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Reiseuni Report | Making Of European Architecture Dialogue
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Reiseuni Report | Making Of European Architecture Dialogue

Vol:III Workshop Cluster • Sevilla

V:III_6. Workshop Cluster Sevilla | María del Mar Loren-Méndez
V:III_6.1 [SVQ] María del Mar Loren-Méndez: Coastal Transformation, Obsolescence and Heritage: Regeneration of European Touristic Territories
V:III_6.2 [SVQ] WS6 [C1] Workshop Programme & Results "Territory, Cultural Landscape and Urban Development on the Andalusian Coast. Tourism and Social Sustainability."
V:III_6.3 Master's Thesis [SVQ]: Cultural Transfer. Consequences of Tourism for Architecture & Urban Space in Europe: Costa del Sol

 

Sevilla | The 'obsolete sand+sun touristic model' of the Costa del Sol represents the increasing process of accelerated coastal sprawl development driven by aggressive speculation throughout the second half of the 20th century until today. The prevailing trend towards over-simplification and a macro-analysis of the territory in isolation, a reductive, homogenous approach, needs to be counterbalanced by historical, critical and architectonic considerations reflecting a multifaceted system that is both plural and diverse. The potential model for a cultural landscape along the coast serves to develop alternatives of critical reflection and sensible transformation of the given structure and its 'Hinterland'.

Summary

Seville University has worked on the territorial transformation of the Coast, a contemporary phenomenon of critical importance both on European and international level. The research topic rethinks its obsolete sand + sun touristic model, approaching the developed coast of southern Europe as heritage, as Cultural Landscape in order to propose its potential regeneration.

V:III_6.1.1 Workshop Topic. Theoretical Approach and Sites

[Fig. 01] Photomontage of the Costa del Sol. Cover of Seville University Syllabus. Designed by José Eduardo Medina.
[Fig. 01] Photomontage of the Costa del Sol. Cover of Seville University Syllabus. Designed by José Eduardo Medina.

"Coastal transformation, Obsolescence and Heritage: Regeneration of European tourist territories" proposes working on the transformation and regeneration of the European Southern coast. The aim of Seville University module is to establish a critical and alternative vision of an overdeveloped area, which has been understood as a space to be consumed. This inspiring landscape that some authors have described as paradise, has been gradually concealed by mass tourism, by speculation and corruption. The last crisis has been especially harsh on these coastal territories; the local economy has banished behind the concrete and the heritage has been ignored at the service of the market demands. [Fig. 01] [1]

[1] Mar Loren-Mendez is the director of the Research Group HUM-666 Contemporary City, Architecture and Heritage (CAPC Ciudad, Arquitectura y Patrimonio Contemporáneos). A specialist on Coastal Transformation and Tourism, she founded a research line on tourism within the group in 2005. Since 2014, she is the coordinator of the research topic Littoral, Tourism, Infrastructure and Sustainability of the International Doctoral Program on Architecture at Seville University.

Tourism in Spain

[Fig. 02] Aerial view of the Costa del Sol looking west from Benalmádena. Photo: Jacques Maes, March 2008.
[Fig. 02] Aerial view of the Costa del Sol looking west from Benalmádena. Photo: Jacques Maes, March 2008.

Given its outstanding geography and climate, tourism in Spain started on this Mediterranean Andalusian coast, specifically on the Costa del Sol, with its capital in the city of Malaga. An interpretation of this area as a potential model for mass tourism led to a process of accelerated urban development driven by aggressive speculation throughout the second half of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 21st century, this Southern European Mediterranean littoral on the border with Africa is fully consolidated. The historic centres, the modern downtowns and the infinitive succession of suburban resorts confirm the consolidation of its population, whose everyday needs and aspirations have been overshadowed by the emphasis on the speculative growth focused on the tourist seasonal activity. [Fig. 02]

The coast and its architecture have been understood as a consumer product: the sun and the beach as its most precious goods. A monographic approach has typified the coast, defining it as a homogeneous touristic reality. Studies that consider this area purely on the basis of tourism however, are incomplete and it is necessary to adopt a wider view, which encompasses not only tourism as a key feature, but also other dynamics in the area. As the phenomenon is so complex, it is however impossible to apply traditional research tools or a linear methodology. The prevailing trend towards over-simplification needs to be counterbalanced by critical and architectonic considerations of the coast as a multifaceted system. The students are asked to identify the different layers that now are invisible in this fragmented territory in which the touristic dimension prevails: small worlds – in Marc Augé's words – which do not connect, which come across but never interact.

System of differences

Contrary to its understanding as a continuous touristic unity, a micro-analysis of the coast allows us to analyse it as a system of differences (Mar Loren-Méndez, 2014 [2008]). We have worked on the differences of its fragments; an identity, a similiarity are effects of a system of differences, following Deleuze's theoretical approach in Difference and Repetition (Deleuze, 2002 [1968]) In contrast to the big scale of urban planning studies that have characterized the development of the coast, the singularity and specificity of each part are essential in order to reactivate this territory.

