Sergio Manzano-Fernández

The refurbishment of protected traditional dwellings requires balancing heritage conservation with current demands for habitability, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and economic viability. The aim of this study is to develop a multidimensional comparative framework capable of identifying synergies and trade-offs between these requirements at the scale of individual construction decisions. This framework is applied to a traditional fisherman’s dwelling in the Cabanyal-Canyamelar district of Valencia, refurbished in 2022. Eight construction actions were assessed through four complementary dimensions: heritage compatibility, embodied environmental impacts assessed through Life Cycle Assessment product and transport modules A1–A4 (excluding use, maintenance and end-of-life stages), direct construction costs, and four months of post-intervention hygrothermal monitoring. In this case, conservation, repair and reuse measures generally achieved the most balanced performance and lower initial direct costs than their industrial equivalents, mainly due to reduced expenditure on new materials. In contrast, modification of the courtyard enclosure emerged as the main point of conflict, combining lower heritage compatibility with high embodied environmental impacts and direct cost. Post-intervention monitoring showed greater thermal stability in the east-facing area during the study period, although high relative humidity persisted. The framework makes synergies and conflicts between individual construction decisions explicit without aggregating the dimensions into a single score, thereby supporting more transparent decision-making in protected traditional dwellings.

A pesar del empleo generalizado de la construcción con tierra en el territorio peninsular español, el uso de la tierra amasada como material ha sido observado tradicionalmente como una solución escasamente documentada. El empleo extendido de la misma en localizaciones adyacentes, como Francia o el norte de África, plantea interrogantes en torno a su limitada adscripción territorial desde las sociedades del pasado hasta la actualidad. La presente investigación aborda esta cuestión, en primer lugar, mediante una revisión estadística de bases de datos de arqueología y arquitectura preindustrial, con el objetivo de cuantificar diacrónicamente dicha escasez y aproximarse críticamente a su grado de visibilidad documental. En segundo lugar, mediante la aplicación de análisis estratigráficos a los escasos casos existentes, donde la técnica se manifiesta de forma combinada, como en la barraca valenciana y los entramados de la provincia de Burgos. En conjunto, ello permite cuantificar el actual escenario de dispersión, señalar paralelismos de escasa presencia y visibilidad respecto al registro arqueológico, e incorporar nuevos casos conservados de amasados preindustriales, documentados principalmente como técnica complementaria y de adaptación geométrica. De este modo, se refuerza la hipótesis de un uso marginal que va más allá de la problemática terminológica y de identificación.

Dwellings built from rammed earth in historical contexts represent not only a heritage to be preserved but also buildings with a long service life that are still in use by the local population. Changes in urban dynamics and the revitalization of historic downtown areas have led to an increase in renovations of these buildings. However, in many cases, these projects are carried out using materials and techniques that are structurally incompatible and detrimental to sustainability. The aim of this study is to examine earthen residential architecture in the historical context of the Region of Northwest Murcia (Spain), the resources used in their construction, their building systems and their current condition. To this end, an analysis is proposed based on historical documentation, including an assessment of the costs and energy required for their construction, a visual inspection of the current condition of these buildings, and a study of the relevant building regulations. The study of their cladding, eaves, floor structures and partitions in their current state allows for an assessment of the extent of transformation they have undergone and their state of conservation, whilst the study of the regulations provides insight into recent interventions on these buildings. The results point to rammed earth as a technique that, in historic dwellings of various kinds, combined low economic and energy costs with acceptable durability, allowing them to remain in use several centuries later, albeit under the recent threat of interventions using incompatible materials that are shortening their lifespan.

Earthen construction, widespread over time, continued until the arrival of new materials in the 20th century causing the practice was abandoned in many places. This work studies the case of the region of northwest Murcia, a place that has historically served as a transit point between the southern and eastern regions of the Iberian Peninsula. The research starts with a classification of earthen architecture into three main types: defensive, religious and residential. At this point, the methodology used is based on the parts of the facade in residential architecture, providing an overall analysis of the techniques and variants in relation to their state of conservation and the degree of modern intervention undergone. The aim is therefore to establish a diagnosis of the current situation of earthen architecture in the area based on its typological characteristics, the study of mechanisms that have favoured transformations, and the use of materials, since the disappearance as for the substantial alteration of the volume building. The global approach is the starting point for a later examination of the most representative cases.

Given their lack of original protection, earthen structures in archaeological sites face extremely adverse conditions once they have been exposed to the elements. Their unique construction and age make them systems of great interest, difficult to conserve effectively, while current interventions entail complex conflicts and dichotomies in the field of sustainability, despite the wide spectrum of variables. As reducing maintenance for this type of architecture is inviable without compromising its appearance, in a context of social dissemination among other factors, it requires a balance that is often conditioned by the meteorological characteristics of the enclave, as well as by the topography or geometry of the site and exposed structures. This article aims to apply this approach, based on the case study of the archaeology of Coll del Moro in Gandesa (Tarragona, Spain), for combining different exposed adobe structures and a range of intervention systems in a single physical space over time, as well as geometries capable of increasing the risks of these being affected. This aims to elicit a qualitative reflection observing the results of the different solutions applied over time, and how these can compromise or reinforce the degree of sustainability for this type of architecture.

The rehabilitation of traditional earthen architecture in Spain currently faces the challenge of reconciling heritage values with sustainability objectives such as energy efficiency, emission reduction, and cost-effectiveness, increasingly applied across the construction sector. Earthen architecture represents significant cultural heritage, offering an opportunity to promote traditional bioclimatic strategies and circular economy practices adapted to the demands posed by climate change. Within the context of the "Earth4Future" research project, which aims to evaluate the rehabilitation of traditional buildings and contemporary earthen construction, this study focuses on identifying intervention dynamics documented in 70 traditional buildings and contemporary applications in 15 newly constructed buildings. A statistical analysis has been conducted on the types of interventions, the compatibility of materials and techniques used, and the primary motivations driving these interventions. The analysis of the contemporary applications examines the type of technique employed in relation to traditional methods and the mechanisms applied for quality control, energy improvement, or cost reduction. The paper ultimately aims to identify patterns of good practices, evaluate the synergies between tradition and innovation, and lay the groundwork for sustainable intervention guidelines.