From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville

http://disegnarecon.univaq.it volume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 María Núñez-González PhD in Architecture and MsC in Architecture and Historical Heritage at University of Seville. Member of two R+D National Projects at University of Granada and of the research group Expregráfica at University of Seville. She has authored many books, articles and conferences on the domestic architecture in the 16th and 17th Centuries in Seville. From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville Seville experienced great splendour during the 16th Century as the European centre for trade with the Americas. At that time, religious institutions and charitable hospitals gathered significant real-estate heritage. To facilitate its management, literary documents called apeos were drawn up, which exhaustively and reliably described the main architectural features of the buildings, including their general measurements. In this research, approximately 1,700 of these apeos , conserved in various archives of Seville, are studied. A new methodology of architectural graphic analysis has been followed in order to understand the organisation of spaces in 16th Century Sevillian domestic life: historical texts have been turned into drawings. In addition, information on the architectural elements described has been compiled using databases. To draw the plans, it was necessary to locate the current lot of each prop- Keywords: Seville; 16th Century; houses; classification; architectural drawing Antonio Gámiz-Gordo PhD in Architecture and Profesor Titular at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Sevilla. Since 2015 he has led the research group ‘Expregráfica. Lugar, Arquitectura y Dibujo’. He has authored many books, articles and conferences on drawing and analysis of architecture, the city and the landscape, and its graphic sources throughout history. erty. In certain cases, schematic elevations and volumes have also been drawn. By taking into account the uses and areas, a typological classification into four groups has been made: houses, courtyard tenement housing, inns, and shops. Their main architectural characteristics have been identified through the application of comparative graphic diagrams. Finally, all the information has been superimposed over street plans of the city after considering its urban evolution. In this way, different items of data have been spatially related and a global vision of the transformations and permanence over time is provided. The investigation remains open since many apeos from the 16th and 17th Centuries have yet to be studied, plus several buildings that are still standing today. 4.2 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO http://disegnarecon.univaq.it From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 1. INTRODUCTION, OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY Seville experienced great splendour during the 16th Century as a centre of trade with the Americas. That moment is summed up in a popular saying that claims: “He who Seville has not seen, Has not seen a marvel great”, which, along with views of the city, is included in the so-called Civitates Or- bis Terrarum . This important atlas from the end of the 16th Century compiled more than five hundred views of cities around the world (Gámiz-Gordo/ Díaz, 2019) (fig. 1). This phrase also appeared in other later engravings that illustrated the prosperity of the city and spread the image of Seville as a universal city. In that context, the religious institutions of Seville accumulated a significant real-estate heritage that comprised a high proportion of the city dwellings (Collantes de Terán, 2008). Given the importance of the economic income from the leases, literary documents (called apeos ) were written to facilitate their management. They were drawn up by master builders ( alarifes ) who described the buildings in a meticulous and reliable way, and included measurements and sometimes simple drawings. As a documentary base for this research, approximately 1,700 apeos, collected in books in various archives of Seville, have been carefully analysed and studied. These written records of buildings belong to the Cathedral and the charitable hospitals of Amor de Dios, Bubas, Las Cinco Llagas, Cardenal, and of Espíritu Santo (Núñez-González, 2016b) (fig. 2). The objective of this research involves the graphic interpretation of these written descriptive records Fig. 1 - View of Seville in Civitates Orbis Terrarum , Volume IV (1588). Source: Author’s archive. Fig. 2 - Fragments of the books of apeos of the Cathedral and the Hospitals of Cardenal, Bubas and Las Cinco Llagas (16th Century). Source: Seville Cathedral Archive and Archive of the Diputación de Sevilla . 