Cooking school in a former slaughterhouse

Background

Medina Sidonia is a monumental city of historical importance in the hilly area of Cadiz, Spain, one of the oldest European settlements, inhabited since the Phoenicians. Its houses are famous for their veined walls and exterior ceramic tiles. The medina seen from a distance looks like a unique piece of pottery shaped by topography; walls and roofs of different types of pottery form a unique clay surface that blends with the relief. Historically, the urban network of the Medina contained occupied and unoccupied spaces in equal proportions. Here and there, the inner courtyards and gangways lend grandeur to the city's master plan. Built space has always mirrored uninhabited space; plots of uninhabited land are like pores through which habitat expands in direct relation to productive activities. To act in the voids of a historic city is to settle in them, to find space in their openings and in the porous areas that have formed over time.

Slaughterhouse

The project involves transforming a former slaughterhouse built in the 19th century into a Professional Cooking School. The abattoir consisted of a small building with three bays arranged around a courtyard and a high white wall defining the plot boundary. The surrounding modest vernacular buildings blend into a white, anonymous cityscape. Inside the original building, the unoccupied space of the plot was used to house animals before slaughter. The dense architecture of the old slaughterhouse in Medina Sidonia, where brick walls, stones and old Phoenician columns exist side by side, contrasts with the unoccupied space inside, confined by the wall. This void is a reflection of the abattoir itself, a vacant space defined by the great vaulted wall that bounds the plot and encloses the original building. The new construction exploits this space: the server is placed here and a new life is born for the new building.

A molded space under my roof

The project proposes to capture the space with a new roof of ceramic tiles to limit the new construction and reinforce the original building, as Bruce ^Nauman1 did with the space under his chair or Rachel ^Whiteread2 with a Victorian house, freezing the void inside with concrete. The new roof, modeled after the interior space, aims to establish a connection with the very character of Medina Sidonia; it is a reflection of the roofs of the historic city. The school exploits this idea of the molded ceramic plane to trace its geometry. The roof gives unity to the complex of buildings and reinterprets the traditional way of construction characteristic of the site: ceramic tile roofs and veined walls. Under the new roof are the kitchen, where the educational training program, the classroom and auxiliary areas take place. The section appears as a clerestory to capture as much natural light as possible and looks up towards the protective wall.

1. Nauman, Bruce, A cast of space under my chair,

1965-'68.

2. Whiteread, Rachel, Untitled (House), London, 1993.

are Sol89, an architectural office where they develop and research concepts such as time, traces, vestiges, erosion and the overlapping of different architectural lives.

To this end, they have carried out several architectural projects, such as the renovation of Hacienda Su Eminencia, the recycling of a pavilion and its transformation into a training center, the restoration of the Brasil de los Pérez building, the urban intervention Red Pública at the Seville Biennial of Contemporary Art and the recent Cooking School set up in the former slaughterhouse in Medina Sidonia.

These projects have been featured in numerous publications in Europe and Asia, such as Arquitectura Viva, C3, AV, Lotus and Detail, and have received numerous awards, including the Ascer Prize for Spanish Architecture 2012 and the silver medal at the Fassa Bortolo International Prize 2013 in Italy.

Their experiences in these projects have been brought together in the volume Proyectos Encontrados, Arquitecturas de la Alteración y el Desvelo (Recolectores Urbanos, 2012) and in a series of articles, such as 5 Acciones para proyectar lo público(Detail Nº8, Reed Business Information, Bilbao, 2011), All times(PPA Nº4, University of Seville, 2011, indexed by the University of Columbia) or Ausencias, cofres y huellas(La raya verde Nº6, Granada, 2013).

Both are professors at the School of Architecture of Seville and directors of the Acciones Comunes seminar, which investigates the relationship between art, architecture and public space and will take place next fall at the Menéndez Pelayo International University of Spain.

The Environment

Medina Sidonia is a monumental historic town on hills in Cadiz, Spain, one of the oldest European settlements, occupied since it was founded by the Phoenicians. Its houses are known for the whitewashed walls and the ceramic covers. If we observe Medina from a distance, it seems a unique ceramic work molded by the topography; walls and roofs by ceramic material of different types form a unique clay surface that blend in with the topography. Historically, the urban grid of Medina has alternated full and empty spaces in similar proportion. Splashed patios and passages have fluffed its layout. The built space has always had a replica in the vacant space; pores where the habitat expands in direct relation with the productive activities. To act in the voids of the historic city means settling into them, finding space in its openings and porous areas that have taken shape in the time.

The Slaughterhouse

The project involves adapting an ancient slaughterhouse, built in the^19th century, into a Professional Cooking School. The slaughterhouse was composed by a small construction of three bays around a courtyard and a high white wall that limits the plot. In the original building, the empty space inside the plot was used to keep the cattle before being sacrificed. The density of the architecture of the ancient slaughterhouse of Medina Sidonia, where brick walls, stones and old Phoenician columns coexist, contrasts with the empty space inside the plot, limited for the wall. This void is the reflection of the abattoir itself, a vacant space defined by the great whitewashed wall that limits the plot and encloses the original construction. The new construction uses this space to host the server program and a new life is allowed giving to the ancient building.

A Cast of the Space Under My Roof

The project proposes to catch the space through a new ceramic roof that limits the new construction and consolidates the original building as Bruce ^Nauman1 did with the space under his chair or Rachel ^Whiteread2 did with a Victorian house, freezing the void inside it trough a concrete mold. The new cover pretends to solidify the preserved space in time. The new roof, mold of the interior space, wants to establish a connection with the character of Medina Sidonia. This new cover is a reflex of the roofs of historic city. The school uses this idea of the molded ceramic plane to draw its geometry. The roof lends unity to the built complex and interprets the traditional construction of the place: ceramic roofs and whitewashed walls. The new cover harbors the educational program-training kitchen, classroom and auxiliary areas. The section rises as a clerestory to gets hold of the light and looks up upon the protective wall.

1. Nauman, Bruce, A cast of space under my chair,

1965-'68.

2. Whiteread, Rachel, Untitled (House), London, 1993.

About these thoughts, they have carried through several projects like the refurbished of Hacienda Su Eminencia, Recycling Pavilion into a Formation Center, Restoration of Brasil de los Pérez building, Urban Alteration Red Pública in the Art Contemporary Bienal from Seville and the recent Cooking School in ancient Slaughterhouse in Medina Sidonia.

These projects have been issued in many publications in Europe and Asia like Arquitectura Viva, C3, AV, Lotus or Detail and have been awarded many prizes including Ascer Prize of Spanish Architecture 2012 and Silver medal in Fassa Bortolo International Prize 2013 in Italy.

Theirs experiences of these projects have been compiled in the book Proyectos Encontrados, Arquitecturas de la Alteración y el Desvelo(Recolectores Urbanos, 2012) and in several articles like 5 Acciones para proyectar lo público(Detail Nº8, Reed Business Information, Bilbao, 2011), All times(PPA Nº4, University of Seville, 2011, indexed by Columbia University) or Ausencias, cofres y huellas (La raya verde Nº6, Granada, 2013).

Both are teachers in School of Architecture in Seville, and Directors of Acciones Comunes, a seminar focused in relationship between art, architecture and public space that will take place in next autumn in the Menéndez Pelayo Intenational University in Spain.