"The aim is thus to present the phenomenon as a system of differences: a set of diverse ways of occupying the territory at different moments in time, producing nuances in its development, asymmetries in its interpretation, chronological and formal differences in its colonization. The similarities or analogies that we perceive on first assessing the Costa del Sol must be considered as the effect that difference has, as a result of the juxtaposition of these components, of a disparate set which ultimately achieves an effect of continuity." (Loren-Méndez, 2014 [2008])

History as topography

Generalization has also characterized Architectural Historiography until the second half of the 20th century. History has been understood as a topological narrative in which the irregularities and differences are eliminated. Ignasi de Solá-Morales has been key for the construction of the proposed theoretical framework: this author works on the concept of the history as topography, rejecting the generalization of the topological, universal approach and presenting the diversity as a value and not as a deformation of a central discourse:

"Topography, then, is the representation of the particular, but it is a form of representation that articulates rather than depicts: it reveals multiple topographies… To propose a topography is to reject a topology. Recognition of difference leads to the affirmation of the plural. A plural culture is one that makes its profile of differences, its distinctive outline, its characteristic feature." (Solá-Morales, 1997)

The projects work on a research proposal that avoids generalization and develops a critical analysis based on the specificity and diversity of each of its fragments. In order to overcome the incomplete and stigmatized consideration of this coastal territory and recognize its values, we propose to study it from the scope of heritage, approaching it as Cultural Landscape. We look for a multi-layered analysis in contrast to a limited disciplinary and formal approach to the built environment.

Changing reality of coastal landscape

"To transcend the concept of heritage as a delimited object and to face the challenge of operating on different scales on a stage where different heritage-based realities converge, implies the development of new project mechanisms that will include the changing reality of these spaces." (Castellano Bravo et al, 2007)

The workshop tackles the coast as a consolidated, permanent inhabited space, transcending the prevalent discourse of seasonality. The proposed programs should reflect on the needs of its permanent inhabitants. The concept of local should confront this globalized space mainly constituted of housing, beaches and hotels for the summer residents, a fragmented reality in space and time in need to be reconnected. However, it is difficult not to feel trapped and overwhelmed by such a saturated space, colonized by banal architecture and formalized in such a desolate landscape, an urban conurbation of more than 100 kilometres, made of disconnected resorts. In order to take advantage of the synergies of projects working on this more updated complex interpretation of the coast as cultural landscape, the workshops proposed sites with heritage values easily recognizable.

Bolonia Bay: Cultural landscape and border situation

[Fig. 03] Panoramic view of Bolonia Bay, part of the Strait of Gibraltar Natural Park. Photo: Mar Loren, August 2011.
[Fig. 03] Panoramic view of Bolonia Bay, part of the Strait of Gibraltar Natural Park. Photo: Mar Loren-Méndez, August 2011.

[Fig. 04] Panoramic view of the Dune on Bolonia Bay, declared Natural Monument. Photo: Mar Loren, August 2011.
[Fig. 04] Panoramic view of the Dune on Bolonia Bay, declared Natural Monument. Photo: Mar Loren-Méndez, August 2011.

In the 1st rotation of the European Master which took place from 2010 till 2012, 06 Seville University Workshop started with a one-week exercise "Bolonia Bay: Cultural landscape and border situation" in Tarifa, Cadiz, in which different studies have already worked on the concept of Cultural Landscape. The proposed site is particularly appropriate as a number of natural, cultural and social factors run together. Located in the Strait of Gibraltar, it also allows us to deal with border issues in this tectonic zone, where Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic converge. In fact, the foundation of a Roman city, Baelo Claudia – declared National Monument since 1925 – is linked to the commercial relationship with Africa. Bolonia bay is also located in the Strait of Gibraltar Natural Park. The study of the historical complexity of the place cannot be reduced to an isolated analysis of the ruins or the natural values of the landscape. [Fig. 03] [Fig. 04]

Costa del Sol

[Fig. 05] Location of the medieval watching towers (torres vigías) on the western part of the Costa del Sol. Image from 06 Syllabus Workshop 6. First Rotation. Mar Loren, Gabriel Bascones and Esther Mayoral.
[Fig. 05] Location of the medieval watching towers (torres vigías) on the western part of the Costa del Sol. Image from 06 Syllabus Workshop 6. First Rotation. Mar Loren-Méndez, Gabriel Bascones and Esther Mayoral.

[Fig. 06] Identification of two of the towers, Torre Chullera (Manilva) and Torre La Sal (Casares). Image from 06 Syllabus Workshop. First Rotation. Mar Loren, Gabriel Bascones and Esther Mayoral.
[Fig. 06] Identification of two of the towers, Torre Chullera (Manilva) and Torre La Sal (Casares). Image from 06 Syllabus Workshop. First Rotation. Mar Loren-Méndez, Gabriel Bascones and Esther Mayoral.

The main five-week exercise is then located on the Costa del Sol, in which the urban development of tourism has transformed the area into a consolidated conurbation: therefore, to look at it as heritage, as cultural landscape, is much harder. The students work on the territorial scale, facing the complexity of this contemporary phenomenon, finding the singularity of each part of the coast. In order to embrace the urban versus the suburban character of the coastal settlements, students work on two different situations or sites. The first site is an empty plot on Estepona seaside promenade, where a hotel has been demolished, a space that concentrates the intensity and complexity of the existing reality in one point.

The main enclave proposes a strong Heritage theme such as the defensive system of ancient Watch Towers (Torres Vigías) in contrast to the banal succession of touristic resorts that dominate the coastal landscape. Considered as national monuments, they constitute a historical network, which connected the coast. Each group of students works on a coastal section between two different towers. Their heritage understanding as isolated objects have converted them into a series of ruins, decontextualized in a natural enclave -Torre de la Sal, Torre Chullera- or in the middle of a city, like Torre de Salavieja in Estepona. Students analyse their territorial and network dimension and identify the values of each specific section of the coast. [Fig. 05] [Fig. 06]

Los Baños del Carmen

[Fig. 07] Historical image of the "Baños del Carmen" from the sea.
[Fig. 07] Historical image of the "Baños del Carmen" from the sea.