4.3 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO http://disegnarecon.univaq.it From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 of houses, in order to analyse and classify the 16th Century domestic architecture in Seville. A new methodology has been developed: schematic graphic reconstructions have been carried out from the literary descriptions with hypotheses of plans and sometimes elevations and 3D recreations when there is sufficient data. In order to draw each building, it was necessary to locate its current lot. Many times this has not been an easy task since the area of lots in Seville presents many geometric irregularities and has suffered countless alterations over the centuries. Furthermore, to characterise each 16th-Century property, a database has been created with information extracted from the texts. The terms used by the master builders regarding the Sevillian architecture of that time have also been compiled. Regarding the uses and areas, a typological classification has been made into four groups: houses, courtyard tenement housing, inns, and shops. It was intended to identify their main characteristics and draw comparative graphic diagrams. In order to offer an overview, finally all the data of the 16th Century has been superimposed over the urban plan of the city. Among the previous research consulted on domestic architecture in Seville, it is worth highlighting the work on its palatial houses (Falcón, 2012; Manzano, 1996) and on a large number of houses that have since partially disappeared (Collantes de Terán and Gómez, 1976; Sierra, 1980; Sierra, 1996). Publications have been reviewed regarding the construction of the city (Barrionuevo and Torres, 1978), the fragmentation of the dwelling unit (Trillo, 1992), housing and the city in the 19th and 20th Centuries (González, 1985), and regarding the courtyard tenement housing (Morales, 1974). The Historical Dictionary of the Streets of Seville (Collantes et al., 1993) and the collection of historical plans of the city (Cortés; García and Zoido, 1985) have also been consulted. As direct antecedents of this work, it is worth highlighting recent publications on 16th-Cen- tury Sevillian architecture (Núñez-González, 2012; Núñez-González, 2016a; Núñez-González, 2016b; Núñez-González, 2018; Núñez-González, 2019a; Núñez-González, 2019b) and two studies that analyse a survey of the Sevillian Renaissance Pinelo palace in 1542 (Barrero-Ortega and Gámiz-Gordo, 2020a; Barrero-Ortega and Gámiz-Gordo, 2020b). Other research on domestic architecture and its documentary sources in Granada (Orihuela, 1996; Orihuela, 2007) and Toledo (Passini, 2004) has been taken into consideration. A book about the medieval house and another on the domestic life in the 15th and 16th Centuries (Díez and Navarro, 2015; Díez, 2019) have also been consulted. Work on the graphic restitution of the cities of Madrid (Ortega, 2016) and Valladolid (Carazo, 2010) have been studied, as have classic books on the architecture of the city (Rossi, 1966). 2. GRAPHIC HYPOTHESIS FROM 16TH CENTURY TEXTS As a first step, literary sources from the 16th Century were located in different archives of Seville. These were subsequently transcribed and studied in terms of evaluating the descriptions of architectural elements and the general measures included. The information related to the location (e.g., neighbourhood, street, and boundaries), tenant (name, occupation, etc.), uses thereof, and other relevant data has been entered into a database (fig. 3). In this way, the buildings and their distribution in terms of their neighbourhood have been initially accounted for. A higher number of these buildings have been detected in the Santa María la Mayor, La Magdalena, San Salvador, and Omnium Sanctorum quarters. Fig. 3 - Screenshot of the database of spaces (name or use, storey, doors, length and width (in Castilian yards), ceiling, type of roof, and other details). Source: Author’s own. 4.4 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO http://disegnarecon.univaq.it From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 The buildings were predominantly used as residences. In addition to housing, other uses have been documented, sometimes mixed: bakery-houses, bakeries, shops, shop-houses, workshop-houses, warehouses, wineries, flour mills, apothecary-houses, apothecaries, butcher-shops, inns, courtyard tenement housing, gardens, yards, and kitchen services. Data has also been compiled on each property, including the names or uses of its rooms, number of floors, length and width of spaces, types of doors and windows, roofs and ceilings, and also stairs, wells, chimneys, drains, and pools. Basic representation criteria have been used to draw the graphic hypotheses. Each drawing includes the graphic scale in Castilian yards, which was the common unit of measurement in Seville at the time, whereby one Castilian yard equals 0.836 m. The texts rarely offer data on the width of walls. For this reason, in order to draw them it has been necessary to estimate their thickness as half a Castilian yard (1.5 feet or 0.42 m) and occasionally two-thirds of a Castilian yard (2 feet or 0.56 m). The columns were usually one brick or one and a half bricks thick (one brick equals one foot) and the parapets on the rooftops were one brick thick. Often the texts fail to indicate the position and the morphology of the stairs, although in the process of drawing their locations, this has been deduced in the majority of cases. The spaces have been identified in the plans with abbreviations of the name that appears in the written descriptive records: ALC ( alcoba or alcobilla – bedroom), APO ( aposento – room), AZO ( azotea – rooftop), BAL ( balcón – balcony), CAB ( caballeriza – stable), CAL ( callejón – alley), CAM ( cámara or camareta – chamber), CP ( casapuerta – entrance hall), CP-T ( casatienda – house-shop), COC ( cocina – kitchen), COR ( corral – cattle pen), CUA ( cuadra – stable/room), ENT ( entresuelo – mezzanine), PAL ( palacio – room), PAT ( patio – courtyard), PIE ( pieza – room with undefined use), POR ( portal – doorway/arcade), REC ( recibimien- to – doorway sometimes uncovered), SLET ( servicio de letrina – latrine), SOB ( soberado – upper Fig. 4 - Graphic hypothesis of houses in Escobas Street (left) and in Abades Street (right). Source: Author’s own. Fig. 5 - Hypothetical virtual recreation of the house located on Segovias Street (left: view from above; right: vertical section). Source: Author’s own. 4.5 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO http://disegnarecon.univaq.it From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 floor), TIE ( tienda – shop), and ZAG ( azaguán – entrance hall) (fig. 4). Symbols or letters have also been used to refer to other elements cited in the texts: O (wells), P (pools or fountains), CH (fireplaces or chimneys), L (toilets or latrines); S (drains); H (ovens); N (waterwheels). The roofs have been represented with striped shading and an arrow with the hypothesis of their slope (almost never indicated in the texts). In order to avoid an excessive number of symbols in the plans, it has been decided to omit references to certain characteristics of floors or ceilings, such as the number of beams. 3. 3D-MODEL VIEWS Regarding the drawing of elevations, sections, and volumes, it should be borne in mind that the texts rarely include references to the height of the spaces and to the dimensions of doors and windows, balconies, and parapets. This has made it difficult to prepare elevations and/or cross-sections. In certain cases, hypotheses have been formulated taking existing heights in 16th–Century buildings as reference that remain at least partially preserved. It should be taken into account that, at that time in Seville, the presence of windows facing the street was scarce, except on façades located in commercial areas. The analysis of other documentary sources, such as new construction building contracts, has, in certain cases, offered valuable data on the general design in terms of the structure, façades, treatment of patios, and finishes, etc. As an example, a hypothetical virtual recreation has been possible in the house located on Segovias Street, because the building still exists with certain transformations (fig. 5). A 3D recreation has also been made for a building in Alemanes Street, next to the Cathedral, which maintains its arcaded structure from that time. Although the brick columns were replaced by pillars, the design is similar today: shops on the ground floor with doors and counters open to the outside; and small windows on high floors that in Fig. 6 - Elevation, ground plans, and 3D recreation of the first section of Alemanes Street (next to the Cathedral). Source: Author’s own. 4.6 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO http://disegnarecon.univaq.it From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 many cases were turned into balconies in the 17th Century (fig. 6). 4. TYPOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION The architectural typologies are the result of the comparison and classification in order to outline and organise a widely encompassing range of experiences. It involves distinguishing the essential from the accidental, according to different interests. Type can be considered to be the very idea of architecture, which is closer to its essence. The amount of uses and areas described in the texts and compiled in the database has made it possible to characterise, compare, and classify hundreds of properties. These have been grouped into four types (houses, courtyard tenement housing, inns, and shops) whose peculiarities are outlined below. 4.1. Houses Without a doubt, residential use was the most common in city buildings in the 16th Century. Therefore, the type that is repeated the most is that of the house. Understood as a block (single-family or multi-family unit), it is characterised by the area of its lot, the built and useful areas of its floors, by its volumes, lay-outs, structures, construction elements and materials, surfaces, facilities and, above all, by its uses and spaces. After analysing the data regarding the lots, a median area close to 160 m2 was obtained. However, the dimensions and shapes were very diverse and depended on the location of the dwelling in the city. In terms of volumes, the Sevillian house in many cases had two floors plus a roof terrace or flat roof. The entire ground floor often remained unoccupied; approximately one third of the lot corresponded to open spaces: patios, courtyards, cattle pens, or alleys. The built volumes tended to be located next to the street. Regarding uncovered spaces, and after reviewing a great number of cases, their quantity could vary between one and five, according to the size of the house. It could be claimed that the most recurrent type in 16th–Century Seville was the house with only one open space (patio, courtyard, cattle pen, or alley). This space provided the entry of light and ventilation, since windows facing the street were scarce (fig. 7). Information has also been collected on the main spaces that made up the lay-out of the house. In total, about seventy types of spaces have been identified. The most representative are the following: the entrance hall ( casapuerta ), the doorway or arcade ( portal ), the patio or courtyard, the rooms ( palacios ) (including chambers, bedrooms, and other similar spaces), the