Architecture workshop
for students and graduates
A Casa Grande da Mariña
Typological research in situ
13 - 29.07.2023. Xuances, Playa de Esteiro, Lugo
By Luis Feduchi and Óscar García Pérez, with the participation of Carlota Eiros and Ángel Panero, and the interns Iván Rando and Sergío Abad.
An investigation on the future of the rural built heritage of the Costa da Mariña Occidental in Galicia through the exploration of one of its predominant housing typologies: the 19th century Casa Grande.
The workshop offers practical and theoretical knowledge about the intervention in rural buildings, through the examination of ancient and contemporary construction techniques.
Program booklet [download].
Workshop 2023 Summary
The workshop 2023 focused both on the study of A Casa Grande do s. XIX, as in the surrounding location. Despite its high historical and architectural value, this rural farmhouse typology is in a generalized state of abandonment and ruin. During the workshop its development was successfully traced in A Mariña Lucense - a region where there was no evidence that had been studied or cataloged previously.
The workshop, focused on developing a working methodology applied to this typology, started at the Casa Grande do Bachao. This location is an ideal place to visit and study in detail the interventions that the architect Victor López Cotelo has been carrying out in the surroundings of the city of Santiago with his main collaborator, the architect and ROAD partner, Ángel Panero. Additionally, the visits included other interesting works for our research, by architects such as David Chipperfield and Creus Carrasco, in Corrubedo and Porto do Sin, coastal environments like those that would later be studied in the Mariña Lucense.
Setting base in the village of Fontao, the first week’s work was mainly devoted to the exploration of the six municipalities that make up A Mariña Occidental. The use of traditional techniques of visual and oral tracking in situ initially, as well as other digital parameterization at a later stage, resulted in the development of a map-inventory of multiple large houses, previously unknown, as well as a cartographic and photographic catalog.
The collected materials guided the research further. With the goal to curb the depopulation of this region, the research focused on the conditions and the interior distribution of the buildings. This method resulted in the development of a proposal for the renovation of the typology according to contemporary parameters - in terms of heritage conservation, adaptation to regulations, energy efficiency and aspects that allow adapting their use to different activities.
The full duration of the workshop was two weeks, from July 13th to the 29th . A second excursion happened on July 26th, in A Terra Chá, Lugo, to visit the Casas Grandes cataloged by Carlota Eiros, architect and a member of ROAD, in her book A Casa Grande do s.XIX. Additionally several of her interventions, such as the Houses of the Mirandilla de Rinlo, were visited.
The workshop ended with the presentation of the collected work to different sectors of civil society: from neighbors and owners of some of the buildings, to members of local corporations, associations interested in heritage (such as Patrimonio Mariña), local architects, builders and the press.