[Fig. 08] Image of the current state of the main building of the "Baños del Carmen". Photo: Mar Loren, February 2013.
[Fig. 08] Image of the current state of the main building of the "Baños del Carmen". Photo: Mar Loren-Méndez, February 2013.

For 08 Workshop Seville University 2nd rotation (2011-2013), we decided to focus on the first period of tourism that took place in the city of Malaga, the capital of the Costa del Sol at the beginning of the 20th century. Malaga had been an emerging industrial city in the 18th century, but a series of circumstances in the second half of the 19th century pushed the city to reinvent itself. From then on, tourism and leisure would redefine Malaga. The exercise offers a chance to look back to this first moment of tourism and leisure in Malaga. "Los Baños del Carmen" is located on the former San Telmo beach, five kilometres east of the historic and consolidated city of Malaga (Mar Loren-Méndez, 2012). Dancing competitions and a small amusement park, horse races, tennis and soccer fields, shadow spaces and terraces where time seemed to stop... and also sea baths. Health as the first objective remained integrated or better said, overshadowed at the "Baños del Carmen", a place eminently playful, locus of the coastal happiness. Although it is now in total decay, the citizens recognize the place as their own heritage. Surrounded by political, social, urban and heritage controversy, different projects have been proposed in the last years. The press, the city associations, the local and national government have been very active in the process (Mar Loren-Méndez, 2012). [Fig. 07] [Fig. 08]

V:III_6.1.2 Strategies and Methods

[Fig. 09] General view of the Dune on Valdebaqueros, declared Natural Monument, during the site visit. 06 Workshop. First Rotation September-October 2011. Photo: Mar Loren, September 2011.
[Fig. 09] General view of the Dune on Valdebaqueros, declared Natural Monument, during the site visit. 06 Workshop. First Rotation September-October 2011. Photo: Mar Loren-Méndez, September 2011.

[Fig. 10] Guided visit to the historic centre of Malaga, during our first trip to the "Baños del Carmen". 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation January-February 2013. Photo: Mar Loren. January 2013.
[Fig. 10] Guided visit to the historic centre of Malaga, during our first trip to the "Baños del Carmen". 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation January-February 2013. Photo: Mar Loren-Méndez. January 2013.

The six-week module combines the structure of a workshop with seminars taught by researchers on the topic and an intensive on-site experience. The experience of the site becomes critical in the research process. Seville University module has also explored the boundaries of the discipline, and has transferred to the program alternative and interdisplinary methods to identify, analyse and design. [Fig. 09] [Fig. 10] It is structured asymmetrically, with the seminars and on-site exercises in the first three weeks, while the second part is focused on developing the architectural proposal.

[Fig. 11] Installation "Natural Artificial". 06 Workshop. 1st  Rotation September-October 2011. Authors: Kaisa Lasner, Kassen Eida and Niklas Thies.
[Fig. 11] Natural Artificial, Installation "Artificial Reserve". 06 Workshop. 1st Rotation September-October 2011. Authors: Kaisa Lasner, Kassem Eida and Niklas Thies.

[Fig. 12] Installation "Being and Time". 06 Workshop. First Rotation September-October 2011.  Authors:  Sebastian Seyfarth, Elena Herwarth Von Bittenfeld and Jaan Kuusemets.
[Fig. 12] Installation "Being and Time". 06 Workshop. First Rotation September-October 2011.  Authors:  Sebastian Seyfarth, Elena Herwarth Von Bittenfeld and Jaan Kuusemets.

In Bolonia Bay, Cadiz, the students of the 1st rotation had the opportunity in the first week to produce a creative analysis of the site, integrating art, architecture and public space: based on a topic chosen by the group, they presented an installation / on-site artistic action. The aim of the first exercise was to introduce students to alternative analysis of territorial transformation on the coast, working on a critical reflection on the concept of cultural landscape, located on the Strait of Gibraltar Natural Park, Bolonia Bay also raises the issue of the frontier and the border. The submission format was a video, in which the group had to depict the main concept that guided their analysis and the installation – the materials, the process, the results.

This first contact with the coast for the students then happened in a location with very recognizable heritage values, both natural and historical; the students Kaisa Lasner, Kassem Eida and Niklas Thies proposed an installation that reflected on the limits between natural and artificial. [Fig. 11] Sebastian Seyfarth, Elena Herwarth von Bittenfeld and Jaan Kuusemets worked on this dichotomy of nature/artifice, but this time as a tool in order to reflect on the concept of time from Martin Heidegger paradoxical definition as something constant in its passing away in contrast to temporal – so ever-changing – character of the beings. [Fig. 12]

2013. Authors:  Nabila Aftab, Urbano Guerrero, Pedro Pedro.
[Fig. 13]  Installation. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation January-February 2013. Authors:  Nabila Aftab, Urbano Guerrero, Pedro Pedro.

For the 2nd rotation we explored the use of the installation within the design process, engaging the students to do an installation as a creative formalization of the project strategies applied on site. This means that the installation took place later on, specifically in the third week of the workshop. The installation by Nabila Aftab, Urbano Guerrero and Pedro Pedro proposed a creative analysis of urban and territorial scale, in which the Baños del Carmenare just part of a network. Although Baños del Carmen has always been a secluded enclave, this group proposed to trascend its sole physicality and took into account the neighborhoods, infrastructures and natural areas around. The installation focused on interacting with Pedregalejos, a fishermen settlement on the east part of the site, detached from the elitist Baños del Carmen by a wall that reached the sea. It proposed new activities in the neighbourhood involving children and adults, tourists and locals, confirming the inexistence of services in this neighbourhood, mainly occupied by housing and restaurants. The proposal for the Baños del Carmen included Pedregalejos with the qualification of its public space, the hybridization and recycling of pre-existent housing and abandoned buildings for social needs. [Fig. 13]

[Fig. 14] Installation. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation January-February 2013. Authors:  Pierre Broca, Michal Baroz and Anje Heymann.
[Fig. 14] Installation. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation January-February 2013. Authors:  Pierre Broca, Michal Baroz and Anje Heymann.

