Intervening in cultural landscapes - Noura Mroueh 2016-2018 by Master Paisatge

Intervening in cultural landscapes Learning from Romanticism

Noura Mroueh March 2018 Master Arquitectura del Paisaje, Universidad Politecnica de CataluĂąa, Barcelona

Article presented by Noura Mroueh, as a conclusion for the Master in Landscape Architecture (MAP, Master Arquitectura del Paisaje), from the UPC, Barcelona, CataluĂąa, Spain. 33rd Edition Acadamic year 2017-2018 Tutor: Marina Cervera Alonso de Medina

I would like to firstly thank my tutor, Marina Cervera Alonso de Medina, for her constant support, help and advices through this work. Secondly I would like to thank a dear friend, architect and artist, Bernardo GarcĂa Morales, for the lovely debates and exchange of ideas. This article is written in English, as with Spanish, a language I recently learned, I have felt that I will lose some poetry and emotions in my writing. As I love dearly to write, please forgive my choice to write it in English, a language I feel more confortable with. Thank you.

To my parents.

“O mon ami, si la nature en effet nous regarde à de certaines heures, si elle voit les actions brutales que nous commettons sans nécessité et comme par plaisir, si elle souffre des choses méchantes que les hommes font, que son attitude est sombre et que son silence est terrible !” HUGO V., Voyage aux Pyrénées, Edition Cairn, Villematier, 2014, ISBN : 978-2-35068-310-2 "O my friend, if nature indeed looks at us at certain hours, if she sees the brutal actions that we commit without necessity and as if for pleasure, if she suffers the nasty things that men do, that her attitude is dark and that her silence is terrible! " Personal translation to English.

INDEX ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................................................................................ P. 6 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................................................................... P.8 1. Landscape & Romanticism: the beginning of modern perception on nature & geography....................................................................... P.10 1.1 Landscape & terminology................................................................................................................................................................................. P.10 1.2 Landscape & paintings............................................................................................................................................................................. PP.12-14 1.3 Landscape & literature.............................................................................................................................................................................. PP.16-20 2. Landscape & critique in Romanticism: towards defining cultural landscapes........................................................................................... P.22 2.1. XIX & XX Century travelers & Alpanists................................................................................................................................................... PP.22-29 2.2 The case of Lanzarote & Cesar Manrique.................................................................................................................................................. P.29-30 3. Intervening in Cultural Landscape.................................................................................................................................................................. P.32 3.1 The “difficult space”.......................................................................................................................................................................................... P.32 3.2 Contemporary Landscape Architecture projects: Case studies analysis.......................................................................................................... P.34 - Punta Pite, Teresa Moller: the difficult space........................................................................................................................................................ P.34 - Parque Gandxa, RCR: into the essence.............................................................................................................................................................. P.34 - Roussillon Ochre Trail, Ateliers lieux & paysages: layers of history..................................................................................................................... P.36 - Termas Geometricas, German del Sol: experiencing with our senses................................................................................................................. P.36 - Norway lookout points.......................................................................................................................................................................................... P.38 3.3 Intervening in cultural landscapes: the romantic perception............................................................................................................................. P.38 CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................................................................................P.40 BIBLIOGRAPHY & WEBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................................................P.43

ABSTRACT After the XVI century, the Romantic movement introduced a new understanding of landscapes and cultural heritage. Romantic intellectuals in Europe took consciousness of landscape, or nature itself; painters, literates, geographers, alpinists or mountaineers etc.,at that time, realized the importance of the “beauty” of landscape, and so, it became the protagonist of their realizations. Romantic intellectuals have contributed to our society a rich cultural baggage, present in paintings, writings and travels, that showcase a new type of sensibility to the place, a new type of relationship between man and nature. They make proof of a new dialogue with nature and geography, that wasn’t present before. More than that, with Romanticism, a new perception on cultural landscapes was born. For these intellectuals have done so much more than just praise the beauty of nature, they critiqued, judged, observed with a critical eye and defined values and heritage that should be preserved, whether in their paintings or writings: they introduced a new perception on landscape. Today, more than ever, it is essential to redefine the relationship between man and nature. Today, more than ever, we need to find a new dialogue with nature. Disciplinarians around the world, from different fields of study are taking consciousness, (again?) of the importance of our cultural landscapes, their values and the need to preserve them. This article intends to understand the connection between the Romantic perception on nature and geography, and contemporary interventions in cultural landscapes, to eventually answer the following question: Could we today, as landscape architects, learn from reflections and concepts of romantic disciplinarians between the XVI and the XX centuries on how to intervene in cultural landscapes, towards a strategy for slow tourism? The article, in its first half, takes us on a brief walk through the Romantic movement and how it shaped the contemporary perception on nature and geography through paintings, writings and travels. It then compares reflections and writings of Alpanists who travelled during the XIX and XX centuries, with Cesar Manrique’s concept of identity and slow tourism in Lanzarote. This article does not try to conclude an idea or arrive to a concrete ending, but rather puts questions on the table to potentially find a link between contemporary understanding of cultural landscapes and romantic thinking.

INTRODUCTION During the past 60 years, we have taken consciousness of the importance of preserving our natural heritage. Climate change, human effect on nature and the rise of tourism has driven specialists to define strategies to protect our nature and more especifically our cultural landscapes. However, this consciousness or realization of the “beauty” and importance of our nature took first place in the west after the XVI century, with the Renaissance and Romantic eras. Painters, writers, poets, geographers and travelers reflected and gazed upon specific landscapes that determine a certain identity. Even more, the concept of cultural landscape was introduced by painters themselves, and then defined by geographers. Travelers and alpinists during the XIX and XX centuries reflected upon nature and went on to define in their writings heritage and natural values that should be preserved and that are important for the identity of the people. Their writings not only praise nature but also showcase a sense of critique and sometimes go beyond the mere description and portray criticism of the acts of humans and the deterioration of the values of landscape. Moving forward in time, Cesar Manrique’s strategy for slow tourism in Lanzarote is an undeniable result of his appreciation for the cultural landscape of his island, the local people and their way of life, which is clearly visible in his paintings and the different projects he constructed in Lanzarote. His reflections show a lot of similitudes with the reflections of other disciplinarians who first “discovered” nature, travelling through the landscapes of Europe as Alpanists. So, what can we learn from these disciplinarians? Is there a connection between the contemporary perception on fragile and cultural landscapes and the romantic movement?

Painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner, a Romantic painter known for representing landscapes and nature with a loos brush a contrast of colors. Reference: http:// offscreen.com/view/civilization-and-savagery-painter-turner

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

Paintings by Andreas Schelfhout, a Dutch painter. His paintings illustrate the sublime and power characteristic of nature, combined sometimes with ruins and historical monuments. References: https://artuk.org/discover/artists/schelfhout-andreas-17871870#

1. Landscape & Romanticism: the beginning of modern perception on nature & geography

“La percepción de la belleza y la valoración natural de las montañas no es un hecho intemporal, algo que siempre haya sido evidente. Al contrario, es un avance que se adquirió históricamente como un progreso cultural.”1

Painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a pioneer Romantic Dutch painter. Reference: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/brue/hd_brue.htm

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

1.1 Landscape & terminology The discovery of landscapes with romanticism took its first shape through paintings. In fact, the concept of Landscape, although used differently by several fields of study, usually implies one concept: the existence of an observer subject and of an observed object. The term Landscape itself, its literate origin, appeared during the XVI century, as a term to designate a painting whose main subject matter was a natural scenery. Land (a word from Germanic origin) refers to something to which people belong, or in other words, its actual definition in the English language. The suffix –ship- has roots linked to old English sceppan or scyppan meaning to shape; The term landschap was first introduced by Dutch painters. Landscape then first appeared in the English language in 1598 borrowed from a Dutch painter. – to shape a land-.. With the Renaissance era, landscape was then a source of pleasure and of knowledge. With it, came about its discovery as a basis of fascination. But more than just fascination and pleasure, it was a source of education, for it changed how people perceived certain landscapes. “[…] El paisaje será estimado como fuente de placer y de saber, como educador y como benefactor moral: esas son nuestras señas de identidad cultural. […] Hay [..] una intención expresa no solo de enseñar geografía, sino de “educar geográficamente” en el sentimiento del paisaje, y, de este modo, se ha entregado en nuestra cultura reciente ese sentido benefactor del paisaje proporcionado por la cultura contemporánea.” 2 1- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.159 2- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.55

1.2

Landscape, Romanticism & paintings

Going back in history, it could be perhaps that it was the Chinese who first appreciated nature, transmitting their fascination into paintings and poetry, as an influence of Buddhism. The Shan Shui, arose during the 5th centuray. Its literally meaning is “mountain-water”. It indicates a style of traditional Chinese paintings that involves natural landscapes, using a brush and ink. Mountains, which are sacred in the Chinese culture, rivers and often waterfalls are present in this art form. According the Ch’eng His: “Shan Shui painting is a kind of painting which goes against the common definition of what a painting is. Shan Shui painting refutes color, light and shadow and personal brush work. Shan Shui painting is not an open window to the viewer’s eye, it is an object for the viewer’s mind. Sahn Shui painting is more like a vehicle of philosophy.” The composition of a Shan Shui is formed around three elements: the paths, that could never be straight, the threshold, which provides welcome and is led through the path and the heart, which is the focal point of the painting and all elements should lead to it. It defines the meaning of the painting. Eduardo Martínez de Pisón in Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, refers to this ancient Chinese painting style as a spiritual art representation of nature, and goes even further to describing it as a reference for modern perception on landscapes.“Nos llama la atención la antigüedad del sentimiento del paisaje en china y la afinidad con nuestro actual modo de entenderlo, aquel sentido particular que aparece en los escritos y en la pintura de montañas aéreas entre brumas, que reproducen no solo cierta línea de pensamiento o religión, y un gusto artístico de modos codificados y estilos depurados, sino paisajes reales que parecen irreales. Paisajes que muestran su espíritu en idealización estilísticas.”1

Paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, Romantic painter. Landscape as a scenary of contemplation and admiration, man as the observer. Reference: unknown

“Para Kenneth Clark, en aquel libro en su día ávidamente leído sobre el arte del paisaje, el paisajismo, como manifestación histórica del espíritu humano, es una conquista cultural, y su pintura representa así una forma adquirida por el espíritu del hombre, que podía no haber existido si determinados artistas no la hubieran descubierto y realizado, primero como copia de algo, luego como impresión estrictamente artística, hasta alcanzar, andando el tiempo, que constituya un canon de la belleza.”2 European painters during the 16th century with the “discovery” of nature, started to get fascinated by the beauty and sublime types of landscape. The picturesque one. Instead of painting portraits or religious representations, nature became their protagonist. In the XVIII and XIX centuries, there are already specialists on the mountain types of landscapes. However, while some were captivated by the mountains, the peaks, the ice glaciers, the voluminous types of landscape, others on the other hand captured the valleys, the rural, the picturesque, the unique, the customs and the costumes, the work and the houses; the identity. Undoubtedly there is one fundamental painter in the early nineteenth century who influenced nature, or more especifically, mountain painting: Friedrich, the well-known traveler to the summit, the observer of the panorama, the romantic traveler to the mountain. What is interesting about Friedrich is that his paintings of nature are accompanied by an observer, standing in the same position as we are when we observe the painting, thus defining in a way the landscape as a scenery of contemplation, of admiration and therefore as the main subject matter. The observer has his back turned to our eye, and is contemplating nature. Although the observer is in the first plan, he is not the main subject matter of the painting. He illustrates hypothetic look-out points or miradores in his paintings, points and places from where man can dialogue with nature in an interest1- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.83 2- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.88

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

Paintings by Caspar David Friedrich. We can notice how, whether by natural lookoutpoint of architectural frames, Friedrich always tried to highlight a unique and pictoresque view. A mirador. Reference: unknown

Painting by Caspar David Friedrich. Landscape and heritage. Reference: unknown Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

“La primera mirada complaciente que añade valor al objeto observado es la del pinto. Y su enseñanza nos ejercita a encuadrar los horizontes. A encajar formas con búsqueda de armonía y manchas de color acordes y bellas. […] el cuadro siempre es una ventana, un marco que delimita y, después casi todas las ventanas se vuelven cuadros.”1 For it seems that landscape, through the romantic perception, became a source of pleasure and fascination. It defined itself in cultural and social references, in myths, identifications, literature, poems, reflections, georagphical maps etc., that have given it new values and meanings. These new meanings were usually charged with symbolism. Furthermore, in romanticism, landscape became a cultural conquest, and the act of painting it represented, a materialization of the human mind, that was (or is?) a manifestation of an observation or discovery made by certain artists or intellectuals. We can go further to say that we appreciate what we already know. The images or paintings that were presented to us, similar to postcards later in the XX centuray, have contribute in our shaping of identity, and therefore our understand of natural heritage . In other words, we identify ourselves with what has been “discovered”, appreciated and then represented: “Ortega y gasset publicó un ensayo titulado “Corazón y belleza” en el que señalaba que la cultura intelectual, exclusivista, ha venido dejando a la deriva la que procede del Corazón; claro está, venía a decir que amamos solo lo que previamente conocemos, pues otra cosa sería imposible, pero también es cierto que solo vemos aquello en lo que nos fijamos y que solo nos fijamos en lo que preferimos, como un prever antes de ver”.2 In other words, there is no landscape if it has not been discovered and thus 1- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.110 2- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.77

