Alfredo Paya Benedito. noname29 . photos: © Milena Villalba 2017
This house is an exercise in blending with the landscape. It is set on a sequence of stepped agricultural terraces backed by an intense pine forest. Built in local stone, the walls that retain these terraces bear witness to the determined effort by successive generations of farmers to win back land from the mountainside.
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Architectural evidence suggest that ruins rural architecture has prehistoric origins (18th century BC), used as living quarters, livestock pens and shepherd lookouts for livestock moving between valleys in Alicante’s mountainous hinterland.
The location of the home was inspired by two imposing views: one overlooking the Tibi reservoir, Europe’s largest in the 16’s century and the whole valley towards the sea, and another towards Mount Maigmo.(1.226m).
The initial intention was to create the smallest possible footprint, without leaving any trace of the house, which, in fact, imperceptible from its surroundings.
This aim led to the integration of the two sections with the pre-existing topography in a staggered, mimetic sequence that is partly buried.
The roofs follow the slope in a reconstruction of the original topography. The idea of this house is to gouge a hole in part of the land in order to insert the living spaces, and then cover it with local earth and stones.
This topographic aspect of the house helps to understand its two levels: the lower part is a sleeping cave that is cool in summer and warm in winter, while the upper part is a porch for the daytime activities and enjoyment of the commanding views. This distribution reflects a simple concept: sheltered isolated sleep and a life with dominating views of the landscape.
Access to the house is via a steep and narrow zigzag track that ends in a small parking lot alongside the service volume. From here, a long footpath leads up to the house itself. The house is self-sufficient: water is drawn from a well and PV panels connected to batteries and an auxiliary generator provide the electricity. The technology used in the construction is simple masonry- adapted to human weight and manual capacity- with no complex aids: everything was built using components that a single tradesperson could handle. Concrete blocks are thus used for the walls, prefab concrete beams and arches for the floor slabs, along with timber panels and marble tiling. The entire structure is visible, with no rendering and almost no details. All the material brought up to the work site remained there, either installed or reused, and no waste was generated.
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House on mount Maigmo. Tibi, Alicante.
Alfredo Paya Benedito. noname29 collaborators: Sonia Miralles Mud+Arturo Calero Hombre.
Esta vivienda es un ejercicio de integración en el paisaje. Se sitúa sobre una secuencia de bancales de cultivo aterrazados, rodeados de un intenso bosque de pinos. Construidos en piedra del lugar, estos muros que contienen estas terrazas son el esfuerzo de generaciones de agricultores en su empeño de ganarle terreno al monte. La posición elegida para situar la casa viene sugerida por la presencia de dos imponentes vistas; una, sobre el pantano de Tibi y todo el valle hasta llegar al mar y por otro lado el monte Maigmo La intención de partida es no dejar rastro de la casa. Las cubiertas siguen la pendiente del terreno, reconstruyendo la topografía original. La idea de la casa es producir un vaciado en el terreno donde desplegar los espacios habitables para más tarde cubrirlos con la tierra y las piedras del lugar. Esta condición topográfica de la casa permite entenderla en dos niveles: la parte baja es una cueva, la parte alta es un porche abierto a las dos vistas importantes. Esta disposición responde a un esquema conceptual sencillo, dormir protegido y aislado y vivir dominando el paisaje. La casa es autosuficiente: el agua se extrae de un pozo y la luz se produce mediante placas solares conectadas a baterías-acumuladoras y un generador auxiliar. La tecnología empleada en la construcción es de mampostería, todo construido con componentes que un solo operario pudiera manejar. No hay revestimientos ni casi detalles. Todo el material que se subió a la obra se quedó, se colocó o se reutilizó,… sin residuos.