kitchen, the pantry, the cattle pen or backyard ( corral ), the upper floors and attic ( soberado ) and the roof terrace ( azotea ). In addition, in this analysis of spaces, other singular and non-recurring elements have been considered, such as gardens, orchards, and top-view roofs ( tirasoles ) (fig. 8). The houses usually had an entrance hall, called a casapuerta , which could have many functions. It served as a space that made private life independent from the street, and was frequently used as a stable and in some cases it was linked to a room or small shop. This space was essential and characteristic of the 16th–Century Sevillian house. The separation from the rest of the house was made Fig. 7 - Examples of the typological classification of houses according to the number and position of open spaces. Source: Author’s own. 4.7 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO http://disegnarecon.univaq.it From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 through the so-called “middle door”, which often allowed light to enter. The lay-out was organised around the courtyard, which often had arcades with pillars or columns made of brick or stone (marble). These could be located on one or more of its sides, facing each other or in an L-shape, closed or open, and could lead to corridors on the upper floors. In houses with courtyard corridors, brickwork staircases with wooden handrails to access other levels were described in several cases. The rooms ( palacios ) usually faced the courtyard and were on the ground floor. Upper floors, in general, Fig. 8 - Examples of typological classification of houses according to the number and position of open spaces. Source: Author’s own. are described without a specific use with the term soberado or doblado (doubled). It has therefore been impossible to verify the possible duality in the use of ground and upper floors in winter or summer. At the back of the house was the cattle pen or backyard, sometimes linked to the kitchen, the fireplace or chimney, and often with the latrine. The roof terrace and the single-pitched tiled roof were the most frequent types of roof in Seville. Regardless of the size of the house almost all had some type of roof terrace ( azotea ), small or large. In addition, references have been found regarding many gardens or orchards linked to larger houses. On the other hand, the main construction elements and materials were described, including walls, vertical supports and partitions, ceilings and roofs, stairs, paved areas, decorations, doors and windows, chimneys, and other elements have been identified and analysed. One of the most outstanding features of the 16th-Century Sevillian house is the common use of brick, both in the structural elements and in the finishes and decoration. The crucial subject of water supply, storage, and evacuation has also been analysed. Wells, fountains, piles, basins, waterwheels, pools, drains, and latrines have all been identified. No references to cisterns or other water storage systems have been found in the written records analysed, probably due to the fact that the wells provided sufficient water in the domestic interior. 4.2. Courtyard tenement housing A frequent type of collective residential building in 16th-Century Seville was that of courtyard tenement housing. This typology, consisting of a courtyard surrounded by rooms, was widely dispersed throughout the city. More than twenty-five are documented across all quarters of the city. The residents that inhabited these tenements would be of humble origin or passers-by with temporary accommodation in the city. Its architectural organisation depended on the shape of the lot and the situation in the block. In many cases they were the result of transforming and occupying the free spaces of an already built lot. Other times they were made up of the clogging of the interior of a block, with entrances in the form of walkways or alleys. This derived from the need of the residents to use the empty spaces of an increasingly densified city. Its useful area in many cases was close to 300 m2, a figure much lower than that of famous corrals that are still preserved today, such as the Corral del Conde or the Corral de los Tromperos. According to the descriptions of the written records, this architectural typology was developed on one or two floors with galleries or high corridors around the patio or courtyard. The percentage of 4.8 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO http://disegnarecon.univaq.it From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 areas dedicated to the open spaces was higher in courtyard tenement housing than in houses. In the courtyard, there used to be a well and the common facilities for the residents, such as the kitchen with its fireplace and the latrine. The arrangement of load-bearing walls, wooden posts and the type of stairs, carpentry, railing, and bannisters in the galleries distinguished each case. Thus, for example, the courtyard of La Ballestilla was accessed through the entrance hall ( casapuerta ), and its patio, surrounded by rooms, was paved with brick, had a drain, a well, and a fireplace under a shed. In the courtyard of San Hermenegildo, the lay-out was conditioned by the greater depth of the lot (fig. 9). 4.3. Inns Due to the flourishing trade with the Americas and the significant traffic of people in 16th-Century Seville, this type of temporary housing was of major importance. Although it can be said that certain inns were conceived for such use, most would be the result of the adaptation or grouping of houses into this type of residential buildings. Only seventeen cases have been drawn on this type of property, out of a total of seventy-three identified inns. Most of these were concentrated in the quarters of San Alfonso, San Isidro, Santa Catalina, and, to a lesser extent, Santa María la Mayor and San Salvador. The proportion of open spaces was 18%, which is much lower than that calculated for houses and courtyard tenement housing. The spaces that characterised an inn included the entrance hall ( casapuerta ) (understood as multipurpose space), the arcade, the courtyard, the stables (with mangers for the horses and mules), the rooms and upper floors (for sleeping accommodation), the flat roofs, and the well (fig. 10). 4.4. Shops This typology was associated with the great commercial activity of the city in the 16th Century, as a distribution centre for all kinds of merchandise and goods. Seville was a city of shops understood in a broad sense, as sales outlets and manufacturing workshops. In an architectural sense, the shop was a building typology with its own characteristics. Over 120 shops, 63 house-shops, 11 warehouses, 9 wineries, 8 flour mills, 8 bakeries, plus other uses have been identified, among which butcher shops stand out. Most of these were concentrated in the quarters of Santa María la Mayor (on the border with the port area, Las Gradas, and the Alcaicería Mayor), San Salvador (former Alcaicería, Especierías, and Carnicería Real) (fig. 12), Santa Catalina (with the Corn Exchange of wheat) and the Omnium Sanctorum, in the Plaza de la Feria. From the analysis of the written records, it can be deduced that there are two types of shops, both without open spaces and with a small lot area. These could be illustrated with examples in two locations. The shop buildings on the streets of the Alcaicería had one or two living spaces on the ground floor, a tiled floor, and a front porch. On the other hand, the buildings at Las Gradas had two or three floors with a flat roof in the first section, an inclined tiled roof, and a front arcade on the ground floor. As already mentioned, the shop-houses on Alemanes Street, next to the Cathedral, currently have a commercial use and the shops open onto arcades that still exist today (fig. 6). 5. THE MAP OF THE CITY IN THE 16TH CENTURY As has been stated, in order to rigorously draw each building, it has been necessary to locate its current lot. The sum of everything drawn has made it possible to create a hypothetical urban map that recreates the city of Seville in the 16th Century and opens a new line of research. The chosen scale was that of 1:2000. This has forced us to define many details and to consider the Fig. 9 - Courtyards of La Ballestilla (left) and San Hermenegildo (right). Source: Author’s own. 4.9 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO http://disegnarecon.univaq.it From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 major alterations of the urban fabric and its street alignments reflected in historical maps of the city. In order to draw up the map of the city in the 16th Century, the current urban plan was taken as a basis. The state prior to major interior renovations and alignment changes in the 20th Century has been drawn on this map. To this end, twenty-sev- en maps from 1897 have been used on a scale of 1:2000 taken from the T opographic Works of the Geographical and Statistical Institute of the province of Seville, from the Institute of Statistics and Cartography (fig. 12). These maps have provided the key for the restoration of streets, given their great precision. In addition to containing the alignments that existed at that time, they reflect projects that were planned for execution (in red). Other historical urban maps, dated between 1884 and 1987, have also been consulted that are available in the catalogue of the Map Library of the National Geographic Institute. On the other hand, the names of places, streets, and squares of 16th-Century Seville (several of which are now missing due to multiple interior renovations over the centuries) have been extracted from various documentary sources. The Historical Dictionary of the Streets of Seville has played a vital role in relating historical street names with current names. Hitherto, more than 350 properties have been located in the current urban map. This identification of 16th-Century lots in the current city constitutes a major finding, since it enables the permanence and transformations to be analysed. The creation of the map of Seville in the 16th Century has been gradual and has occurred as lots have been identified through the written records of the buildings studied. It should be noted that the work on the restitution of this urban map remains unfinished, since there are still areas that are currently being completed. Finally, in order to provide an overview, the data collected from the 16th Century has been superimposed over these maps of the city. Urban cartography is therefore available to illustrate the various topics analysed, including the location of houses, courtyard tenement housing, inns, and shops (fig. Fig. 10 - La Rabeta Inn. Source: Author’s own. 4.16 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON http://disegnarecon.univaq.it SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville plantas altas que en muchos casos se convirtieron en balcones en el siglo XVII (fig. 6). 