1.3

Landscape, Romanticism & literature

The romantic cultural overlay that has contributed to define the identity of landscapes is also very well present, not only in paintings, but in music, constructions, architecture and literature. For this cultural baggage gives to landscape an overlap of contents, ideas, images and values that gives it personality. In Eduardo Martinez de Pisón’s book, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, the author defines the prologue of Chateaubriand Atala as “simple amazing” and as the grand introduction to modern landscape literature, for it has started the contemporary sentiment of nature and got converted immediately to a reference for landscape art expression: “Mais la grâce est toujours unie à la magnificence dans les scènes de la nature: tandis que le courant du milieu entraine vers la mer les cadavres des pins et des chênes, on voit sur les deux courants latéraux remonter, le long des rivages, des îles flottantes de pistai et de nénufar, dont les roses jaunes s’élèvent comme de petits pavillons… Les deux rives du Meschacebé présentent le tableau le plus extraordinaire. Sur le bord occidental, des savants de déroulent à perte de vue ; leurs flots de verdure, en s’éloignant, semblent monter dans l’azur du ciel, où ils s’évanouissent… telle est la scène sur le bord occidental ; mais elle change sur le bord opposé, et forme avec la première un admirable contraste. Suspendus sur le cours des eaux, groupés sur les rochers et sur les montagnes, disperses dans les vallées, des arbres de toutes les formes, de toutes les couleurs, de tous les parfums, se mêlent, croissent ensemble, montent dans les airs à des hauteurs qui fatiguent les regards. Les vignes sauvages, les bignonias, les coloquintes, s’entrelacent au pied de ces arbres, escaladent leurs rameaux, grimpent à l’extrémité des branches, s’élancent de l’érable au tulipier, du tulipier à l’alcée, en formant mille grottes, mille voûtes, mille portiques.” 1

Some of Victor Hugo’s drawings and sketches during the trip he did between Bordeaux and Gavarnie in 1843. Reference: Hugo Victor, Voyage aux Pyrénées de Bordeaux à Gavarnie en passant par le Pays Basque

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

In England, we note topographical poetry, a form of poetry that describes and even praises a place or a landscape. John Denham’s 1642 poem “Copper’s Hill” established the genre, and reached its popularity in the 18th century. An important side to British Romanticism, was shifting the way people saw and valued landscape. William Gilpin’s Observations on the River Wye 1770, the idea of the picturesque began to influence artists and viewers. The writers promoted for contrast and variety in landscape. From the 18th century, a taste for the sublime in the natural Landscape emerged. James Thomson’s The Seasons 30-1726 was an important influence at that time. The change in the landscape, a consequence of the industrial and agricultural revolutions led to poor conditions of workers, a new class conflicts and the pollution of the environment. The poem 1- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.79

These texts that shape the image of landscape showcase also a sense of critique at times and a sense of criticism or nostalgia to what a place used to be, a fear of what a place might become. We could say that these writers, fascinated by nature, became in some lines activists and advocates for nature. Victor Hugo, during his trip between Bordeaux and Gavarnie in 1848 describes, praises, critiques and even goes on to using architectural metaphors, and comparisons that make you wonder whether he is a writer or an architect. The expressions he uses portray reflections of an intellectual that knows and understands the values of landscape. In his description of the mountains of Gavarnie or, Monte Perdido in Spanich, Hugo compares the verticality of the mountain to a mural or a wall, the formations of the rocks to geometrical angles, parallel and perpendicular lines, and goes even further to using architectural technical words: “Vous avez visité peut-être les alpes, les Andes, les cordillères; vous avez depuis quelques semaines les Pyrénées sous les yeux; quoi que vous ayez pu voir, ce que vous apercevez maintenant ne ressemble à rien de ce que vous avez rencontré ailleurs. Jusqu’ici, vous avez vu des montagnes ; vous avez contemplé des excroissances de toutes formes, de toutes hauteurs ; vous avez explore des croupes vertes, des pentes de gneiss, de marbre ou de schistes, des précipices, des sommets arrondis ou dentelés, des glaciers, des forets de sapins mêlées à des nuages, des aiguilles de granit, des aiguilles de glace ; mais, je le répète, vous n’avez vu nulle part ce que vous voyez en ce moment à l’horizon. Au milieu des courbes capricantes des montagnes hérissées d’angles obtus et d’angles aigus, apparaissent brusquement des lignes droits, simples, calmes, horizontales et verticales, parallèles ou se coupant en angles droits, et combines de telle sorte que de leur ensemble résulte la figure éclatante, réelle, pénétrée d’azur et de soleil, d’un objet impossible et extraordinaire. Est-ce une montagne ? Mais quelle montagne n’a jamais présenté ces surfaces rectilignes, ces plans réguliers, ces parallélisme rigoureux, ces symétries étranges, cet aspect géométrique ? Est-ce une muraille ? Voici des tours en effet qui la contrebutent et l’appuient, voici des créneaux, voilà les corniches, les architraves, les assises et les pierres que le regard distingue et pourrait Presque compte, voilà deux brèches taillées à vif qui éveillent dans l’esprit des idées de sièges, de tranchées et d’assauts ; mais voilà aussi des neiges, de larges bandes de neige posées sur ces assises, sur ces créneaux, sur ces architraves et sur ces tours. […] Babel, l’effort du genre humain tout entier, s’est affaissée sur elle-même avant de l’avoir atteint. Qu’est-ce donc que cet objet inexplicable qui ne peut pas être une montagne et qui a la hauteur des montagnes, qui ne peut être une muraille et qui a la forme des murailles ? »1 17

Personal illustration of Gavarnie Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