Pierre Broca, Michal Baroz and Anje Heymann also decided to use the installation to depict obsolete and underused spaces outside the site. This time they were interested in the north border of the "Baños del Carmen". This area was called "car paradise" by them – because it is mainly occupied by services related to the car – and was incorporated to the architectural proposal. Four mirrors were the tools that served to represent the fragmentary character of both the "Baños del Carmen" and this area outside its limits. [Fig. 14]

[Fig. 15] Dérive "Vamos a la playa". 06 Workshop 1st  Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Jose Pavón, Raiko Reinson and Hyungi Jung.
[Fig. 15] Dérive "Vamos a la playa". 06 Workshop 1st  Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Jose Pavón, Raiko Reinson and Hyungi Jung.

[Fig. 16] Dérive "Building a mental map". 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. January-February 2013. Authors: Juliane Klünter, Melody Mosavat and Gonçalo Ponces.
[Fig. 16] Dérive "Building a mental map". 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. January-February 2013. Authors: Juliane Klünter, Melody Mosavat and Gonçalo Ponces.

The dérive was also critical to release the students from a standardized, objective way of looking at reality with the specific tools of architects and become immersed into the site, being driven by the solicitations of the terrain. It was then their first approach to the site, before the seminars took place. In the 1st rotation this took place after Bolonia exercise during the second and third week. Jose Pavón, Raiko Reinson and Hyungi Jung focused on the physical space of the beach, using the dérive to identify the space and the objects that colonize it. [Fig. 15] In "Los Baños del Carmen" the dérive experienced by Juliane Klünter, Melody Mosavat and Gonçalo Ponces went beyond their own idea of the site, elaborating what they called a mental map: through memories and drawings, some citizens offered their own ideas for the site. This participatory process took place before the students even visited the site, drawing their own mental map before and after experimenting the place. Through this interaction, they confirmed the collective recognition of the Baños del Carmen as heritage of the city. [Fig. 16]

After the dérive, more objective methods of analysis were incorporated to the design process. Conclusions integrated the findings of the dérive, but also the reflections of the seminars, the history, the physical constraints, the architectural and urban projects, the heritage dimension and also cultural references from other arts. This phase also included the first ideas of the intervention strategy, defining the scope and the scale and the main agents / users and the first ideas for a program.

[Fig. 17] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st  Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Pille Noole, Iannis Lykouras and Eduardo Magno.
[Fig. 17] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Pille Noole, Ioannis Lykouras and Eduardo Magno.

[Fig. 18] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st  Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Pille Noole, Iannis Lykouras and Eduardo Magno.
[Fig. 18] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Pille Noole, Ioannis Lykouras and Eduardo Magno.

The proposal by Pille Noole, Ioannis Lykouras and Eduardo Magno focuses on emptiness as value; guided by the concept of terrain vague defined by 'Solá-Morales (1995), the project identifies spaces of exception, places that have not been conquered by tourism. The dérive strategy confronts the site as a playground, discovering spaces of promise, exceptional voids that were concealed by the dominant image of oversaturation. The project transferred the discoveries of this dérive to the site plan of the proposal. In a fragmented space only accessible by car, the architectural strategy proposes a pedestrian and bicycle itinerary that links this network of rediscovered spaces. It also reflects on the specifics of its community, offering a study of national/international population and how to insert public space in this privatized coast. The proposal insists on the value and beauty of the empty space; the path and the experience of discovery are the essence of a proposal with a minimum program: a small open-air library, market and community space, or enclaves simply to rest or contemplate. The towers are rethought within a network, creating a boatyard to promote maritime access, and an equipped promenade for contemplation. [Fig. 17] [Fig. 18]

[Fig. 19] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st  Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Thomas Forjaz, Anne Gross and Üllar Ambos.
[Fig. 19] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Thomas Forjaz, Anne Gross and Üllar Ambos.

[Fig. 20] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st  Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Thomas Forjaz, Anne Gross and Üllar Ambos.
[Fig. 20] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: Thomas Forjaz, Anne Gross and Üllar Ambos.

Thomas Forjaz, Anne Gross and Üllar Ambos also developed an interdisciplinary approach, presenting their project as an inspiring narrative. In their multi-layered analysis, they identified a specific consolidated area within the two kilometers of coast between towers they were working on. In fact, this part of the coast was started to be built in the sixties and they proposed to re-activate it through an ephemeral action – an annual architectural competition – that gave the opportunity to refurbish the obsolete but very interesting pre-existent buildings and offered ideas of how to intervene in the non-built plots of the site. [Fig. 19] [Fig. 20]

[Fig. 21] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st  Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: José de la Peña, Erko Luhaaru and María Bello.
[Fig. 21] Proposal. 06 Workshop 1st Rotation. September-October 2011. Authors: José de la Peña, Erko Luhaaru and María Bello.