4. CLASIFICACIÓN TIPOLÓGICA Las tipologías arquitectónicas son el resultado de comparar y clasificar con el fin de esquematizar y organizar una amplia experiencia. Se trata de distinguir lo esencial de lo accidental, según intereses diversos. Puede considerarse que el tipo es la idea misma de la arquitectura, lo que está más cerca de su esencia. La cuantificación de usos y superficies descritos en los textos y recopilados en la base de datos ha permitido caracterizar, comparar y clasificar cientos de inmuebles. Estos se han agrupado en cuatro tipos -casas, corrales de vecinos, mesones y tiendascu- yas peculiaridades se reseñan seguidamente. 4.1. Casas Sin duda el uso más común en la ciudad era el residencial. Por ello, el tipo que más se repite es la casa. Entendida como unidad habitacional, unifamiliar o multifamiliar, se caracteriza por la superficie de su parcela, superficie construida y útil, volumen, distribución, estructura, elementos constructivos y materiales, instalaciones y, sobre todo, por sus usos o espacios. Tras revisar los datos sobre las parcelas analizadas, se ha obtenido una superficie media de parcela próxima a los 160 m2, aunque lógicamente las dimensiones y las formas eran muy diversas y dependían de su localización en la ciudad. En cuanto a volúmenes, la casa sevillana disponía en muchos casos de dos plantas más azotea. Normalmente no se ocupaba la totalidad del suelo en planta baja; aproximadamente un tercio de la parcela correspondía a espacios abiertos: patios, corrales o callejones descubiertos. Los volúmenes construidos solían situarse junto a la calle. Respecto a los espacios abiertos o patios, tras revisar un gran número de casos, se ha comprobado que su número podía variar entre uno y cinco según el tamaño de la casa. Puede afirmarse que el tipo más recurrente en la Sevilla del siglo XVI era la casa con un patio descubierto. Dicho espacio era el lugar preferente de entrada de luz y ventilación, pues las ventanas hacia la calle eran escasas, según se ha dicho (fig. 7). También se ha recopilado información sobre los principales espacios que constituían el interior de la casa. En total se ha identificado cerca de setenta tipos de espacios. Los más representativos son los siguientes: la casapuerta, el portal, el patio, los palacios (incluidos aposentos, salas, cámaras y recámaras), la cocina, la despensa, el corral, el soberado y la azotea. Además, en este análisis de espacios se han considerado otros elementos singulares y no recurrentes, como jardines, huertos y tirasoles (fig. 8). Las casas tenían normalmente un vestíbulo de entrada, llamado casapuerta, que podía tener muchas funciones. Servían como espacio que independizaba la vida privada respecto a la calle. Era frecuente su uso como caballeriza y en algunos casos se vinculaba a un aposento o pequeña tienda. Este espacio era esencial y característico de la casa sevillana del siglo XVI. La separación del resto de la casa se hacía mediante la llamada puerta de en medio, que con frecuencia permitía la entrada de luz. El interior se organizaba en torno al patio, que muchas veces tenía pórticos con pilares de ladrillo o columnas de mármol. Estos podían situarse en uno o varios de sus lados, enfrentados o en forma de L, de forma cerrada o abierta, dando lugar a corredores en la planta alta. En algunos casos se describen escaleras de ladrillo con pasamanos de madera para acceder a dichos corredores y plantas altas. Las habitaciones normalmente daban al patio y estaban en planta baja. Las plantas altas, en general son descritas sin un uso determinado con el término soberado o doblado. Por ello, no se ha podido verificar la posible dualidad en el uso de plantas baja y alta en invierno o verano. Al fondo de la casa se encontraba el corral, al que se solía asociar la cocina y la chimenea, y a menudo la letrina. La azotea, junto con el tejado a un agua, eran los tipos de cubierta más frecuentes en Sevilla, independientemente del tamaño de la casa: casi todas tenían algún tipo de azotea, pequeña o grande. Además se han localizado referencias sobre bastantes jardines o huertos ligados a la casa, cuando tenía unas mayores dimensiones. Por otra parte, se han identificado y analizado los principales elementos constructivos y materiales descritos como: muros, soportes verticales y tabiques, forjados y cubiertas, escaleras, suelos, decoraciones, puertas y ventanas, chimeneas y otros. Uno de los rasgos más destacados de la casa del siglo XVI sevillana es la utilización generalizada del ladrillo, tanto en los elementos estructurales como en los acabados y la decoración. También se ha analizado el importante tema del abastecimiento, almacenamiento y evacuación de agua. Se han identificado pozos y fuentes, pilas, piletas y lavaderos, norias, albercas, sumideros y letrinas. No se han encontrado referencias a aljibes u otros sistemas de almacenamiento de agua en los apeos analizados. Seguramente se debe a que los pozos solventaban suficientemente la necesidad de agua en el interior doméstico. 