1- Hugo Victor, Voyage aux Pyrénées, p.197-198

Hugo even shows a lot of eloquence when it comes to identifying cultural heritage, not just in nature but also in architecture. For he identifies architecturally significant ruins. In his description of a church in Pamplona, one cannot ignore the level of details Hugo was able to achieve, using specific technical words and understanding of architectural elements and construction: “Le maître-autel, à peine éclairé par quelques cierges allumés, à demi entouré d’une muraille flottante de tapisseries et de tentures qui se rattachaient aux piliers de l’abside et interceptaient le jour, semblait, dans cette brume qui l’enveloppait, un monceau de pierreries. […] Le chœur de la cathédrale de Pampelune, haute et sombre menuiserie du seizième siècle, se compose de deux rangs de stalles qui occupant les trois côtés d’un carré long, dont une grille en fer, magnifique serrurerie du même temps, remplit et ferme le quatrième côté. […] Sept ou huit missel énormes, de ce format infectait qui a fourni à Boileau une si belle rime et un si charmant vers, relies en parchemin et ornés de coins de cuivre, sont ranges autour du cénotaphe et posés à terre comme des boucliers de soldats au repos. […]”1 In fact, Victor Hugo, a romantic French writer, is the author of many other travel books, at a time when mountaineering or pyrénéisme in French, was a risen habit in Europe. Him, and many other authors/travelers, have delivered to us a set of great travel writings that portray discovery of certain landscapes, teachings about values and beauty, praising of the picturesque and descriptions of habits, traditions and the life of local people.

Cover of travel books between the XIX and XX centuries

Perhaps Victor Hugo was a traveler but not an alpanist or a mountaineer, for you have to climb the mountain, if you don’t climb the mountain there is no mountaineering: « L'idéal du pyrénéiste est de savoir à la fois ascensionner, écrire, et sentir. S'il écrit sans monter, il ne peut rien. S'il monte sans écrire, il ne laisse rien. Si, montant, il relate sec, il ne laisse rien qu'un document, qui peut être il est vrai de haut intérêt. Si - chose rare - il monte, écrit et sent, si en un mot il est le peintre d'une nature spéciale, le peintre de la montagne, il laisse un vrai livre, admirable. » 2 1- Hugo Victor, Voyage aux Pyrénées, p.65 2- Beraldi Henri, Wikipedia, Pyreneisme

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

2.1

2. Landscape & critique in Romanticism: towards defining cultural landscapes XIX & XX Century travelers & Alpanists

“[…] pero, claro está, hay que subir al altozano y saber – y querer – explicar el panorama. No siempre se sube, a veces no se sabe y en ocasiones no se quiere. Entonces no hay paisaje.”1 There is no doubt that the movement of mountaineering or alpinism is a cultural manifestation of both romantic artistic and literate expressionism of nature. For the travelers or mountaineers solemnly walked, climbed then reached the mountains, and drew, painted then wrote, contemplating nature and admiring the sublime and the picturesque. In fact, there are, in the accounts of travelers who journeyed through the mountains and landscapes of Europe in the first half of the 19th century, eloquent examples of a new way of understanding landscape, associated with the romantic movement. They bring in interesting perceptions and experiences of the natural landscape and of the humanized landscape. The manner of understanding landscape back then, to a large extend, announced the modern thinking on nature. This is due, to the great attention that the romantic literature lent to the perceptions and experiences of nature and landscape, offering points of view that are very close, by their intentions and their contents, to the horizon of the modern geography. More so, the romantic movement focuses on the relationship between man and nature, something that had not been highlighted in the past centuries. In fact, according to Eduardo Martinez de Pisón in Miradas Sobre el Paisajes, the writings of Scheuchzer started this cultural movement, with his travels to the Alps. “[…] todos estos escritos permitieron descubrir paisajes que siempre habían estado delante de los ojos, de escenarios que las miradas pragmáticas no habían dejado de ver allá de la necesidad o del aprovechamiento.”2 He continues referring to the importance of J.J. Rousseau in the opening of the grand journey to the Alps, searching for landscape and for serenity. Romantic travelers and writers shed light on landscapes that were always there but somehow forgotten, untouched, unvisited. “El espíritu de las cumbres, más allá de los pueblos, las granjas, las estaciones termales, los bosques, las cascadas y los lagos, otorga la comunicación con un nuevo paisaje, el de los hielos inhabitables.” These landscapes became a symbol for civilization, a necessity, and they are referred to as a trigger of emotions in humans, something which no culture had spoken of before. “[…] el espectáculo de la montaña excita en el alma una emoción más profunda […] qué océano de pensamientos! Sólo los que se han entregado a estas meditaciones sobre las cimas de los altos Alpes saben en qué medida son más hondas, más extensas, más luminosas que las surgen cuando estamos encerrados entre los muros de un gabinete.”3 Nicolas Ciudici in La philosophie du Mont Blanc refers to the character of the glaciers as a cultural landscape reference of a mountain that constitutes the cultural symbol of the Alps, and thus defining its identity. Just like in the citation of Victor Hugo we have mentioned above; architectural symbolism was very frequent in landscape literature. “Las líneas angulares de las cumbres se asocian por Ruskin a arquitecturas góticas e incluso Victor Hugo sigue la idea. E Castelnuevo y C. Natta-Solen escriben que, tras largo tiempo sin que los Alpes fueran entregados en el panorama cultural europeo, las transformaciones que se operaron en el siglo XVIII dieron lugar a una nueva estética de lo sublime que unía un resurgimiento del gusto por el arte gótico […]”4. The English John Ruskin and the French Eugene Viollet-le Duc who are great examples of the 1- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.96

Personal illustration of the Italian Alps

2- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.160

3- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.161 4- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.163

