Back to life workshop - Working on la Peña Negra

BACK TO LIFE WORKSHOP

working on ~ negra la pena

BACK TO LIFE SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION WORKSHOP

Organized and curated by Abraham Hurtado and Lorenza Manfredi

5th-15th september 2016 by centro negra / aadk spain in blanca murcia, spain

Back to life

is an experimental and experiential project: it aims to read deeply a context through different artistic approaches.

A group of young professionals from different disciplines shared 10 days together in Blanca, trying to understand the qualities and characteristics of the abandoned chicken coops and area of the PeĂąa Negra.

Performances, installations, physical and sensorial maps, filmmaking, discussions and walks were all instruments of experiencing and understanding the context.

The final act of our stay in the PeĂąa Negra has been the elaboration of proposals and projects, that identify possible ways to activate this special context, so that it might be used by the citizens of Blanca in all its beauty.

This booklet, two exhibitions (on the 15th and 24th of September 2016 by the exhibition spaces of the Centro Negra in Blanca, Murcia, Spain) and a realized intervention in one of the disused chicken coop are the outcomes of our experience.

index -

CHAPTER 1 / Reading the context La PeĂąa Negra AADK Spain The Workshop

CHAPTER 2 / Outcomes of the workshop

Perceptions Qualities of the specific context The project: a ruin with many rooms Approaches Example 1 Example 2

Conclusions Credits

chapter 1 reading the context

~ negra la pena Blanca is a town with 6000 inhabitants, in the Ricote Valley, crossed by the Segura river. A picturesque site surrounded by mountains and ochre yards.

La Peña Negra is a black rock at the bottom of the Solán mountain which, for long time, gave the name to the old town area. The life was developed in the mountain under the Arabic castle from the XII Century, still nowadays reachable only by foot.

At the beginning of the XX Century, a set of poultry yards occupied the hillside of la Peña Negra, an old D.I.Y. architecture built by private owners. Along the last 30 years this places were abandoned, some were bought by the municipality and some were transformed in the current Centro Negra, the headquarter of AADK Spain. Open to Ricote's valley and integrated within the mountain rocks, the area is surrounded by an incredible landscape and has a notable heritage value.

AADK SPAIN Aktuelle Architektur der Kultur, AADK (2008), began as a platform and collaboration between artists Jochen Arbeit, Abraham Hurtado, Vania Rovisco, and their invited guests.

The group of artists shared a vision to create a platform that would support their ultimate needs but also uphold the essential working relations with others. AADK’s focal point has always been a keen interest in creating a network that is self-generative and accommodates others.

AADK Spain establishes a permanent space of investigation and contemporary creation in the south of Spain and chooses Centro Negra in Blanca for his attainment and development, turning this centre into a space of investigation and artistic creation with the purpose of consolidating it as a pattern in our international networks. The peculiar location of the township and his geographical and landscape’s characteristics offer the possibility of using the environment as integral part of the intervention.

the workshop Day 1 - MAKERS Day 2 - MOVIE MAKING Day 3 - EPHEMERAL Day 4 - MAPPING Day 5 - PERFORMANCE Related activities: PEOPLE AND VEGETATION "Working the garden" - PRESENTATION by Thilo Folkerts "Living the ruins" - PRESENTATION by Enrique Nieto Day 5 / day 10 - CONSTRUCTING CONCEPTS Day 10 - FINAL PUBLIC PRESENTATION OF THE OUTCOMES OF THE WORKSHOP AND EXHIBITION

DAy 1 Makers Construction day with Jorge Bermejo Pascual and Roberto Carrasco Cañizares, spanish architects.

We explored the possible combinations of traditional materials like “cañas” (cane) and advanced techniques like parametric drawings and laser cutting.

Collecting and carrying cañas through the city as well as developing specific designs with local materials was a first contact with the particular features of the Peña Negra.

DAy 2 movie making Exploring the surrounding territory we observed and shot on different themes. Wild and water, travel and clear, movement and close, life and rough.

After learning about techniques of movie making guided by the filmmaker Sverre Aune, we finally entered the La PeĂąa Negra ruins and made videos trying to describe the first emotions that the space communicated to us.

DAy 3 ephemeral Using white fabric and wires we built an ephemeral installation through one of the paths that crosses La PeĂąa Negra. Guided by Pier Alessio Rizzardi we experimented on how the insertion of an external element in a context can change and influence our spatial understanding.

DAy 4 mapping The ambiguity of the landscape, with its spatial heterogeneity and complexity, makes it difficult to represent it using a defined and fixed system of representational tools.