4.2. Corrales de vecinos Un tipo de inmueble residencial colectivo frecuente en la Sevilla del siglo XVI fueron los corrales de vecinos. Esta tipología, consistente en un patio rodeado de habitaciones, estaba muy dispersa por toda la ciudad. De los más de veinticinco corrales documentados no existe un barrio que concentre la mayoría de ellos. La población que los habitaba sería de origen humilde o transeúntes con destino temporal en la ciudad. Su organización arquitectónica dependía de la forma de parcela y de la situación en la manzana. En muchos casos fueron el resultado de transformar una parcela ya construida ocupando sus espacios libres. Otras veces se conformaron por la colmatación del interior de una manzana, con entradas en forma de adarves o callejones. Ello derivaba de la necesidad de los vecinos de usar los espacios vacíos de una ciudad cada vez más densificada. 4.17 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON http://disegnarecon.univaq.it SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville Su superficie en muchos casos era cercana a los 300 m2, bastante inferior a la de famosos corrales que aún hoy se conservan, como el Corral del Conde o el Corral de los Tromperos. Según las descripciones de los apeos, esta tipología arquitectónica se desarrollaba en una o dos plantas con galerías o corredores altos alrededor del patio. El porcentaje de superficies dedicadas al patio era mayor en los corrales que en las casas. En el patio se solía situar un pozo y las dotaciones comunes a los vecinos, como la cocina con su chimenea y la letrina. La disposición de muros de carga y el tipo de carpinterías o cerrajerías en las galerías singularizaban la imagen de cada corral. Así por ejemplo, al corral de la Ballestilla se accedía por la casapuerta, y su patio, rodeado de aposentos, estaba solado de ladrillo, tenía un sumidero, un pozo y una chimenea bajo un cobertizo. En el corral de San Hermenegildo la distribución estaba condicionada por la mayor profundidad de la parcela (fig. 9). 4.3. Mesones Debido al floreciente comercio con América y al importante tráfico de personas en la Sevilla del siglo XVI, este tipo de edificio residencial temporal u hospedaje tuvo gran importancia. Aunque puede afirmarse que algunos mesones fueron concebidos para ese uso, la mayoría de ellos serían el resultado de la adaptación o agrupación de casas a este tipo de residencia. Sobre este tipo de inmuebles solo se han podido dibujar diecisiete casos, de un total de setenta y tres mesones identificados. La mayoría de ellos se concentraban en las collaciones de San Alfonso, San Isidro, Santa Catalina, y en menor porcentaje Santa María la Mayor y San Salvador. El porcentaje de espacios abiertos era próximo al 18%, muy inferior al calculado para casas y corrales. Los espacios que caracterizaban al mesón son: la casapuerta (entendida también como espacio multiusos), los portales, el patio o corral, las caballerizas (con pesebreras para los caballos y las mulas), los palacios y soberados (para el hospedaje), las azoteas y el pozo (fig. 10). 4.4. Tiendas Esta tipología estaba asociada a la gran actividad comercial de la ciudad en el siglo XVI, como centro de distribución de todo género de mercancías y bienes. Sevilla era una ciudad de tiendas entendidas, en sentido amplio, como puntos de venta y de talleres manufactureros. En un sentido arquitectónico era una tipología edificatoria con sus propias características. Se han identificado 120 tiendas, 63 casatiendas, 11 almacenes, 9 bodegas, 8 atahonas, 8 hornos, más otros usos, entre los que destacan las carnicerías. La mayor parte de ellas se concentraban en las collaciones de Santa María la Mayor (en los límites con la zona portuaria, las Gradas y la Alcaicería Mayor), San Salvador (antigua Alcaicería, Especierías y Carnicería Real), Santa Catalina (con la Alhóndiga del trigo) y Omnium Sanctorum, en la plaza de la Feria. Del análisis de los apeos se deduce que hay dos tipos de tiendas, ambos sin espacios abiertos y con poca superficie de parcela. Pueden ilustrarse con ejemplos en dos ubicaciones. En las calles de la Alcaicería tenían uno o dos espacios habitables en planta baja y porche delantero (fig. 11). En Las Gradas, poseían dos o tres plantas con azotea en el primer cuerpo, tejado y un portal en la planta baja. Como ya se ha mencionado, las casas-tienda de la calle Alemanes, junto a la Catedral, mantienen hoy un uso comercial y las tiendas se abren a los portales que aún existen (fig. 6). 5. LA PLANTA DE LA CIUDAD EN EL SIGLO XVI Según se ha dicho, para dibujar cada inmueble con rigor ha sido necesario localizar su parcela actual. La suma de todo lo dibujado ha posibilitado la elaboración de un plano hipotético que recrea la ciudad de Sevilla en el siglo XVI y abre una novedosa línea de investigación. La escala usada, 1:2000, ha obligado a definir muchos detalles y a considerar las importantes alteraciones de la trama urbana y sus alineaciones de calles reflejadas en planos históricos de la ciudad. Para elaborar el plano de la ciudad en el siglo XVI se ha tomado como base el parcelario actual. Sobre dicho plano se ha dibujado el estado previo a importantes reformas interiores y cambios de alineaciones del siglo XX. Para ello se han usado veintisiete planos a escala 1:2.000 del año 1897 que componen los T rabajos topográficos del Instituto Geográfico y Estadístico de la provincia de Sevilla , del Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía. Estos planos han resultado imprescindibles para la restitución de calles, dada su gran precisión (fig. 12). Además de contener las alineaciones que entonces existían, reflejan proyectos que estaba previsto ejecutar (en color rojo). También se