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

We can go on to cite infinite and infinite examples of romantic writers/travelers who have contributed a rich cultural baggage that has defined the identity of our landscapes. But we will stop here to focus on a more interesting characteristic these writers have also brought to us, their reflections and critiques on certain factors in nature. Beyond praising, admiring and describing, they critiqued the acts of men on nature, the deterioration of nature and the changes that have affected negatively our landscapes and cultural heritage. Victor Hugo in his travel between Bordeaux and Gavarnie in 1848, reflected on the negligence of historic monuments and architecture, while passing through the north of Spain: “Dans ce pays, je suis force de le répéter, la fenêtre n’est plus une fenêtre; c’est une meurtrière. La maison n’est plus une maison, c’est une forteresse. À chaque pas une ruine.”1 During his stroll in the village of Leso, Hugo remanences on old buildings, their current (back then) state of ruin and how “miserable” it made him feel “Puis j’ai rencontré une ruine à droite, une ruine á gauche, une autre encore, puis un groupe de trois ou quatre, derrière un bosquet de pommiers, et je me suis trouvé brusquement à quelques pas du village. […] Ces ruines se composent ordinairement de quatre murailles sans toit et percées de quelques fenêtres, la plupart bouchées d’un tablier de briques et converties en meurtrières, avec des traces d’incendie partout, et dans l’intérieur une vache ou deux chèvres qui broutent paisiblement l’herbe du pave et le lierre du mur. Ces masures sont les œuvres de la dernière guerre. […] C’était une misère profonde, mais ce n’était pas une misère vulgaire. C’était une misère dans des maisons de pierre de taille ; et des armoiries sur lames de marbre comme l’Escurial. Une peuplade de gentilshommes en haillons dans ces cabanes de granit.” […] Quelle désolation ! Je voyais d’un seul coup d’œil les quatre étages éventrés. L’escalier a été brûlé ; la cage de l’escalier n’est plus qu’un large trou où toutes les chambres viennent aboutir. […] D’une ruine séculaire on sort l’âme agrandie et dilatée. D’une ruine d’hier on sort le cœur serré. Dans la ruine antique, je me représente le propriétaire. Le fantôme est moins triste.” 2 Some writers even went beyond to define cultural landscapes that should be persevered for their important values and symbolisms. Olivia Stone is a British writer that described in her book Tenerife and its Six Satellites her trip to Canary Islands between November 1883 and February 1884. This traveler, dedicated to the methodical annotation of reality, visited the Cueva Pintada de Gáldar and realized some drawings of the decorative motives. She noticed the importance of the place and then reclaimed that institutions should give it attention and seek to preserve it: “Le sugerí que la ciudad [Gáldar] debería comprar pronto la cueva mientras pudiera hacerse a un bajo precio; que después deberían limpiarla completamente y -cerrarla con cancelas por fuera; que si se cobrada una pequeña entrada, digamos, un real [dos peniques y medio], el lugar se podría mantener en buen estado y que se necesitaba alguien que estuviera siempre a mano para sirviese de guía cuando fuese necesario.” 3

Drawings that appear in the travel book of Olivia Stone, Norway in June, based on the photographs of her husband

1- Hugo Victor, Voyage aux Pyrenees, p.80 2- Hugo Victor, Voyage aux Pyrenees, p.81

3- M. Stone Olivia, Tenerife and its six Satellites, p.54 .

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

In fact, these first mountaineers were in a way the first tourists on this type of landscapes, and with them a new profession was born, the profession of a guide. « Gavarnie petit village perché à 1 350 mètres d’altitude, est resté longtemps isolé au fond de sa vallée, au-delà des sévères gorges de Luz. La route n’est arrivée qu’en 1864. Le village originel vivait au fil des jours, d’un peu d’agriculture et d’un peu d’élevage, développant une activité intense en été et ramassé sur lui-même pendant les longs mois d’hiver. Au XIXe siècle, la naissance du Pyrénéisme vient bouleverser le rythme de vie traditionnel et un métier nouveau voit le jour : celui de guide. » With this came about another type of cultural or artistic representation of these places of identity that is more related to attracting tourists; postcards. Postcards, just like early romantic paintings, hold in our memory the uniqueness of a place, for they tend to represent what is culturally most valuable about a place, what identifies a place, in other words its essence. But they did more than just that, they advertised, they “sold” landscapes, monuments and culturally significant places in order to attract tourists. More so, at that time, mountaineering or alpinism was a more and more practiced “sport” or activity. In the travel book of Victor Hugo, Voyage aux Pyrénées De Bordeaux à Gavarnie en passant par le Pays Basque, we notice how, in each city he settles in during his travel, Victor Hugo describes his hotel room, the window and view of the window, which was usually a landscape made of water or mountains: “Je suis sur un long balcon qui donne sur la mer. Je suis accoudé à une table carrée recouverte d’un tapis vert. J’ai à ma droite une porte-fenêtre qui s’ouvre dans ma chambre, car j’ai une chambre, et cette chambre a une porte. À ma gauche, j’ai la baie. Sous mon balcon sont amarrées deux navires, dont un vieux, dans lequel travaille un matelot encablures, […]. Au-delà de ce navire, la Vielle tour démantelée, le groupe de maisons qu’on appelle el otro Pasage, et la triple croupe d’une montagne. Tout autour de la baie, un large demi-cercle de collines dont les ondulations vont se perdre à l’horizon et que dominent les faîtes décharnés du mont Arun.”1 The localization of the hotels was beginning to take advantage of the some certain “frames” of landscapes, already starting to become famous in the minds of the people, which have contributed in the shaping of identity of the place. Furthermore, with the emergence of mountaineering, the mountain then became culturally valuable as a place of the sublime. It became a place for spiritual connectivity and exaltation of individuality. New professional roles were born, such as porters and alpine guides. Some of the local guides have made history in the mountaineering from all over Europe.The uniqueness of some mountains attracted the attention of excursionists. Specially those defined by a verticality and ease of arrival that made them favorite destinations of mountaineers from Europe. With this, came about the emergence of constructions, motels, hotels and restaurants that began to slowly crawl their way into the virgin sceneries. “[…], la practica cinegética y la excursionista tienen puntos comunes con el desarrollo turístico de la montaña, […]. La construcción en Gredos del primer parador de turismo de España entre 1926 y 1928 estuvo asociada a las visitas reales a la sierra. La inmediata presencia de visitantes de relevancia social, su incremento y distinta condición contribuyeron a un cambio de tono y a una relación diferente con los pueblos montañeses. […] sin embargo, la presión turística de mayo entidad y de signo más agresivo vino después. Primero se mayo entidad y de pretensión de construir un complejo de esquí internado en la montaña, […] el proceso turístico ha seguido su línea ascendente en los demás aspectos, similar al experimentado por otras áreas montañosas españolas. Es decir, construcción creciente de residencies, incremento turístico de topo tipo con su carácter empresarial […].”2 Geographer Eduardo Martinez de Pisón talks, in his book Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, about the results of human interference in these picturesque and once sublime landscapes. He describes how, with tourism, things have changed and still are changing, sometimes to a point of no return. Touristic implementations, constructions and new infrastructures have altered the spiritual and out of reach characteristic of these places. These places that once needed physical and emotional effort to be able to reach them are now wide open and easily accessible with new infrastructures. 25

Travel publicities to Norway, in Noway in June by Olivia Stone Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