Mapping experience guided by Greta Colombo and Elena Ferrari: Selection of exercises on measuring and perceiving space. During this day we walked through the street of Blanca having a different singular approach to the significance that measuring spaces can assume.

DAy 5 performance The work of Abraham Hurtado explores the notions of presence and space, the multiplicity of contexts and possible arrangements of the space and how they affect the perception/reception of the body. For Back To Life workshop he created a series of exercises based in the peripheral vision of the space, how can the body embed all the elements found in the space.

By this experience he challenge the participants to address the performativity of materials in dialog with the presence of the body.

related activities: people and vegetation Elena Azzedin and Juan Conesa (AADK Team) as experts of the context of La PeĂąa Negra organized related activities. Elena Azzedin did an approach to the local people by a workshop to exchange knowledge from craft tools to convert new system of shadow for the street of Centro Negra.

At the same time Juan Conesa was brought the participants to a local nursery, where he explained about the vegetation of the area of Ricote Valley and analyzed which plants can survive in La PeĂąa Negra and grow through the time in the sunny mountain.

day 5-10 CONSTRUCTING CONCEPTS After the arrival of Enrique Nieto and Thilo Folkerts we presented our perceptions of the place and had discussions on how to proceed.

Their input, through consultations, discussions, references and presentations, fomented a lot of reactions and thoughts: how does one intervene in a space that has some fascination but is currently not pleasant at all? For whom is the project: for the citizens, for the artists or for the chickens? Is it important to do it for somebody and give it a function?

What is the role of the architect and how can a built intervention add to the experience of space? Is there a story that can be told? Is telling a story maybe enough to recognize and make visible the space in its complexity? How can care become the core of a planning process?

After few days of discussions we found three themes emerging : relation of the ruins with the surrounding nature, relation with the city and the structure of the ruins themselves. This was a good way to narrow up the work, form groups based on the above themes and start to focus on more defined projects.

The outcomes of the group work are presented in the following pages, Chapter 2 of this booklet.

Approach 4 /// Some topics for a back to life whorksop

_Diplomatic vs. Expert

_Producing new ecologies

_Possibilities vs. Probabilities

_Assembling affirmative relationships through different entities

_Practices as laboratories

_Ecosistemic perspective

_Ethnographers and Entomologist

_ Linking heterogeneities through affections and cares

_Living in ruins

_Learning to share a common Earth

chapter 2 outcomes of the workshop

ÂżQuĂŠ te gusta hacer en tu tiempo libre?

Where and how do you spend your free time?

Perceptions voices of citizens

We decided to interview people of Blanca and capture their ways of life in the town. We asked 27 women, men and youngsters met in the streets. Various answers pictured their approaches, interests and feelings which were valuable for our outcomes.

Synthesis of a work by the participant Jana Doudova

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¿Qué te gusta de Blanca? (me puedes decir lugares, fiestas, actividades...)

What do you like about Blanca? (e.g. places, events, activities...)

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Do you know the area called Peña Negra? Why do you go there? Why do not you go there?

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¿Puede usted imaginar, por ejemplo, un observatorio astronómico, un jardín, o una sala de baile en los antiguos corrales? ¿ O se te ocurre una idea mejor?

Can you imagine for example an astronomical observatory, a garden or a dance hall in the fomer chicken houses? Do you have another idea?

THREE RESPONDENTS: SUMMARY Ana Maria de Blanca works as an ambulance nurse and enjoys her marvelous days waking up early and watching sunsets in the evening. She loves Centro Negra, huertas, and la Sierra de Ricote. She can imagine a space for dance or a sun baths in the former chicken houses of la Peña Negra.

Jose Luis de Blanca is a retired mathematics teacher, who spend his time walking around fields and river of Blanca and in the old village. He knows la Peña Negra, but doesn’t go there because of hard accessibility. Jose would like the area to be developed, for example as an observatory.

Arnoldes de Lithuania is writing in Blanca his life dissertation. Besides walking his kid into a local school and a park, he enjoys reading and having cañas in the old town. He appreciates local weather and mountains, which he can imagine observing from a terrace with hamaks, a garden with palm trees, a bar or a movie theatre in the area of la Peña Negra.

Especiales agradecimientos a: Special thanks to: People of Blanca town. Translation: Raul Herrero Moreno.

Graphic design: Lucía Szych.

our perceptions

qualities of the specific context MULTISCALE MULTISCALE MULTISCALE

details of a city

1. Corner, chair

2. Room

1. Corner, chair

2. Room

1. Corner, chair

2. Room

3. House

4. Block, neighborhood

3. House

4. Block, neighborhood

3. House

4. Block, neighborhood

5. City 5. City 5. City

a structure made by parts

existing paths and accessibility

points of view

presence of the mountain

~ La pena negra

~ negra vocabulary of la pena (Materials documentation)

the project: a ruin with many rooms General plan

Initial observation: the Pena Negra is a complex of ruins in which every part has different caracteristics that inspire different activities.

Just like a house, there are many rooms: Area 1 – Place where an active stop happens, I stop and turn around, I look at the view of the city, and I take a deep breath on the way to the castle.

It´s the one space I remember, eventually the one that I communicate as a meeting point.

Legend: Welcome area (see Project chapter - example 1) Area 2 – It´s a starting point to the way to the castle, it has a nice view and interesting construction techniques. It is protected by the mountain, intimate but at the same time very accessible.

Legend: Refreshment area (possibility of create a spot for refreshment like a picnic table, an open kitchen or a small local restaurant)

Area 3 – One of these ruin is in use by Marian, who takes care of some chickens and rabbits for his personal use and food production.

Legend: Working units (possibility of increasing the productive function of these units)

Area 4 – These ruins are very bad mantained. They have no interesting construction techniques and are very inaccessible.

The mountain is near with fascinating black rocks.

Legend: The garden (possibility of tearing down the ruins and letting the nature grow again in the space)

Area 5 – These ruins are more isolated. They have a nice view looking at the mountain, but not to the city. One of the units is inhabited, electric and water connection exist. There is a street light. It seems like a place for meditation.

Legend: The resting area (possibility for creating some artists´ residences or a small guest house or b&b)

Area 6 – Next to Centro Negra, used chaotically as a storage for big and not very valuable tools and materials. Has different spaces that are easy to be closed. It is very accessible by the people visiting centro negra for an exhibition or a festival.

Legend: The open storage (see Project chapter - example 2)

LEgend:

General plan

area 6

area 1

area 2

area 3 area 4

area 5

N

approaches Use what you find in the place Materials, construction techniques, uses and memories.

Consider things in their totality Don't use an anthropocentric vision: what about the chickens?

Re-organize for a better use Classify the stored objects and organize them by their dimension, the density of use and for how valuable they are.

Do the same with the rest, dust included.

Allow multiple uses without giving a specific function, free interpretation of multifunctionality Can a storage be used for anything other than storing? How can a space create the possibilities for different uses without naming a specific function?

Be open to the others and to the otherness

example 1 -

a

b

present situation The plot choosen for developing a detailed project is midway en- route to the castle.

It is basically composed by the ruins of three chicken coops, along the steps and wedged into the mountainside.

The roofs are completely lost, and the remaining walls form three different rooms. Two of these spaces (A and C) have completely collapsed and are full of rubble, without any interesting features remaining.

The third room (B), more hidden from view, is in a slightly better state and has a different layout , as it appears to be on two levels that reminds us of two terraces.

c While for the room C we can't think of an immediate accessibility due to the precarious conditions of the walls, in the room A we can perceive a space more connected with the natural environment, thanks also to the ruined path that runs between the north wall and the mountainside.

Room B already offers a more intimate space, and in the smaller terrace we discover a wonderful point of view towards Blanca, perfectly framed in a doorframe. On the bigger terrace there are two structures still standing that may be functional after a proper restoration.

Another issue is posed about the stairway, as there is no possibility to have a break near the steps, where the black sharp rock doesn't allow to sit for a rest.

the welcome area

global concept

From RUINS....

The ruins are an abandoned space which are now forgotten and have declined over time.

However, it is also an opportunity to reuse the space for new and traditional ways of living and learning through the passage of time. We would like to give the tools to intervene in an open design allowing people to use the space in the way they like.

...to 3 ROOMS for: -HUMANS: Rethinking the space for pleasant and desirable activities.

- NATURE: Linking the spaces with the surrounding mountain. An exercise of porosity and permeability with the environment.

-STORIES: A collecting area which reminds the futility of situations and realities.

a container for humans

1. Identification of potential of spaces for pleasure: comfort solarium, intimacy space, inventory space‌ and more.

2. Progressive empathy with spaces.

3. Evolution and multiplicity of possibility of enjoyment.

a container for nature

1. Preparing the space to welcome and to allow the plant growth with small interventions, designed for low or minimum maintenance.

2. Intention is not to interfere with the fertile area, but emphasizing the connection with the mountain and its physical experience by enjoyable and respectful routes.

3. Establishing routes to the mountain and integrating mountain with the plot.

a container for history 1. Collecting the ruin elements and creating clean and clear spaces taking advantage of the terraced layout of the place.

2. New space to stay. Storage of material for future designs.

3. In and out. More space to develop new activities!

a

b

preparation of the space The general approach led us to conceive a project of three distinct rooms in order to empathise the qualities of each of these spaces.

As a fundamental necessity, the two upper rooms (still accessible) should be cleared of all the rubble, which can be stocked in the collapsed room C, that could be designed as a sort of cage cointainer in which the collected material remains in view. We can look at and walk on this cage as a box in which history, stories, memories and dreams are stratified like in an archeological section.

c

For room A the goal is to improve the connection with the natural context but also to prepare the space for a spontaneaous colonization by nature itself. The room opens toward the stairway thanks to the lowering of the west wall. A new soil is prepared layering materials founded on place, like pieces of bricks and stones, in way to allow retention of water in the ground. Also, the visual and physical relation with the mountain is pushed through the curiosity suggesting the possibility of climbing the peripheral wall, action that eventually leads to discover a hidden path and some botanical labels among the xerophyle vegetation.

The room B is treated as a more intimate space that recalls the spaces of a house. The structures are mantained and restored with hints of new functions; the alcove is closed with a curtain to provid a sitting place, some tiles are disposed on the ground as in a patio. Shadow is provided to create a pleasing level of livability.

In the same spirit, some wooden benches cover the rough rocks to allow a moment of break before the ascension till the castle.

future appropriation What about the future use of these rooms?

Will they be truly colonized by nature or humans?

But of course the next step is the appropiation, that means that the space is kept open to any possible transformation, both of function and form.

The garden may evolve to a different ecological step, seeds grow and become trees, new cacti grow on the mountain.

Nearby, the human appropriation of the rooms could apport changes in the uses or simple additions where elements are already satisfactory: someone brings carpets and decides to plant and take care of vegetables. A new roof for the belvedere terrace is built.

The container cage, once the collected materials are recycled in place to create new furnitures or structures, becomes again an empty room for creative use.

The hidden path is now an ineresting itinerary to follow to other chicken coops.

Eventually, a new opening in a wall will allow to create a new space to be filled with life.

details of a possible transformation

Modularity of spaces and functions, suggesting a creative appropriation

THE FLEXI-INVENTORY

THE INTIMACY CABIN

WALLPAPER

Detail of the folding bench

FOLDING BENCH

ARTIFICIAL GRASS version 1

LIGHTS FOR A NICE AMBIENCE

version 2

SPONTANEOUS VEGETATION SAND MIXED WITH STRAW BROKEN CLAY BRICKS BIGGER STONES GROUND LEVEL

LAYERS OF ELEMENTS TO PREPARE A GARDEN MADE BY FOUNDED MATERIALS

Layer of straw from chicken coops (after decomposition is a natural fertilizer element)

Layer of ground or sand

Layer of concrete pieces in different dimensions (from bigger to little ones)

Layer of broken bricks founded on place (creates an non permeable layer)

Views of the interventions, materials

Bird nest made by found plastic pieces.

Idea and realisation by an inhabitant of the area, Rafael

Furniture made by found metal grids and stones

example 2 -

the open storage: NEW horizontalities for actions

1. The urban connection Communicate the location through a mirror game

2. The landmark Increase the visibility, point out the position next to Centro Negra

3. The entrance Point out the door, mark the low level of the door lintel

4. The publicness Lock the door open

5. The discovery clean the space: it is beautiful!

6. Allow possibilities Create surfaces that allow and inspire many different uses: an open storage for materials and ideas where one could sit, lay down, meet, gather, work, expose, eat, party, explore the space.

7. Adjust Repair the stair to allows access where it is not possible at the moment: stimulate the idea of a possible expansion in the surroundings made step by step.

8. Show Exhibit and realize some of the possible uses. Highlight some 'obljects trouvĂŠs' in the museum, show video art in the televisions storage, organize an event, produce things, visualisations.

1. The urban connection

2. The landmark

3. The entrance

4. The publicness

5. The discovery

6. Allow possibilities

7. Adjust

8. Show

present situation

preparation of the space

future use

conclusions Working on PeĂąa Negra has been a fantastic adventure. Thanks to the many discussions and the rich exchange we had between us, with the AADK team and with the guest professors Thilo Folkerts from Berlin and Enrique Nieto from Alicante, we understood that what makes the complex of the Pena Negra interesting is the degree of freedom it offers. This area was built for domestic animals, made by adding and replacing pieces, using a variety of materials.

The spaces guested different functions according to the needs of each historical time and changed continuously in their density.

A place characterized by continuous change, where even its borders are difficult to be recognized, requires a deep analysis of its qualities. What it might be invisible at the first glance, covered by the bad situation in which the area finds itself nowadays, can be recognized through a structured experience, as we tried to offer through the tutors-curated activities during the workshop.

Thanks to the different exercises, the participants concentrated on different perceptive senses, on different scales and founded out the different stories present in the place. The documentation of

the process is documented in the blog www.aadk.es/negra/blog, in this booklet and in the videos we produced.

After this process we started to understand the space and read the area as a complex unit made by defined and specific parts: we were able to describe it through an "observative" general plan. Thanks to the great help and support offered us by AADK Spain, we had the chance to focus on two more defined areas, that we explored in detail and where some of our concepts could be realized.

The two small projects "The welcome area" and "The open storage" developed a common approach in different ways. Both projects try to express freedom in a physical space. In "the welcome area" our attention focused on the attempt to create an holistic approach, where humans, animals,plants and nature all could feel welcome.

The materials found in the place were investigated. Using them in new combinations would allow things to happen: a plant to grow, a bird to find its nest or a person to take a rest.

In "the open storage" we read the problem of a broken and not regular pavement as the main aspect that prevents the space from

being used. This is why repairing it, building some horizontal platforms and cleaning up was, in our opinion, the best way to intervene.

We found it important to realize concretely some small gestures, that mark the beginning of a process of transformation for the whole area. We began repairing one step of a stair. Hopefully the perception of a changed space will stimulate the wish to repair a second step, then a third one and so on.

We locked the entrance door to the space in the open position, to highlight the free access to the space for everybody, everything and every use. The publicness that this space could offer is made possible by its actual state of abandonment and by the appropriations of some of the lots by the municipality. We tried to highlight this particular value, rich of potential, by the gesture of intervining on the entrance door.

We had a very inspiring time in Blanca and in the Centro Negra.

For us those abandoned ruins were already the origin and the location of a great time of sharing, learning, imagining and building.

credits Participants Lorenz Krauth Sarika Jhawar Marta Martini Jesús Sánchez Díaz-Hellín Jana Doudova Giuliana Elia Tutors Sverre Aune, Roberto Carrasco, Greta Colombo, Elena Ferrari, Jorge Bermejo Pascual, Pier Alessio Rizzardi Professors Thilo Folkerts & Enrique Nieto AADK Team Abraham Hurtado, Elena Azzedin, Juan Conesa Collaborators: Mari Luz de las Heras, Alberto Bòdalo, Emilio José Soriano, Rubén Molina Martínez Curators Abraham Hurtado & Lorenza Manfredi

Thanks to: All the participants, AADK Spain, Thilo Folkerts and Enrique Nieto for their time, passion and care, the artists Murilo Henrique, Navina Neverla and Consuelo Tupper, the neighbours and friends Rafael y Rosa, Carmen, Pilar, Jose (Maria JosĂŠ), Pilar, Maria Angeles y Jose Luis, Encarni y Rosa, Jill, Arnoldes, Sedrik, Peni, the Rural Houses de la Navelas.

Thanks for the support to the Municipality of Blanca.

Blanca, a small town huddling at the foot of Peña Negra, a volcanic black rock, is reinventing parts of its structure, helped by impulses from artists’ platform AADK Spain. Part of this process is the rediscovery of the actual potentials of a shrunk city. The workshop Back to life has been a step in further developing these impulses, thought from different fields and points of view.

The workshop was a ten full days experience of common living at Centro Negra, and continuous exchange where both —participants and tutors— thought and created the transformation of a space.

The site exploration process developed through different laboratories and approaches: CONSTRUCTION, MAPS, LANDSCAPE, WALKS, PERFORMANCES, MOVIE MAKING, PEOPLE, VEGETATION. In a final restitution, participants translated the collected information to develop proposals for interventions in the Peña Negra, the old town of Blanca.

Mentors: Thilo Folkerts (Berlin-100Landschaftsarchitektur) and Enrique Nieto (University of Alicante).

Tutors: Sverre Aune, Roberto Carrasco, Greta Colombo, Elena Ferrari, Jorge Bermejo Pascual, Pier Alessio Rizzardi along with the AADK Spain Team, context experts.

Curators: Abraham Hurtado & Lorenza Manfredi

Booklet conception & graphic design by Stellepolari

A group of international participants, young professionals in the creative field, focused on the urban situation where the town meets the steep rocks of the Solan’s range. The area to intervene, consists of set of small informal architectures originally served as micro ‘‘subsistence city’’, mainly used for chicken raising and husbandry. These structures are now almost all abandoned and in various stages of decay.