heritage and social unity against the more traditional approach which tends to the gentrification. * UNION LINKS As a union of the immaterial-material, centre-periphery-life architecture, highlighting the possible links of these elements. Appear the union arteries flowing between the different areas of the town. In these unions emphasize the BIC (Bien de Interés Cultural), accentuating the identity value, collecting the recent value by the Spanish Ministry of Culture (BIC) as a global ethnological element where architecture can help in this task.

7_Union links

Is the architecture a useful tool to build a single Lorca? As identity elements such as the BIC warn us would be taken into consideration: art, environment, architecture, cuisine, entertainment, culture, etc... The methodology used in the 10 study cases was as follows: a) Reviewing the traditional element because of their cultural-historic character or due to their social-productive potential, as an alternative to more traditional view which focuses on the heritage-architectural elements exclusively. b) Detecting possible spaces in which developing nowadays productive activities or job creation for Lorca as a whole. c) Define for the future with temporary measure (10 - 15 years) an architectural and social program updated to our present world. We encountered 5 examples for their Social-Productive character: 1) The art of needlework in silk and gold. 2) Water as a key element for Lorca’s society. 3) The food: the pig as the main supply source. 4) The pottery craftwork of Lorca. 5) The Art of the tanneries: leather. While we identified 5 examples for their Cultural-Historical potential: 6) Water Auction (Irrigation Association): the farmers fight for water in Lorca. 7) Lorca’s castle of Arab origin. 8) Lorca bordering city: strategic location between North and South. 9) Easter in Lorca (Holy celebrations): Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. 10) La Aurora Lorquina: folk music and old crews of the Fraternities.

Aware that the work to be done in our case can be much larger, for the case of Lorca we focus on two aspects that we will further develop.1 1) The art of needlework in silk and gold. 2) Water as a key element for Lorca’s society. From the art of needlework we try to recover their social knowledge and forward as a development activity and identity for the city. Referring to the water topic, through the former irrigation ditches and traditional water pipes, recover the relation social value through the location of the squares, meeting space, distribution centers, leisure facilities, etc., Summarizing: "living spaces".

1 These two units were chosen after a field analysis over the town of Lorca, where we understood that they were the ones most commitment representing the biggest amount of citizens from Lorca, while having a greater future capacity of development.

8_ Development of the paths

First we draw a "Path" on the city that hosts symbolic elements of these intangible items (toponymy of the elements: street names, squares, etc. .., monuments, museums and routes having all of them relation with all the elements mentioned before).

The next step over the traced paths is the design of: _Potential Spaces These kind of spaces will host the friendly architecture which accommodates activities adapted to the immediate needs while global energy is being generated (Social energy, Light energy, Productive energy, Trade energy, etc...).

_Informer Elements With a variety of formats, these elements will help the citizen to be located in one of these new "heritage paths".

a) The art of needlework in silk and gold _ POTENTIAL SPACE: The space occupies the empty plot the earthquake near the path of traditional festivity Eastern path.

_TIPOLOGY: Modules built on a temporary measure (10 to 15 years) of about 35m ² built with cane, textiles and flexible solar panels.

_SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION: Knowledge of embroidery from its origin with the extraction of silk to the product display of high artistic quality and craftsmanship of international draft of Lorca’s Easter festivities.

_TECHNOLOGY CONTRIBUTION: The technologies applied are: solar energy collection and storage of rainwater.

b) Water as a key element for Lorca’s society _Design of the path. _Zoom in over the traditional route of the irrigation system on the city of Lorca when people supplied through pipes or wells. (Remarking that the map was not found in any archive, but has been developed in situ on Lorca by current conventional wisdom and "Aguas de Lorca"Water Institution in Lorca.) _ Why were these traditional supply areas not gentrified experiential-based places? _I picked up point 5 within the traditional path zoom of water supply in Lorca. This is the only one of the sites of traditional pipes where the pipe remains in place and still working. This is called the Plaza del Caño or popularly called the “Caño de los 3 Chorros”.

_Analyzed these places trying to find out what their social and physical properties made then as what I call "living spaces". These were: meeting space, distribution centers, leisure facilities, etc. _Analysing why it is currently a dead space, a place without life or interaction as we have done before, both physically and socially. The fact that there is no longer the vital need for water, we can think of other binding mechanisms. _POTENTIAL SPACE:

T

raditional site of the pipe. Plaza de Caño

TIPOLOGY:

tructure of reeds as a coating on the plaza.

_SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION:

_ S

Rhousing

esource of non-costing space. Built with unskilled local labor. Space capable of

TECHNOLOGY CONTRIBUTION:

: barter markets, meeting points and leisure, etc…

_

1

_La cane as a structural element beyond the traditional agricultural use.

_ Flexible solar panels using the new American Patent (Solar-Ivy) or similar. Able to

2capture energy while to sift and to different shaded area as required at the time.

3_Introducing LED light by flexible strips inside the structural canes. Capable of generating different lights for different needs.

4_Use of humidifier or vaporizer suitable to provide humidity in an atmosphere as hot as in Lorca.