1- Hugo Victor, Voyage aux Pyrénées, p.106

2- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.214

Personal Illustration of Mount Everest

places that once needed physical and emotional effort to be able to reach them are now wide open and easily accessible with new infrastructures. “Cuando vi por primera vez el lado sur del Everest en 1981, para alcanzar su base en Khumbu tuvimos que partir andando de un pueblo cercano a kathmandu, porque en la práctica no había otro modo de llegar. Cinco años después conseguimos ir a su flanco norte, pero para hacerlo era obligatorio salir de Pekín, ir primero a Lhasa y luego alcanzar el entonces aun remote rongbuk. Aunque en los años ochenta llegar al Everest no era evidentemente lo mismo que en las exploraciones épicas de este pico, todavía quedaba alguna conexión de estilo con los viajes clásicos de aproximaciones más o menos largas y con sus ascensiones solitarias. Y el buscador de vivencias encontraba esas evocaciones con facilidad. Ambos lados del Everest estaban, pues, moderadamente frecuentados. Pese a que el aeródromo de lukla funcionaba intermitentemente – con muchos más atascos que esperanzas – apenas había sino unos alojamientos modestias salpicados por el valle meridional […]. Desde aquel decenio a presión turística y alpinista sobre el Everest ha aumentado de modo llamativo: han cambiado sus modos habituales de acceso, ha crecido la intensidad de su frecuentación, se han implantado nuevas construcciones junto a la montaña y hasta son otros los estilos de su visita y su ascensión. […] Pero los lugares no son intercambiables. El Everest no es sustituible. Es una inconfundible pirámide oscura con franjas dorados seguida tras las cumbres heladas de Khumbu, […]. La gran pirámide de la tierra […] está ya en las carteras de agentes de mercantilización de las montañas, esos que tú conoces porque ya han llegado aquí, los que has visto pasar por tu sierra, los que están cambiando tu valle. El acceso al Everest se está haciendo cada vez más fácil, y, al tiempo, se va volviendo cada vez más difícil escuchar el silencioso secreto de la montaña.” 1 In fact, the ascent to these great mountains was achieved thanks to the physical effort made by a few men. It did not consist of a linear action, but with ups and downs. Eduardo Martinez de Pisón talks about how this effort is made possible by many factors, such as, on the one hand, the taste of adventure that allows certain people to dialogue with nature, with the exterior world, to achieve a spiritual experience. On the other hand, the feeling of achievement, of success, the sense of challenge. But it is not only the ascension of the mountain, for it is also connecting with any picturesque and culturally significant landscape. Waterfronts landscapes are not less sublime or less culturally important. Victor Hugo in his reflections about Biarritz, a waterfront village, denounces how this humble place was losing its identity, getting eaten out by commercial touristic installation, practices that are just copy paste from other places and that have nothing related to the essence of this village. “Alors Biarritz, ce village si agreste, si rustique et si honnête encore, sera pris du mauvais appétit de l’argent, sacra fames. Biarritz mettra des peupliers sur ces mornes, des rampes à ses dunes, des escaliers à ses précipices, des kiosques à ses rochers, des blancs à ses grottes, des pantalons à ses baigneuses. Biarritz deviendra pudique et rapace. La pruderie, qui n’a dans tout le corps de chaste que les oreilles, […] le soir on ira au concert, car il y aura concert tous les soirs, et un chanteur en I, un rossignol pansu d’une cinquantaine d’années, chantera des cavatines de soprano à quelques pas de ce vieil océan qui chante la musique éternelle des marées, des ouragans et des tempêtes. Alors Biarritz ne sera plus Biarritz. Ce sera quelque chose de décoloré et de bavard comme Dieppe et Ostende. Rien n’est plus grand qu’un hameau de pécheurs, plein de mœurs antiques et naïves, assis au bord de l’océan ; rien n’est plus grand qu’une ville qui semble avoir la fonction auguste de penser pour le genre humain tout entier et de proposer au monde les nouveautés, souvent difficiles et redoutables, que la civilisation réclame. Rien n’est plus petit, plus mesquin et plus ridicule qu’un faux Paris. »2 It is not only the mountain and its ascension that are valuable, for it is also understanding the cultural value and identity of a landscape, whether a mountain, an agricultural 1- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.186-187

2- Hugo Victor, Voyage aux Pyrénées, p.64-65

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

Alpinists didn’t only contribute to us a rich baggage of travel literature that has enriched the romantic writings and perceptions of nature and geography, marked with praising, describing and critiquing. For they introduced more than just that, they introduced a new understanding of discovering nature. This new “activity” is linked with a sense of adventure, challenge and reading the context and the place. It teaches us, that enjoying the picturesque and the sublime is not always easy, and is acquired as a result of a physical and spiritual effort. It teaches us that dialoguing with a place means experiencing its “difficult” side or its essence. Cesar Manrique’s strategy and interventions in Lanzarote are a manifestation of this thinking, for they promote for a slow and conscious tourism that allows people to dialogue with the spirit of the island. His reflections on cultural landscapes and identity showcase a lot of similitudes with the ones of romantic travelers and writes. So, what can we learn from them? 2.2

The case of Lanzarote & Cesar Manrique

In Lanzarote, just as tourism was on the rise, Cesar Manrique, local artist and painter of the island, faced it with a critical eye that denounces the commercial types of constructions and sought to promote for a more responsible conscious tourism that has its roots based in culture and identity. In fact, his paintings also portray the local this culture and identity, for he represented the local people and the local way of life on the island, the agriculture and how natives of the island adapted to hard weather conditions and constructed walls to protect their products. “All the influence which this backdrop (Lanzarote) has had on me and which surrounded my childhood, has manifested itself successively, with great freedom of expression, into all my works of art, like the same brutal surface of the Island. … All my paintings have at their roots in volcanology and geology.” Just like the romantic writers, travelers and paintings, he sought to promote for uniqueness, the sublime and the picturesque, he sought to highlight contrast and variety. He understood that Lanzarote is defined by a special kind of landscape, and any type of intervention should take that into consideration. During his lifetime, he criticized the architecture that was being built, that according to him, does not reflect the identity of the island. He promoted an architecture inspired by vernacular architecture, for according to him, the locals already knew how to adapt to the island and how to construct.

Manrique worked on a territorial strategy that sought to put in place a sustainable and slow tourism. Its objective was to push forward the development of Lanzarote while structuring and adding value to the landscape. The touristic attractions were thought in certain specific places which were thought to be a natural attraction in their own way, such as the Jameos del Agua. New installations were constructed in particularly representative sites across the island, such as the Mirador del Rio and the restaurant in the Montañas del Fuego. These places are important either because form part of the mental memory of the inhabitant or because of their symbolism and beauty. Other strategies were thought in a way to recover abandoned places, affected by deterioration.