The emptiness left by the demolition of the hotel on the Estepona seaside promenade was again asking to work on these scarce voids on the coast. This time we are dealing with an urban location, a plot defining the limit, the end of the fishing port and the beginning of the seaside promenade, the physical boundary between a fast road and the beach. A space of complicated geometry, accentuated topography, where different public and private spaces converge: José de la Peña, Erko Luhaaru and María Bello dealt with the historic urban fabric as an interchanger, developing the proposal as a topography that connects the city of Estepona with the beach and the port. [Fig. 21]

[Fig. 22] Proposal. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. January-February 2013. Authors: Gregor Blisse, Paulina López and Benoît Pastel.
[Fig. 22] Proposal. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. January-February 2013. Authors: Gregor Blisse, Paulina López and Benoît Pastel.

The Baños del Carmen is in fact the last unbuilt coastal space in the capital of the Costa del Sol. Considered a mythic enclave, it was once a symbol of a modern society. That is why associations and citizens are so involved in the decision process for the future of the site; this spa is a mythic locus, that was once a symbol of a modern society, approaching leisure in contact with the sea not only from an hygienic perspective but also from a more complex, hybrid, cultural experience that involved dancing, playing music and sports, projecting movies.

Seclusion is intrinsic to the Baños del Carmen: it is surrounded by a wall, keeping the city at bay. The proposal by Gregor Blisse, Paulina López and Benoît Pastel reflects on its secluded character, choosing the enclosing wall as the main theme of the project. The wall is a limit, but also a filter and a transitional space, separating and connecting the Baños del Carmen from and with its surroundings. In order to preserve the non-built character as its main asset, the project rethinks the wall as the container of the new program. It also investigates the different ways of experimenting the site. Together with spaces linked to the current use such as beach cabins, rooms for the cultural associations that are now active, the wall also contains new daily-life uses such as a kindergarten. The program reinforces the idea of the limit as its essence, maintaining the Baños del Carmen as a void, occupied by the remains of the original project. [Fig. 22]

[Fig. 23] Proposal. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. January-February 2013. Authors: Marine Tillet, Mehdi Pamsari and Asif Raiyan.
[Fig. 23] Proposal. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. January-February 2013. Authors: Marine Tillet, Mehdi Pamsari and Asif Raiyan.

But the Baños del Carmen is also a place of conflict, of resistance; the site also includes Nereo, a shipyard located on the eastern limit with the fishermen settlement of Pedregalejo. Various projects by the town council propose to demolish or displace the shipyard, substituting it by a sports / cultural building or just by a waterfront promenade. Traditional shipwrighting is an activity linked to the physical contact with the sea and currently protected as heritage. Marine Tillet, Mehdi Pamsari and Asif Raiyan take into account the heritage value of this industrial architecture as the main argument of their proposal. Starting with the idea of paradise as applied to the elitist spa resort, the architectural project develops the idea of Arcadia, a concept rooted to the more mundane pleasures: activities like constructing a boat, sailing, fishing and sharing that experience in your community. Nereo is then thought as a connection, as a public space; a boatyard in which different activities are intertwined and shown as a 'living museum.' [Fig. 23]

V:III_6.1.3 Transference. The Construction of a Network

It was critical to assure the transference between Seville University and the Master's program. Beyond the site experience or the learning and design methods that we are sharing now, the students and the program could benefit from the research topic on coastal transformation and tourism on which Seville University is working. On the other hand, the Master's results could offer a feedback, enriching the on-going research. This specific research topic "Coastal transformation and Tourism." has been developed since 2005 in our research group HUM-666 Ciudad, Contemporary City, Architecture and Heritage (Ciudad, Arquitectura y Patrimonio Contemporáneos, CAPC, www.investigacioncontemporanea.com) with some competitive projects, prizes and publications. It is critical to establish a continuous flow between learning and researching, promoting the integration of architecture and research within the learning process.

Thanks for commitments

[Fig. 24] Final Presentation, Exhibition and Diploma Submittals. 06 Workshop 1st Rotation. School of Architecture, Seville University. September-October 2011.
[Fig. 24] Final Presentation, Exhibition and Diploma Submittals. 06 Workshop 1st Rotation. School of Architecture, Seville University. September-October 2011.

[Fig. 25] Final Presentation, Exhibition and Diploma Submittals. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. Baños del Carmen, Málaga, February 27, 2013.
[Fig. 25] Final Presentation, Exhibition and Diploma Submittals. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. Baños del Carmen, Málaga, February 27, 2013.

[Fig. 26] Final Presentation, Exhibition and Diploma Submittals. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. Baños del Carmen, Málaga, February 27, 2013.
[Fig. 26] Final Presentation, Exhibition and Diploma Submittals. 08 Workshop. 2nd Rotation. Baños del Carmen, Málaga, February 27, 2013.

It was also important to offer the exhibition of the results to Seville University academic community. [Fig. 24] In the 2nd rotation we went further and an open seminar in Malaga, in the "Baños del Carmen", was the perfect scenario for the final presentation. The participation of other architectural schools, foundations and associations committed to the place together, woke the interest of the media, which also participated intensively. [Fig. 25] [Fig. 26] The session ended up with the associations and locals thanking the European Master, the students and the professors for the effort devoted to what they consider their own.

I would like to point out that this has been a team work and I want to emphasize the contribution of the local professors Esther Mayoral, Gabriel Bascones, Manuel Gutierrez de Rueda and José Pérez de Lama. Without them this would have not been possible. I also want to especially mention all the experts that participated in our seminars and visits. Congratulation to the students for an inspiring work and thanks for their commitment; we have indeed shared an on-going learning and research process. I cannot forget to mention the interaction with the other professors of the network that I am sure has enriched the results: our discussions over presentations and exhibitions but also over dinners and informal conversations have been key to understand our role within the whole Master, trying to complement and reinforce in parallel directions.

