Pilot project for the restoration of vernacular houses in the Rincón de Ademuz

Rincón de Ademuz, Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana.
Medal/Award in the category Research in the year 2003.

Dating of the building: 1996-2002.

Applicant: Fernando Vegas López-Manzanares and Camilla Mileto Architectural Composition Department, E.T.S.A.V. polytechnic university of Valencia.

Reason for the award :

For a pilot project for the recovery of the traditional houses of a remote and forgotten Valencian region, which revalues the heritage wealth of vernacular architecture.

  • © Fernando Vegas y Camila Mileto
  • © Fernando Vegas y Camila Mileto

The project is proposed as a pilot intervention on an anonymous vernacular house, that can be applied a posteriori as an architectural solution on other buildings.

The project starts with an in-depth study of rural architecture in a particular area, the Rincón de Ademuz, and the verification of the neglect of this humble architectural heritage. The village of Sesga is one of the most distinctive settlements in the region due to its isolation, high location, and the exceptional nature of its historic centre.

This project is proposed as a pilot restoration on an anonymous vernacular dwelling in a said locality that presents many characteristics typical of other houses, the customary construction details, the morphology, the distribution, and, without a doubt, the usual state of pathologies. The pilot project led by Fernando Vegas and Camilla Mileto aims to apply to a specific case all the knowledge accumulated by the research group of the Polytechnic University of Valencia during these years of study and which results can then be extrapolated to similar constructions. The intention is to undertake a sensitive restoration, not only respectful of the existing building but also with the history of the vernacular construction techniques of the region. It is about investigating restoration techniques that are physically and conceptually compatible with the existing construction tradition and reinterpreting the hidden technology in vernacular solutions and applying it in modern constructions.

Others awards in Comunidad Valenciana: