Stays 2020: Mudejar plaster, an element of identity, knowledge and future opportunities

The project Mudéjar plaster, an element of identity, knowledge and opportunities for the future has had a broad scope with the aim of facilitating knowledge for a compatible intervention in the traditional architecture of Mudéjar villages.

The objectives have been, on the one hand, to disseminate the true role of plaster in traditional Aragonese architecture, carrying out a study and quantification of the construction systems and techniques carried out with traditional plaster in the villages of the Mudejar territory, both in popular architecture and in monumental architecture. And secondly, to study the composition of a plaster that can be manufactured nowadays and that preserves the legacy received, allowing the reactivation of some of the quarries studied and fixing the population in the rural environment, for its reintroduction in contemporary architecture or for restoration and rehabilitation; including the analysis of its economic, social and sustainable viability, returning it to some of the uses it had in the past.

The municipalities that took part in this study were Aniñón, Borja, Calatayud, Daroca, Fuentes de Ebro, La Almunia de Doña Godina, Maluenda, Quinto de Ebro, Ricla, San Mateo de Gállego, Tauste, Terrer, Tobed, Villa de Jiloca, Villafeliche, Villamayor de Gállego and Zuera.

During the study of these municipalities, the construction typologies executed with traditional plaster in old and recent constructions have been identified, locating major aspects that coincide between the municipalities in the versatility of the use of plaster, both in interior cladding, façade applications, exterior decorations, flooring and structural elements until the great change that construction underwent between 1950-1970 with the arrival of modern materials, relegating traditional materials to oblivion.

Mineralogical studies of Mudéjar plaster have revealed the presence of hydraulic phases in Mudéjar plaster (which was fired at very high temperatures), making these plasters much more resistant to stress than modern plasters, which are fired at very low temperatures.

With this contribution of knowledge about this traditional material, the importance of preserving the legacy and knowledge of making Mudejar plaster, a process that remained unchanged until the mid-20th century when the link of knowledge passed down and refined over many generations was broken.

LINE OF RESEARCH: New Perspectives

AUTHORS:

Project coordinator: Pedro Bel Anzué. Environmental Architecture.

Principal Investigators: Marta Monzón Chavarrías (University of Zaragoza), Kerstin Elert (University of Granada), José Manuel López Osorio (University of Málaga), David Sanz Arauz (Polytechnic University of Madrid).

Advisors linked to the project: Ramón Rubio Domene (Alhambra, Granada) and Antonio Almagro Gorbea (Escuela de Estudios Árabes-CSIC).

Stays 2020: Mudejar heritage and agricultural calendar: the poetics of landscape. Design and programming of pilot experiences for visits during the seasons of the year.

The Mudejar heritage and agrarian calendar project aims to complement the current cultural programming in the territory by designing, creating and evaluating events in which this is of special importance. In this way, it allows not only direct contact with it for those who visit it, but also the interpretation of the agricultural landscape as an irreplaceable piece of identity. This also makes it possible to involve the local communities by highlighting the work on the land and the traditional agricultural product. With Aragonese Mudejar art as the guiding thread and with the agricultural landscape and traditional agricultural activities as the thematic criterion for the actions, the agricultural calendar is the backbone that allows the activities to be developed in an orderly manner and with a reasoned criterion.

In this first phase, the project has focused on diagnosing needs and interpreting the work area with a methodology that includes participant observation to identify the possibilities of linkage and the spatial and temporal articulation between the agrarian and architectural heritage assets and the agrarian calendar. This has made it possible – conditioned by the pandemic that has restricted mobility and access to certain localities at specific times when it was sometimes imperative due to the agricultural calendar (flowering, harvesting, etc.) – to know and understand the possible variables of action depending on the areas worked on.

These spaces are unique due to their differences in cultivation and the resulting landscape within the territory, which have so far been determined in a remarkable way with regard to the valleys that make up the Mudéjar Territory area by means of field trips and the production of materials in situ in the Jalón valley (Ricla, La Almunia de Doña Godina and Cabañas), the Ribota valley (Aniñón, Torralba de Ribota and Cervera de la Cañada) and the Huerva valley (Villar de los Navarros and Romanos). Finally, mention should be made of the Jalón-Jiloca valley with the towns of Maluenda, Morata de Jiloca and Villafeliche. Another of the areas analysed, in this case from an exclusively documentary perspective as a way of partially resolving the shortcomings caused by the interruptions in fieldwork mentioned above, was the Huerva valley. In this way, the localities of Cosuenda and Longares were the main object of the bibliographical data collection.

On the basis of this work and the adjustment of future work, especially organised with a view to resolving possible mobility restrictions, the actions aimed at testing and evaluating the first en route projects planned, which are aimed at promoting public access, interpretation and enjoyment of the Mudejar cultural landscape, made up of values such as its architecture, the different areas of agricultural production and the seasonal processes inherent to human activity in them, will now be derived from this work. Likewise, dissemination through Territorio Mudéjar, aimed at a better understanding of the importance of the agricultural landscape as an asset and part of the community, has been rethought from the perspective of anticipation in order to achieve a greater presence in the networks than has been achieved to date due to the current socio-health circumstances.

LINE OF RESEARCH: it can be framed within the double line of research Mudejar Territory and cultural landscape and the management of cultural heritage.

THE AUTHORS:

  • Juan Ignacio Santos Rodríguez, coordinator of the project, holds a PhD in Art History and is a specialist in cultural management.
  • Elvira del Pilar Domínguez Castro has a degree in Art History and is an independent cultural manager.
 

Stays 2020: New models of cultural management and funding for restoration projects of Mudejar civil-monumental buildings in the province of Zaragoza

Taking as a starting point the previous research work of this team Study of Mudejar civil architecture in the regions of Borja, Aranda, Calatayud and Daroca and its efficient management, this new research project, entitled New models of Cultural Management and Financing for restoration projects of Mudejar civil-monumental buildings in the province of Zaragoza, seeks to expand on what has already been studied and develop a preliminary project focused on the practical part.

The core of the work has focused on the house-palace of the Luna family in Daroca, a Mudejar civil building in which Don Pedro de Luna, better known as “Papa Luna”, lived. This building is now in disuse. This research seeks a functional solution for this building that justifies its restoration, respecting its original structure and distribution as far as possible, extending its use over time and allowing it to be a self-sufficient, self-financing and useful building.

After the work of study, research, fieldwork, various proposals and meetings with the Fundación Campo de Daroca (owner of most of the building), the town council of Daroca, and the architect-visitor Javier Ibargüen, the proposal to convert this emblematic building into the new archive-library of the regional capital was accepted. With this decision, the objectives of conservation, utility and self-sufficiency were achieved. The original structure and layout would be maintained, as the available space was more than sufficient, cultural purposes would be promoted as an attraction for the region and, in addition, employment would be created, as cultural activities would be carried out in the centre itself.

In order to carry out this mission, a working methodology has been developed that will address it in several phases:

  1. Study of the building and development of a master plan to verify the needs of the building for its restoration and adaptation to the management project that was decided to be carried out on it. This work was done in collaboration with the architect Javier Ibargüen, and on the basis of the previous studies he had already carried out on the palace.
  2. Study of the possibilities that the building offered for its second life, trying to respect as much as possible its original structure and distribution. The study was carried out in collaboration with the Campo de Daroca Foundation and the local town council. In order to make the best possible decision, the management of this use and the benefits that would be obtained through it were assessed.
  3. Development of the final draft project and calculation of the budget for the work, for which a search for different sources of funding would be sought.
  4. Finally, with the support of public and/or private entities, workers would be hired to carry out the restoration work and those required by the new function of the building.

The work objectives were always twofold: the study of the building and its architectural characteristics and the search for appropriate uses, linked to the historical-cultural interest, and its good management, always pointing out self-sufficiency and self-financing as the main aims, as well as its continued use over time, trying to respect the original structure and distribution.

LINE OF RESEARCH: (3 Cultural heritage management.

AUTHORS:

  • Marta López Veamonte, art historian.
  • Ricardo Monreal Lafuente, art historian.
 

Rooms 2020: Loqui Walls. The walls speak. Podcast to give voice to the territory

The research stay Loqui Walls. The walls speak. Podcast to give voice to the territory has proposed the creation of a communication project of the Mudejar territory through a series of thematic podcasts that promote, encourage and complement the visit to the territory.

The starting hypothesis was that the combination of the unstoppable and undeniable use of mobile technologies with the current health situation meant that some localities needed to be reoriented towards a more autonomous and spaced tourism, both in terms of physical distance and time, so a priori this methodology seemed to be the right one to be able to provide service to travellers at any time of the day and, above all, any day of the week.

These podcasts are in no way intended to replace the experience of a guided tour in situ by a specialist, but given that these are generally limited to the main monuments, they are intended to complement and enrich both the prior preparation and the subsequent experience, proposing a series of routes through the territory and additional information about the localities and the possible activities to be carried out in them or in other nearby places.

To this end, a first phase of research was carried out in collaboration with the internship students of the Desafío Programme, in which four possible thematic axes were identified for structuring the first podcasts, which also served as a pilot for the project.

  1. The birth of Mudejar
  2. The keys to the Mudejar style
  3. Mixed race and border
  4. World Heritage

The idea has been to develop the podcast channel under these three objectives:

  • As an enhancer of “derived” visits. That is to say, that through this medium, localities that receive fewer visitors can acquire greater visibility by offering themselves as a complement to visits to other towns that today have a more developed tourist infrastructure.
  • As a complement to other visits already underway within the same locality and whose effectiveness has been proven. To be able to work along the lines of complementarity within the same locality and increase the number of places visited and the time spent in the localities.
  • Proposing routes between nearby locations, thus creating a network between places with similar communication needs that can benefit synergistically.

In the testing and corrections phase during its implementation, an active collaboration of the inhabitants of the territory was foreseen, but the current health situation has led to transfer part of this work to online formats, with some activities pending that will be carried out as soon as the situation allows.

The fundamental objective has been that this research work and its subsequent implementation, available both through the Territorio Mudéjar website and through different commercial channels, should serve not only to activate this specific initiative, but also to create guidelines that, based on the previous research, the pilot implementation and its start-up, testing, corrections, etc. (which are a fundamental phase of this stay), constitute a reference both in terms of content and at a technical level that can be used in the rest of the towns and villages in the territory. The objective is to promote this communication system which, at the moment, seems to be a possible way of developing sustainable tourism with possibilities for the future.

In this sense, a technical guide has been produced that explains how to convert audio files, how to add metadata to podcasts to facilitate their location in different repositories, how to analyse the commercial platforms available on the market, and how to create guidelines for text style, length and content architecture, to allow for proper voiceover, dissemination and understanding of the content.

RESEARCH LINE: Corresponds to the lines of cultural heritage management and communication and dissemination.

THE AUTHORS:

  • Gianluca Vita, Politecnico di Milano.
  • Irene Ruiz, Politecnico di Torino and University of Zaragoza.
  • Marco Marcellini, expert in new technologies.

More information in:
www.territoriomudejar.es/podcast/

Estancias 2020: Mudejar woodwork. Guide to historic woodwork in the towns of Territorio Mudéjar.

The Mudéjar Wood project presents an online video-publication as an exhaustive guide to all the manifestations of historic carpentry located in the towns of Mudéjar Territory.

The research stay began with a visit to the twelve localities with Mudejar carpentry works: Torralba de Ribota, Tobed, Cervera de la Cañada, Maluenda, Mesones de Isuela, La Almunia, Calatayud, Daroca, Illueca, Aniñón, Alagón and Borja. In this first phase of fieldwork, each of the pieces was examined in depth by Ángel María Martín (Avila, 1963), a professional with more than 20 years of experience in the world of Spanish historical carpentry in the fields of restoration, new works and training.

In a second phase, explanatory videos were made on the technical and stylistic characteristics of the works and photographs were taken to illustrate the online publication. Subsequently, the edition was completed with documentation and research work in the bibliography and archives on the historical trajectory of each work, from its construction to the present day, including the different restoration and conservation processes. Finally, a glossary of key terms in architecture and historical carpentry has been compiled to make it easier to follow the explanations.

The aim of the stay and the resulting publication has been to communicate and highlight the artistic manifestations in wood, authentic hidden gems of Aragonese Mudejar art. Data on Mudejar heritage has been updated and knowledge of the traditional techniques of Mudejar carpentry has been promoted from a structural, constructive and stylistic point of view, in each of the typologies analysed: alfarjes, a ceiling with a framework of limes, two doors and a carrillón.

The project closes with three reflections that seem to us to be unquestionable:

  • Firstly, that despite the progress made and the extraordinary achievements of the last few decades, there is still a need to continue with the task of disseminating and enhancing the value of Aragon’s Mudejar heritage, contributing to its protection and conservation.
  • It is noted that in rural areas, far from large population centres, it is increasingly difficult to understand and value cultural heritage.
  • That wood, along with brick, ceramics and plaster, was also a material used in Aragonese Mudejar art is demonstrated by the valuable examples of its application in a good number of towns in the Mudejar Territory.

LINE OF RESEARCH: (4) Communication and dissemination of Mudejar heritage

AUTHORS: The project team consisted of Myriam Monterde and José Manuel Herraiz, as coordinators; Ángel María Martín, specialist in historical carpentry; Sara Gimeno as documentalist and Emilio Gazo as assistant video and photography technician.

More info: www.estancias2020maderamudejar.territoriomudejar.es/

Call for internships through the Challenge Programme

    Territorio Mudéjar offers internships for students of the Art History Degree, the Master’s Degree in Cultural Heritage Management, Communication and
    Geography and Territorial Planning thanks to the Challenge Programme, popularly known as ‘rural Erasmus’, financed by the Council of Zaragoza and
    managed by the University of Zaragoza. This initiative aims to improve the learning and personal development of students, to facilitate that talent arrives and stays in rural areas and to implement policies and develop projects from a new perspective based on innovation and cooperation between institutions.

    This is the third call in which we participate. “We work on projects focused on professional profiles linked to eritage in a transversal way. In other words, they are not only open to the humanities, but also cover other fields such as communication, architecture, engineering, education…”, explained the director of Territorio Mudéjar, Victoria Trasobares.

    WHERE TO REGISTER?

    http://www.unizar.es/universa/inscripcion-online/

    WHEN WILL THE INTERNSHIPS TAKE PLACE? From 15 July to 15 December 2021.

    WHERE? The internships will take place in Tobed, the headquarters of Territorio Mudéjar, three days a week to be determined from 10.00 to 14.00, and two days
    in the partner villages where they are assigned to carry out the tasks from 11.00
    to 14.00.

    HOW ARE THEY ORGANISED?

    •The internships begin with a preparatory course of 40 hours of introduction to the management of historical-artistic monuments: strategy, conservation, accessibility, dissemination, etc.

    • It continues with an applied project of 20 hours per week.

    PURPOSES

    • Participation in the pilot project “Territorio Mudéjar 20th anniversary World Heritage”.

    • The student will learn to be responsible for the tasks involved in managing the accessibility and dissemination of different historical-artistic monuments linked to Territorio Mudéjar.

    • Preparation of spatial itineraries, complementary dissemination activities, administrative management of materials necessary for the development of the
    cultural information activity, economic management of activities, preparation of reports and quality control of the activity.

    REQUIREMENTS

    • Students enrolled in the 19/20 academic year, with 90 credits passed for undergraduate students (enrolment at https://universa.unizar.es/inscripcion-online/) or graduates in the last three years.

    • Areas: Degree in Art History, History; Master’s Degree in Cultural Heritage Management, Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Art History, Master’s Degree in Territorial Planning and Environment.

    • Knowledge of Mudejar art, Aragonese art, Islamic art, medieval art and architecture. Management and dissemination of cultural heritage or similar.

    • Driving licence and available vehicle (important).

    • Languages: English and/or French (desirable but not essential).

    Key bibliography for understanding Mudejarism in Aragon

      Territorio Mudéjar has launched this April, on the occasion of the Book Day, an initiative to deepen the learning of Mudejar culture through a compilation of bibliography on Mudejarism. Over the coming months, Territorio Mudéjar will publish a weekly bibliographical recommendation on the social networks that will serve as a tool for learning, research and dissemination. The list will also be updated on this website.

      The first issue was “Arte mudéjar aragonés” (Aragonese Mudejar art) by José Galiay Sarañana, published in 2002 by the Institución Fernando el Católico. This work is a facsimile reproduction of Galiay’s 1950 edition and is edited by Gonzalo M. Borrás Gualis and Ricardo Centellas Salamero, who also wrote the prefaces to it.

      In the first pages, Centellas writes about the Arabised Spaniards, Mudejars of the 20th century, and deals with the figure of José Galiay “between regenerationism and academic erudition”. For his part, Borrás provides a context for Mudejar historiography, both Spanish and Aragonese, so that the scholar has some elements of judgement to evaluate the book.

      In Galiay’s facsimile we find details on the Christian Reconquest; the characteristics of Mudejar art; the particularities of the Aragonese branch; names of artists and dates of Mudejar works; architectural classification; ceramics as a decorative element; interior decoration of monuments; Mudejar wood; Mudejar art in bookbinding.