Paintings by Cesar Manrique, representing the identity, essence and local people of the island of Lanzarote Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

Jameos del Agua

Mirador del Rio

Jardin de cactus

The works in Montañas del Fuego, 1969, was formed by two parts, the Ruta de los Volcanes, a design of a route that links places of greatest environmental interest, recovering the damage cause by “previous incursions of over curious visitors”, and by the restaurant El Diablo, constructed as a look-out or mirador building. The restaurant is designed by a pure geometry composed of two large attached cylinders, of stone and class. In fact, artist and architect Cesar Manrique has a special affection for look-out points or miradores, as, for him, they answered two basic elements of his ideology: arranging natural stages for tourists and making spaces integrated into the environment where the human participant becomes fully immersed in nature, dialoguing with the exterior world. Experiencing the picturesque in the best and most fulfilling way. On another point, the Jardín del Cacrus, completed in 1990 and the last of the works he did, is on a deteriorated volcanic cone, which had been used as a quarry. Manrique based his design strategy on several large half-buried rocks and the plantations of prickly pears. He always based his design establishing links with the place. He sought to integrate his interventions in harmonious way with nature, reinterpretation vernacular elements and forms.

3. Intervening in cultural landscapes 3.1

Personal illustration of Lanzarote volcanic landscapes Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

The “difficult space”

Cesar Manrique’s reflections and works show us that it is possible to establish a link between identity and tourism. His strategy and way of thinking strongly remind us of the teachings and discoveries about landscape that Romanticism has brought to us. For Romanticism changed the way people perceived landscape and nature. It promoted the essence and identity of the place, as a source of power and uniqueness. It sought to establish a spiritual relationship between man and nature, basing it on the physical effort connected to adventure and challenge, or simply basing it on heritage and history, reading the essence of the place . Eduardo Martínez de Pison talks about “el espacio difícil” as a scenario that best allows a connection between man and nature. He concludes his book Miradas sobre el paisaje referring to this “space” as a way to establish a slow conscious tourism in culturally significant landscapes. “[…] hay dos espacios o escenarios vitales, uno que hace fáciles las consecuciones de los objetivos o los desvía. Un exceso de dificultades fatiga o hace los objetivos inalcanzables, por lo que rechaza o derrota. Un exceso de facilidades empereza o ensoberbece o contiene objetivos demasiado limitados, por lo que no incita al esfuerzo o reduce las metas aspiradles. Un juego equilibrado de facilidades y dificultades, en cambio, permite una base suficientemente estable de partida y crea unas expectativas alcánzales de metas propias. […] en el espacio fácil se puede triunfar fácilmente. […] se pueden también tener plataformas de arranque para individuos inquietos desde las cuales llegar más apoyado, más rápido y más lejos a metas nuevas. […] en el espacio fácil puede uno sentirse confortablemente, ver el mundo con condescendencia, tener el don de la brillante social, estar seguro y, por todo ello, no querer salirse de él, […] en el espacio difícil el reto excesivo puede producir la anulación, el también excesivo consume de esfuerzo y de dedicación de tiempo para solo no perder la supervivencia. […] pero hay muchas situaciones en las que ese espacio difícil actúa como estimulante: todo depende del balance entre el grado de la capacidad personal y el de la dificultad externa […].”1 1- Martínez de Pisón Eduardo, Miradas Sobre el Paisaje, p.279

Punta Pite, personal sketches

3.2

Contemporary Landscape Architetcure projects: Case studies analysis

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Punta Pite, Chile, Teresa Moller: the difficult space

Punta Pite, is, as indicated by its name, a headland that juts out into the sea. Moller designed a foot path that follows the coastline, inviting you to walk through the coastal landscape. Her work embraces the character of the site; the result of her design is quite simple, humble but yet very powerful and characteristic. She designed a “promenade” that fully understands the essence of the place. Where the natural landscape and cliffs allows one to walk easily, Moller left the scenery untouched. In other times, where steep cliffs made walking difficult, she intervenes by adding a path or steps built from hand cut granite, the same material as the cliffs themselves. An important note from her design is that it is not marked where to go, the intention is to invite people to walk and discover their own path. “Pathways along the rocks twist, widen and narrow haphazardly, with no railing available to provide assurance. Staircases appear and disappear, carved into the stone cliffs, bridging formally unreachable vistas. Flagstone walks lead through narrow passageways that open up into restored and carefully developed open spaces.”1 Moller had gotten her inspiration from the words of a famous Chilean poet, who described Chile as “pure geography”. Her interventions on this coast could either be distinguished as architecture or art installations in the rocky landscape. •

Parque Volcán Garrotxa, Spain, RCR: into the essence

RCR architects created a park in a singular place known for its peculiar characteristics. It is a “sea of rocks”, as the architects describe it; these rocks come from the gap of the basalt of the Croscat volcano, long after centuries of human activity that had created agricultural areas. Stones and rocks have accumulated and created thick walls. The project is a symbiosis between nature and design, for it uses two materials such as the cut steel and rocks. It a space completely integrated within nature with a modern language. The park is the entrance to a protected zone of the volcano, which receives the visitor with a series of ramps that invites us to enter and discover the space. The geometry of the pathways, the steel walls that mark the lines and the ways and the highlighted perspectives allow the visitor to live a unique experience that allows him to dialogue with the essence of the place. The volcanic stone strongly marks the character of the landscape while the cut steel transforms into a unique landmark. The project puts at first place the singularity of this volcanic landscape transformed by man. It plays on our sense with the effect of surprise and discovery made possible by the pathways & cut steel sheets. The project recovers a damaged or affected landscape, while making it accessible for the visitors. The intervention clearly reinforces the character of the space, and highlights its essence. “El proyecto propone recuperar el lugar limpiándolo de malezas y vegetación espontánea, reforzando su carácter áspero mediante la visión de las piedras acumuladas y ofreciendo un recorrido por el parque que permita su descubrimiento paulatino. Unas señales o la propia vegetación dan cuenta de hitos, quiebros y encuadres en el camino. Y una agricultura biológica, de productos ya apenas cultivados en la región, conserva su buen estado.”2 33

Parque Volcan Garrotxa, personal drawings Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

1-https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/punta-pite 2-https://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/02-279428/parque-de-piedra-tosca-rcr-arquitectes

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Roussillon Ochre trail, personal drawings