This European Master went beyond an academic training and was able to construct an international network that now is there to stay. I would like to thank Inken Baller for her key role in our participation in the Master's program. I can only finish thanking Dagmar Jäger for inviting me to be part of the partnership, for her continuous work, making this visionary program possible.

[Prof. Dr. María del Mar Loren-Méndez, Professor, School of Architecture, Seville University, August 2014]

Literature

  • Marc Augé: Los "no lugares": espacios del anonimato: una antropología de la sobremodernidad. Barcelona 2008. [translation, Margarita N. Mizraji] (Original: Non-Lieux. Introduction à une anthropologie de la surmodernité. Seuil 1992.
  • Gilles Deleuze: Diferencia y repetición. Buenos Aires 2002. (Original: Différence et Répétition. Paris 1968)
  • Mar Loren-Méndez: "La Costa del Sol como sistema de diferencias. El conglomerante residencial" in: Costagrafías. El litoral turístico como sistema de diferencias. Sevilla 2014. (Developed in the research project Costa del Sol: Arquitectura, Ciudad y Territorio with The Andalusian Government, October 2008) S. 99-113.
  • Mar Loren-Méndez: "Los paisajes de la felicidad. Los Baños del Carmen, patrimonio mediterráneo en Andalucía" in: Edap. Documentos de Arquitectura y Patrimonio Nr. 05, 2012, S. 10-19.
  • Ignasi Solá-Morales: "Introduction", Differences. Topographies of Contemporary Architecture. Cambridge, MIT, 1997, S. 3-12.
  • Román Fernández-Baca Casares, Beatriz Castellano Bravo, Silvia Fernández Cacho, Marta García de Casasola Gómez, et al.: "Acciones en el paisaje cultural de la Ensenada de Bolonia, Cádiz" in: Boletín PH Nr. 63 (August 2007) S. 92-113. [quotation translated by Jorge Cordova Moya]

Bibliographic Information:
Loren Méndez, María del Mar, Coastal Transformation, Obsolescence and Heritage: Regeneration of European Touristic Territories. In: Reiseuni Report | The Making of. European Architecture Dialogue. Jäger, Dagmar (Ed.); Pieper, Christian (Ed.) et al.; Reiseuni_lab: Berlin, 2017; Vol:III_6., ISBN:978-3-00-055521-3, DOI:10.978.300/0555213, https://www.reiseuni.eu/report/3.06_cluster-sevilla/sevilla.htm#svq1

Class-01: 05.09.-16.10.2011 Workshop 6 at Seville [SVQ]
at Universidad de Sevilla, Escuela Técnica superior de Arquitectura
Department of architectural history, theory and composition with International Master's Programme A.S.G. / Reiseuni_lab, Module "Theory & History"
Professor's Team: Dra. Dña. M. Mar Loren-Méndez, Prof. del Dep. de Historia, teoría y Composición Arquitectónicas and in cooperation with colleagues of the faculty and invited guest lecturers of different disciplines

[Fig.01] Selected Results oft he Workshop
[Fig.01] >>>Selected Results oft he Workshop

Topic of the Workshop

Territory, Cultural Landscape and Urban Development on the Andalusian Coast. Tourism and Social Sustainability.

1. Contents

1.1. Background.

The module: "Territory, Cultural Landscape and Urban Development on the Andalusian Coast. Tourism and Social Sustainability" is part of the European Master "Architecture Studium Generale" postgraduate course run by BTU Cottbus, Germany. As well as external candidates, students attending the Master's Programme are from Consortium Universities in Germany, Austria, Spain, Estonia, Israel and Portugal.

The Master's Programme focuses on the transformation of the European city in the 21st century and is based on four fundamental parameters: The generalist and interdisciplinary nature of architecture, cosmopolitism resulting from increased mobility, an emphasis on research and the importance of direct site-specific experience – with each module of the programme taking place in a different city.

1. 2. Object of Study and Research Line

The module considers territorial transformation of the coast, a phenomenon of critical importance both at European and international level.

Given its outstanding geography and climate, the development of tourism on the Andalusian coast, specifically the Western part of the Costa del Sol but also beyond on the shores of the Strait of Gibraltar, started as early as the 1950s. An interpretation of this area as a potential model for tourism led to a process of accelerated urban development driven by aggressive speculation throughout the second half of the 20th century. This part of the Andalusian coast is now, at the beginning of the 21st century, fully consolidated: studies that consider this area purely on the basis of tourism however, are incomplete and it is necessary to adopt a wider overview which encompasses not only tourism as a key feature, but also other dynamics in the area.

As the phenomenon is so complex, it is however impossible to apply traditional research tools or a linear methodology. The prevailing trend towards over-simplification and a macro-analysis of the territory in isolation, a reductive, homogenous approach, needs to be counterbalanced by historical, critical and architectonic considerations reflecting a multifaceted system that is both plural and diverse.

"The aim is thus to present the phenomenon as a system of differences: a set of diverse ways of occupying the territory at different moments in time, producing nuances in its development, asymmetries in its interpretation, chronological and formal differences in its colonisation. The similarities or analogies that we perceive on first assessing the Costa del Sol must be considered as the effect that difference has, as a result of the juxtaposition of these components, of a disparate set which ultimately achieves an effect of continuity." (Loren-Méndez 2008)

2. Methodology

The module combines monographic seminars based on the history of selected sites and related architectural proposals as well as on-going workshop activities. Workshops include personal assessment activities, critic sessions as well as compulsory visits to the site and site-specific research. The appointed team of workshop professors, visiting lecturers and professionals will give accompanying lectures.