      Facsimile reproduction of the book available here.

      The second key work chosen to understand Mudejarism in our region was “El arte mudéjar aragonés” (Aragonese Mudejar art) by Gonzalo M. Borrás Gualis. Published by Guara Editorial and with drawings by Vicente González Hernández. This is an interpretative essay on Aragonese Mudejar art that includes in its essential lines the contribution of previous research, in some cases fundamental, such as that of Leopoldo Torres Balbás, Francisco Iñiguez Almech and Fernando Chueca Goitia, for example, as well as that of José Galiay. Moreover, it constantly points out aspects to be explored, seeking to serve as a spur and stimulus for new and long-awaited studies.

      The book begins with a chapter on the Aragonese Mudejar in the context of the Hispanic Mudejar, continues with an analysis of Mudejar art and society (population, social status, master builders…), continues with an artistic characterisation of the Mudejar and deals with other topics such as religious Mudejar architecture, bell towers and Mudejar carpentry.

      The book is available here.

      Rural school in motion: evaluation and proposal session

        This week, the team and groups that make up the project “Rural school in motion” met in order to evaluate the results of the training course for rural school teachers that finished on March 22nd. The initiative has been a success in terms of participation and has allowed us to collect proposals for strategic lines to introduce the Mudejar heritage identity in schools beyond the artistic subjects.

        This initiative has been made possible thanks to the teachers who have participated in this project and to the general directorate of education of the Government of Aragon through the Teacher Training programmes.The Government of Aragon,

        which has given us support for the first action of the project at the Centro de Profesorado María de Ávila with the magnificent coordination of Minerva Salanova Muñoz.

        We are still working to develop more actions within this initiative, which we will be detailing, among them: conferences for families and local agents and group visits.

        “Rural school in motion” is a cooperation project between rural development groups coordinated by the ADRI Calatayud-Aranda group, together with Cedemar, Adefo Cinco Villas, Asomo Moncayo, Adrae Comarca Alta del Ebro, Fedivalca y Adri Jiloca Gallocanta, and financed by the Government of Aragon through the Leader programme and the Provincial Council of Zaragoza through the Territorio Mudéjar association, as a private collaborating entity that manages the implementation and execution of the initiative.

        More information about the .

        Third MOMAr meeting: exchange of international good practices

          The pedagogical nature and the use of new technologies in the field of heritage management were the focus of the third interregional meeting of the European project MOMAr (IEEE3 From theory to practice.Experimental Models of Management Tested) in which we have participated this week as an attending “stakeholder”.

          This event has allowed us to learn and be inspired by the initiatives that are being carried out in the field of Management of Singular Rural Heritage in all the countries participating in the project. This meeting has also allowed the use of cultural and natural spaces for the direct benefit and enjoyment of the population.

          Thus, the Daroca Town Hall announced the International Early Music Festival, which, with almost half a century of history, has become a world reference. Both training courses and concerts are attended every year by hundreds of professionals and lovers of early music from all over the world. It is a meeting that brings together the immense local architectural and historical heritage with international art and culture. The festival’s director, Javier Artigas, took the opportunity to confirm that this year’s edition will take place from 3 to 10 August. The broadcast of this experience was made from the church of San Miguel.

          Territorio Mudéjar Routes: Mestizo Land and borderland

            Territorio Mudéjar continues with its routes.In January we offered a first panoramic approach in the magazine La magia de viajar por Aragón (The magic of travelling in Aragon); in this new issue, the “Mestizo Land and borderland” route takes us to visit the places where the Christian, Jewish and Muslim cultures developed in an extraordinary and lasting way.

            We will be able to understand how this period of cultural fusion is still clearly reflected today in urbanism, the country houses and monuments of these villages that played an important role in the Aragonese territory during the 12th and 13th centuries.

            We will discover it in the Jewish, Moorish and Christian quarters of large urban centres such as Calatayud, Daroca and Borja, as well as in more rural towns such as Villafeliche, Mesones de Isuela, Torrellas, Magallón and Tauste.

            We invite you to take a leisurely stroll and a fresh look to recognise the vestiges of this rich coexistence of cultures, to understand their evolution, ways of life, trades and traditions, and to understand their historical importance and their reflection in the present day.

            Find out more about the route.