Roussillon Ochre Trail, France, Ateliers lieux et paysages: layers of history

The site is very characteristic for the identity and image of the village. The focus on the intervention is the exploitation of the ochre, for it is an old quarry. The visitor enters through a small pavilion which also serves as a ticket office. There, he continues towards the path which tells the story of the material that the visitor will become connected with. The exhibition is under the sky so that the visitor will not be disconnected from the site and its essence. The materials are few, wood and metal, for it is an old quarry and the choice of material makes an implicit reference to that. As for the floor it is untouched, untreated: people walk on ochre itself, “[…] as if it were a dune, allowing the movements of the ground and of the streams of water to follow their natural course.”1 The intervention, as well as benefiting from being a fire defense intervention as it reduces biomass and clears the forest, it also allows the visitor to enjoy the views of the surrounding landscape. For it benefits from its strategic location as a look-out point, where people can dialogue with the scenery. •

Termas geometricas, Chile, German del Sol: experiencing with our senses

This project, in the middle of native forests of the Villarrica National Park in Chile, is formed by a group of 17 hot springs for bathing that make use from around sixty springs of pure hot thermal water, which altogether gathers 15 liters per second that sprout naturally at 80 degrees Celsius temperature. The 17 pools were carved along 450 meters with red wooden paths and ramp without altering the site whatsoever. The geometry highlights the natural environment while at the same time is separated from it, leaving voids between built and nature, between paths and nature. What’s interesting in this project is how the design puts together nature and people, uses and natural environment, without altering or changing the wild aspect of the place. The visitors enter the project through elevated paths and ramps from the ground and separated from the cliff sides, reach the 17 pools or places of gathering to enjoy the activity of bathing in the fresh air and admire the sublime beauty of the area. The main focus of this project is nature, its glory and power while architecture serves as a way to connect people with it in a light, subtle and ephemeral way. More so, enjoying this place means being subjected to its cold temperatures, specially during winter season. Feeling the cold, that contrasts with the hot spring water, is a crucial characteristic of this place. The “difficult space” here resides in enjoying it in all of our senses, facing the cold as we leave our cabinets where we change our clothes into bathing suits, and reach the open air hot water pools. It resides in the physical and emotional effort necessary to experience this place, allowing us to dialogue fully with the context, with nature. Experiencing this is an inerasable element of the design. Any other intervention that modifies this contrast of sense is one that has not understood the essence of this landscape. 1- Sendero de los ocres de Roussillon-Francía, PAISEA, (016#), pp16-17, ISSN: 18872557

Termas geometricas, personal drawing Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

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Aurland lookout, personal sketches

Norway: Aurland lookout, Saunders arkitektur + Wilhelmsen arkitektur & Utsikten Viewpoint / CODE: arkitektur: into the void

These two projects are part of a of a larger strategy of a series of architectural viewpoints and rest stops in the spectacular landscape of Norway across the nation. The two proposals highlight the uniqueness of the place. The interventions have simple geometrical lines with a focus on prioritizing nature, having a minimal impact on the existing terrain and landscape. They are impressive interventions, with large surfaces, 30 meters long, 4 meters wide and 9 meters tall at its peak. However, the structures, although using powerful materials, seem to be integrated subtly in the environment, presenting themselves as sculptures or art installations in the scenery. The essence of these interventions is to invite the visitor into the abyss, into the void, exaggerating the feeling of smallness on feels in the presence of such sublime and picturesque landscapes. The interventions play on the senses and emotions, and allow us to dialogue with nature. They dramatize the experience, by introducing a feeling of “floating” over the void, the trees and the slope. From these platforms, the observer connects with the panoramic view and contemplates the surrounding landscape. All in all, the interventions seem subtle in their positions, simple in their form, strong in their materiality and powerful in their essence. 3.3 Intervening in cultural landscapes: the romantic perception These projects are all interventions in culturally important landscapes, whether for their historic baggage, or simply for their natural characteristics that make them so unique and important on a national, and sometimes, international level. They showcase an understanding of the place, which in each case translates itself in the type of experience that is offered through the intervention. They play on the senses, dramatize experiences if necessary, exaggerate the contrast and the variety that is present and, always, allow a dialogue with the context present at hand. They promote for a conscious and responsible way to discover the landscape; they promote for discovering uniqueness. They are very different projects, yet they seem to have so many things in common. It is undoubtable that they share the same strategy: approximate one to the essence of the place – promote a slow tourism – aim for uniqueness. Their understanding of the essence could be interpreted as a romantic understanding of the place. They emphasis on emotions and individualism, glorifying nature. They play on intense emotions as an authentic source of aesthetic experience while confronting the sublimity and beauty of nature.

CODE, personal sketches Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

CONCLUSION Landscape representations and cultural manifestations during the Romantic era, whether in paintings, writings or stories of travelers who journeyed through them, have offered to us interesting images and valuable perspectives, for they have introduced the modern way of understanding geography and nature. They constitute the departure point of defining cultural landscapes. For these intellectuals have done so much more than just represent, describe and praise; they have observed with a critical eye, understood the heritage, the customs and the stories, and they have defined identities. The similarities between the judgements and visions of many XIXth century travelers and Cesar Manrique’s on Lanzarote show us how much significantly similar are the romantic thinking on landscape identity and the modern way of perceiving geography. Nowadays, in a constant rising of tourism, landscape architects, among other disciplinarians, are taking consciousness of the importance of promoting a slower more conscious type of tourism. While so, they are encouraging, consciously or unconsciously, to go back to dialoguing with nature, to approximate ourselves ever further towards the essence of the place, towards its identity, emotionally, morally and physically. Eduardo Martínez de Pisón’s definition of the “difficult space” is merely an interpretation of how one could experience the landscape, to fully connect one›s self with it. It teaches you that in order to experience fully a place you may have to engage yourself mentally and emotionally into fully feeling it. Projects such as Manrique’s in Lanzarote or Moller›s in Punta Pite or German del Sol in Termas Geometricas, are a physical proof of its possibility. There are so many landscape interventions and projects that play on the emotions, the five senses, the identity and the values of the place. Is there a link between all of these projects? Could it be a sense of Romanticism? In a world where cultural landscapes are facing more and more mass tourism, it is essential to take a step back. So, does this step back lead us again to Romanticism?

Cultural Landscape, Art, Paintings, Writings, Poetry, Travel, Alpanists, Values, Romanticism, Sustainable tourism, Sublime, Beauty, Senses, Pictoresque, Contrast

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