Workshop sessions include two exercises:

1 A short exercise: "Bolonia, cultural landscape and border situation" will take place during the first week in the "Parque Natural del Estrecho, Ensenada de Bolonia"
[Nature Reserve of the Straits of Gibraltar, the Bay of Bolonia].

Please find attached an outline and additional information. Exercise 1.

2 In a second exercise on a larger scale: "II: Coastal transformation and tourism: Costa del Sol", the students will present a proposal for an architectural intervention on the Costa del Sol.

Please find attached an outline and additional information. Exercise 2.

3. Aims

  • Acquiring critical knowledge of the processes of coastal development and transformation.
  • Relating architecture to dimensions of urban planning, territory and landscape.
  • Developing an interdisciplinary approach to architectural research and practice.
  • Introduction to research in architecture.
  • Development of critical and original thinking in students; encouraging independent, active research.
  • Emphasizing the value of acquiring direct experience of the object of study as key to architectural research and intervention.
  • Developing critical and propositional analysis, combining the most objective knowledge with the most subjective level of interpretation by applying alternative approaches to the constructed reality.
  • Raising awareness of difference as an asset. A history and theory of architecture, where plurality is valued and promoted, as opposed to the universalist topology of established models.
  • Increasing social awareness whereby sustainability is a key factor in the regeneration of coastal tourist areas.

4. Assessment Criteria

Student attendance and active participation in seminars and visits will be assessed as well as their ability to incorporate historical, theoretical and methodological considerations into their proposals.

Students will be evaluated on the basis of continual assessment throughout the different work phases. This includes personal reviews, critic sessions and final presentations. As well as an evaluation of oral presentations, work submitted by students that apply the graphic formats indicated in the exercises will also be taken into account. Work submitted must respect the format and deadlines established in the course general schedule.

Detailed Schedule Exercise 1.

Monday, September 5.

9.00-11.30 Master Opening. Pabellón de México, Universidad de Sevilla, Paseo de las Delicias s/n.
9.00- 10.00 Carmen Márquez-Carrasco, Deputy director, Permanent Training Center, Seville University
Mar Loren-Méndez, Director of the Workshop 06. European Master "Architecture Studium Generale", School of Architecture Seville University
10.00-11.30 Opening Lecture, Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra, architect.
12.00- 13.00 Welcoming Tour. School of Architecture. Avda. Reina Mercedes 2.
15.00-17.00 Seminar, exercise I. "Bolonia. Cultural Landscape and border situation" contents and methodology.
15.00 Presentation of professors and students;
Presentation of the Exercise
17.00-18.15 "Bolonia Bay as cultural landscape. Diagnosis and Proposals" Prof. Marta García Casasola, architect, Ba. M. Arch. Seville University, Andalusian Institute of Historic Heritage.
18.30-19.45 "Working on Public Space. Citizenship and Action." Prof. Mónica García Martínez, architect, Department of Architectural Projects, School of Architecture, UPV, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.

Tuesday, September 6.

Visit 1. Bolonia Bay. Guided tour. Leaving at 7.30 from the entrance of the School of Architecture
10.00-13.00 Visit to the proposed Itineraries for exercise 1.
Map attached with the itineraries.
16.00-19.00 Guided visit to the archaelogical site of Baelo Claudia.
Presentation of the Exhibition "Space Symmetries." Antonio Pérez, photographer, author and curator of the exhibition.

Wednesday, September 7.

7.30-9.00 Personal work
9.00- 10.15 "Architecture, Nature and Representation" Prof. Mónica García Martínez, architect, Department of Architectural Projects, School of Architecture, UPV, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.
10.15-11.30 "Notes of emergencies on the Strait of Gibraltar" Prof. Dr. José Pérez de Lama, architect, Department of Architectural History, Theory and Composition.
12.00-13.30 Library tutorial | 14.30-22.00 Personal work

Thursday, September 8.

7.30-13.30 Personal work | 14.30-17.30 Personal reviews | 17.30-22.00 Personal work

Friday, September 9.

9.00-13.00 Itinerary 1. Seville. Meeting Pont. Plaza de España | 14.30-17.30 Personal review | 17.30-22.00 Personal work

Monday, September 12

Visit 2. Bolonia Bay. Workshop | 10.00-13.30 Personal work, Center of Baelo Claudia | 15.00-20.00 Installation. Presentation in situ

Tuesday, September 13

8.30-16.30 Personal Work | 17.00-20.00 Final Presentation. Auditorium at the Baelo Claudia Center.

Detailed Schedule Exercise 2.

Wednesday, September 14.

Visit 3. Exercise 2. Costa del Sol. Guided tour.
10.00-17.00 Itinerary of the different proposed locations
Location 1. The void at the seashore. Historic city, infrastructure and harbour.
Location 2. The historic coast watchtower
2.1. Torre Chullera and Torre la Sal | 2.2. Torre Saladavieja and Torre del Padrón | 2.3. Torre de Velerín and Torre de Guadalmansa | 2.4 Torre Saladillo and Torre Baños

Thursday, September 15.

7.30-9.00 Personal work | 9.00-11.30 Presentation of the exercise 2. | Derive: Methodology Class. Prof. Dr. Mar Loren-Méndez. | 14.30-22.00 Personal work

Friday, September 16.

9.00-17.30 Seminar, Exercise 2: Coastal transformation, heritage and tourism: Costa del Sol"
9.00-13.30 "Costa del Sol: A system of differences" Prof. Dr. Mar Loren-Méndez.
"Costa del Sol: Natural and Artificial." Prof. Rafael de Lacour.
14.30-17.30 RIZOMA Foundation. Prof. Dr. José María Romero, Prof. Dr. Eduardo Serrano.
Architecture on the Costa del Sol. Prof. Dr. Rafael de Lacour, Prof. Dr. José María Romero

Monday, September 19

7.30-13.30 Personal work | 14.30-17.30 Submittal of exercise 1. 14.30 | Personal Review | 17.30-22.00 Personal work

Tuesday, September 20

Visit 4. Costa del Sol. Workshop. Derive.

