NO.167
Restoration of Castell de la Tossa / Meritxell Inaraja
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, PRESERVATION SITE, HISTORIC PRESERVATION
SANTA MARGARIDA DE MONTBUI, SPAIN
• Architects: Meritxell Inaraja
• Area: 316 m²
• Year: 2020
• Design Team:Meritxell Inaraja
• Collaborating Architects:Laura Bigas Montaner, Amalia Casals Gil
• Structure:Eskubi-Turró Arquitectes slp
• Measurements And Budgeting:Antoni Rodon
• Quantity Surveyor:Antoni Rodon
• Developer:Fundació La Tossa de Montbui
• Construction:Francesc Xavier Vall Construccions
Tossa de Montbui Castle is located on a hill southwest of Igualda at 620 meters above sea level, at a strategic point for military defense since medieval times and from where others are controlled. border castles in the area.
It is first mentioned in a document from 960. From the 12th century to the 14th century, the name of the castle was linked to the Viscounts of Cardona, who were initially feudal lords of the castle and later owners. At first the property was in the hands of the Bishopric of Vic but from 1139 the Cardonas were the Castlans. castle was ceded to James II, who in 1335 sold it to the Cardona family, who kept it in property until the early eighteenth century. Throughout the 19th century it had several owners until in 1956 it was bought by the rector of Santa Margarida de Montbuí. After many years of uninhabited and damaged, since 1967 the Association of Friends of La Tossa and the Patronat de la Muntanya has car-ried out various interventions of interior reform and restoration.
It is a construction of rectangular plant of 9.50 meters in width and 14.50 in length in North-South direc-tion, with rounded angles and walls of about two meters in thickness, of irregular apparatus of limestone of the zone and lime mortar joints.
On the east side it has two floors and is about 10 m high, while on the west side it is three meters higher due to the unevenness of the terrain.
The interior is divided into two floors and a basement. The interior is currently accessed from the east façade, and from here it is climbed by a modern construction staircase to the first floor, now uncovered.
From the historical study carried out, the existence of a roof slab on this first floor can be deduced and from the study of similar typologies it can be deduced that the access staircase between plants was in the thickness of the wall. demolished to the west.
These historical premises and the rest of the data obtained on the original construction elements of the tower are those that have been taken as a basis for the restoration proposal, which unifies the consoli-dation of the existing walls with the construction of specific elements referred to historical elements, which allow you to climb to the highest part of the tower and recover a viewpoint of the region and the other border castles.
At this level corresponding to the original roof, it is reached by the staircase that consolidates the west wall and recovers the idea of a possible original staircase inserted in the thickness of the walls, as is typical of many towers of this period. The sloping shape of the staircase also makes it possible to pre-serve the unfinished appearance and therefore the memory of the rubble suffered.
The same idea of uniting function and historical explanation is used in the construction of a small sec-tion of slab corresponding to the original level of the main floor of the tower as a balcony-viewpoint from the opening of the northern sector, possibly, the original access to the tower from the outside.
And although originally the ground floor spaces were warehouse and cistern spaces that were accessed from inside the tower, they now have direct access from the outside. The proposal maintains the config-uration of this plant, only a cut in the modern slab of the cistern allows to show the historical volume of the set.
Restoration of Castell de la Tossa / Meritxell Inaraja
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, PRESERVATION SITE, HISTORIC PRESERVATION
SANTA MARGARIDA DE MONTBUI, SPAIN
• Architects: Meritxell Inaraja
• Area: 316 m²
• Year: 2020
• Design Team:Meritxell Inaraja
• Collaborating Architects:Laura Bigas Montaner, Amalia Casals Gil
• Structure:Eskubi-Turró Arquitectes slp
• Measurements And Budgeting:Antoni Rodon
• Quantity Surveyor:Antoni Rodon
• Developer:Fundació La Tossa de Montbui
• Construction:Francesc Xavier Vall Construccions
Tossa de Montbui Castle is located on a hill southwest of Igualda at 620 meters above sea level, at a strategic point for military defense since medieval times and from where others are controlled. border castles in the area.
It is first mentioned in a document from 960. From the 12th century to the 14th century, the name of the castle was linked to the Viscounts of Cardona, who were initially feudal lords of the castle and later owners. At first the property was in the hands of the Bishopric of Vic but from 1139 the Cardonas were the Castlans. castle was ceded to James II, who in 1335 sold it to the Cardona family, who kept it in property until the early eighteenth century. Throughout the 19th century it had several owners until in 1956 it was bought by the rector of Santa Margarida de Montbuí. After many years of uninhabited and damaged, since 1967 the Association of Friends of La Tossa and the Patronat de la Muntanya has car-ried out various interventions of interior reform and restoration.
It is a construction of rectangular plant of 9.50 meters in width and 14.50 in length in North-South direc-tion, with rounded angles and walls of about two meters in thickness, of irregular apparatus of limestone of the zone and lime mortar joints.
On the east side it has two floors and is about 10 m high, while on the west side it is three meters higher due to the unevenness of the terrain.
The interior is divided into two floors and a basement. The interior is currently accessed from the east façade, and from here it is climbed by a modern construction staircase to the first floor, now uncovered.
From the historical study carried out, the existence of a roof slab on this first floor can be deduced and from the study of similar typologies it can be deduced that the access staircase between plants was in the thickness of the wall. demolished to the west.
These historical premises and the rest of the data obtained on the original construction elements of the tower are those that have been taken as a basis for the restoration proposal, which unifies the consoli-dation of the existing walls with the construction of specific elements referred to historical elements, which allow you to climb to the highest part of the tower and recover a viewpoint of the region and the other border castles.
At this level corresponding to the original roof, it is reached by the staircase that consolidates the west wall and recovers the idea of a possible original staircase inserted in the thickness of the walls, as is typical of many towers of this period. The sloping shape of the staircase also makes it possible to pre-serve the unfinished appearance and therefore the memory of the rubble suffered.
The same idea of uniting function and historical explanation is used in the construction of a small sec-tion of slab corresponding to the original level of the main floor of the tower as a balcony-viewpoint from the opening of the northern sector, possibly, the original access to the tower from the outside.
And although originally the ground floor spaces were warehouse and cistern spaces that were accessed from inside the tower, they now have direct access from the outside. The proposal maintains the config-uration of this plant, only a cut in the modern slab of the cistern allows to show the historical volume of the set.
For the consolidation of the walls and the formalization of the stairs, lime concrete is used in masse to achieve the chromatic and material similarity with the existing one, and reinforced with fibers, to achieve the structural stability required for use. public of the building.
#Spain, #castle, #structure, #tower, #archeology, #ruin , #stair , #lighting
@revitalization
#Spain, #castle, #structure, #tower, #archeology, #ruin , #stair , #lighting
@revitalization