Wednesday, September 21

7.30-9.00 Personal work
9.00-13.30 Seminar, Exercise 2: Coastal transformation, heritage and tourism: Costa del Sol"
"Costa del Sol. Infrastructure and Urban Form" Antonio Alba, architect
"The transformation of the landscape and leisure culture" Ana B. Quesada, architect
17.30-22.00 Personal Work

Thursday, September 22.

7.30-13.30 Personal work | 14.30-17.30 Personal review |17.30-22.00 Personal work

Friday, September 23.

7.30-13.30 Personal work | 14.30-17.30 Exercise 2. Costa del Sol. Review 1. Derive
Professors of Seville Workshop and Prof. Dr. Dagmar Jäger, director of the Master programme.

Saturday, September 24

9.30-11.30 Meeting of the students with Prof. Dr. Dagmar Jäger | 12.00-18.00 Itinerary 2. Seville | Weekend, September 24-25

Monday, September 26

7.30-13.30 Personal work | 14.30-17.30 Personal review | 17.30-22.00 Personal work

Tuesday, September 27

7.30-18.00 Leaving at 7.30 from the entrance of the School | Itinerary 3. Málaga

Wednesday, September 28

7.30-9.00 Personal work | 9.00-13.30 Personal review | 14.30-22.00 Personal work

Thursday, September 29.

7.30-22.00 Personal work

Friday, September 30.

7.30-10.0 Personal work | 10.00-14.00 Exercise 2. Costa del Sol. Review 2. Strategies and Programme | Professors of Seville Workshop

Monday, October 3

7.30-13.30 Personal work | 14.30-17.30 Personal review |17.30-22.00 Personal work

Tuesday, October 4

7.30-9.00 Personal work | 9.00-13.30 Itinerary 4. Cartuja | 14.30-17.30 Personal review | 17.30-22.00 Personal work

Wednesday, October 5

7.30-22.00 Personal work

Thursday, October 6.

7.30-22.00 Personal work

Friday, October 7.

7.30-10.00 Personal work | 10.00-14.00 Exercise 2. Costa del Sol. Review 3. Architectural Project | Professors of Seville Workshop

Monday, October 10

7.30-22.00 Personal work

Tuesday, October 11

7.30-13.30 Personal work | 14.30-17.30 Personal review | 17.30-22.00 Personal work

Wednesday, October 12

7.30-9.00 Personal work | 9.00-13.30 Personal review | 14.30-22.00 Personal work

Thursday, October 13

7.30-22.00 Personal work

Friday, October 14

10.00- Exercise 2. Costa del Sol. FINAL REVIEW

Details or changes daily schedule: see online calendar

[Programme: Dra. Dña. M. Mar Loren-Méndez, Prof. del Dep. de Historia, teoría y Composición Arquitectónicas, Seville University, School of Architecture, September 2011]

Bibliographic Information:
Loren Méndez, María del Mar, Workshop Cluster • Sevilla – Spain. In: Reiseuni Report | The Making of. European Architecture Dialogue. Jäger, Dagmar (Ed.); Pieper, Christian (Ed.) et al.; Reiseuni_lab: Berlin, 2017; Vol:III_6., ISBN:978-3-00-055521-3, DOI:10.978.300/0555213, https://www.reiseuni.eu/report/3.06_cluster-sevilla/sevilla.htm

 

During the six months' elaboration of the Master's Thesis, complex challenges about "Cultural Transfer" have been delved into within six different cumulative research fields across greater Europe. In cooperation with the international professors' team, 19 postgraduate students have been focusing future opportunities of sustainable architecture and urban design in the field of heritage transformation: Three ancient prison plots of the 19th century have been transformed in Tallinn, Lisbon and Cottbus; the touristic territory of Costa del Sol has been investigated as a cultural landscape; neglected urban typologies in Tel Aviv have been analysed and pushed towards new futures. This final research period is conceptualized as 'individual teamwork' in Germany, Estonia, Spain, Israel and Portugal, from both a practical and a theoretical point of view. The final results have been discussed in the European Architecture Dialogue, the final symposium in Berlin.

>>>V:III_12 [MT] All about the Master's Thesis – Objective & Frame, Conclusions, Topics–Sites, Results

>>>V:III_12.4 [MT] Costa del Sol. The coastal touristic Territory as cultural Landscape

Professors' Team:

Prof. Dr. Dagmar Jäger (Cottbus, responsible for the cooperative Thesis), Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Inken Baller & Prof. Arch. Chris Burns (teacher's team of Design Reflection 2, Cottbus) together with the local professors of the Partner Universities, Prof. Arch. Irina Raud & Prof. Arch. Rein Murula (Tallinn), Arch. Ayala Ronel (Tel Aviv), Prof. Arch. Flavio Barbini & Prof. Dr. Ricardo Carvalho (Lisbon), Prof. Dr. Mar Loren-Méndez (Sevilla), Prof. Dr. Maria Schneider (Innsbruck) and Dr. Arch. Izabela Mironowicz (Wrocław, In-between review), Prof. Dr. Riklef Rambow (Cottbus, 1st Thesis). These professors constitute the jury board during the Master's thesis portfolio evaluation, in-between and final presentation / examination in September 2012.