han consultado otros planos históricos, datados entre 1884 y 1987, disponibles en el catálogo de la Cartoteca del Instituto Geográfico Nacional . Por otra parte, de diversas fuentes documentales se han extraído los nombres de lugares, calles y plazas de la Sevilla del siglo XVI (algunos desaparecidos en múltiples reformas interiores durante siglos). El Diccionario Histórico de las Calles de Sevilla ha sido muy importante para relacionar los nombres históricos con los actuales. Hasta ahora se han localizado en el parcelario actual más de 350 inmuebles. Dicha identificación de parcelas del siglo XVI en la ciudad actual es un hallazgo importante, pues permite analizar las permanencias y transformaciones. La elaboración del plano de Sevilla en el siglo XVI ha sido gradual y se ha producido a medida que se han ido identificando parcelas a través de los apeos estudiados. Debe advertirse que el trabajo sobre la restitución de este plano no está terminado, pues aún quedan zonas que se están completando actualmente. Finalmente, para ofrecer una visión general de conjunto, los datos del siglo XVI recopilados se han volcado sobre dichas plantas de la ciudad. De este modo, se cuenta con cartografía urbana que permite ilustrar los diversos temas analizados: ubicación de casas, corrales, mesones y tiendas (fig. 13); u otras cuestiones de interés que podrán ser objeto de nuevos estudios, como localización de jardines, pozos y norias, etc. 4.18 ISSN 1828-5961 DISEGNARECON http://disegnarecon.univaq.it SEMANTIC-DRIVEN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION IN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEvolume 14/ n. 26 - June 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.26.2021.4 NÚÑEZ GONZÁLEZ – GÁMIZ GORDO From Words to Drawing: Domestic Architecture Classifications in 16th Century Seville 6. CONCLUSIONES Seguramente una de las cuestiones más novedosas de esta investigación es su metodología. Tras una laboriosa revisión y selección de textos del siglo XVI, se ha podido interpretar gráficamente un número muy elevado de ellos. Lo más singular del trabajo es dicha conversión de textos en imágenes, o sea, el dibujo de la palabra . Para dibujar cada uno de los cientos de planos ha sido necesario abstraer la configuración formal y espacial de cada edificio. Ello ha requerido un considerable esfuerzo. Algunas veces la descripción del texto resulta confusa y muchos inmuebles tienen una compleja distribución en distintas plantas; hecho que se suma a la irregularidad geométrica del parcelario del casco histórico sevillano. Se han realizado hipótesis en planta más algunos alzados y volumetrías. También se han recopilado datos sobre elementos constructivos. Los principales espacios en la vida doméstica sevillana del siglo XVI fueron los siguientes: casapuertas, patios, portales, salas, aposentos, palacios, cámaras, cocinas, despensas, corrales, soberados y azoteas. Debe subrayarse la importancia del lenguaje gráfico respecto al literario para estudiar la distribución y las relaciones espaciales entre ellos. Partiendo de los dibujos y datos disponibles se han caracterizado cientos de inmuebles del siglo XVI. Atendiendo a sus superficies y usos se han estudiado cuatro tipologías arquitectónicas: casas, corrales, mesones y tiendas. El elevado número de casas analizadas permite obtener conclusiones sólidas sobre los espacios más recurrentes en dichos inmuebles. También se han recopilado datos sobre elementos constructivos, como muros, soportes verticales y tabiques, forjados y cubiertas, acabados, escaleras, pavimentos, puertas y ventanas, chimeneas y otros. Además, se ha obtenido información sobre abastecimiento, almacenamiento y evacuación de aguas. Los corrales de vecinos y mesones fueron dos tipos de edificios que proliferaron en una ciudad repleta de vida en el siglo XVI. Se han dibujado casos interesantes, pero en un número más reducido. Su análisis podrá progresar con el estudio de nuevos ejemplos. Se ha analizado un importante número de tiendas y se han localizado las principales áreas en las que se concentraban, sobre todo en el entorno de la Catedral y del Salvador. No solían tener espacios abiertos y eran de reducidas dimensiones. Había muchos usos asociados a este tipo entre los que destacan: tiendas, casa-tiendas, bodegas y almacenes, atahonas y hornos, carnicerías, y otros usos como boticas, panaderías, confiterías y talleres. Por otra parte, esta investigación ha dado un importante paso al iniciar un plano parcelario de la ciudad de Sevilla del siglo XVI, que podrá completarse con el análisis de muchos apeos que aún quedan por estudiar y dibujar (fig. 14). A partir de dicho plano del siglo XVI podrán abrirse nuevas reflexiones sobre los procesos de transformación de la ciudad. No debe olvidarse que las tipologías, en general, no son un elemen- to estático a lo largo del tiempo. La unidad de habitación evolucionó desde la antigüedad adaptándose a nuevos tiempos y acumulando influencias de diversas culturas: romana, visigoda, musulmana, cristiana y judía. Puede afirmarse que el tipo de casa sevillana del siglo XVI es diferente a los periodos anteriores, pero integra elementos de todos ellos. Futuras investigaciones podrán profundizar en el análisis comparado de tipologías en distintos momentos históricos e incluso entre distintas ciudades en la misma época, reconociendo similitudes y diferencias. También resulta de gran interés comparar la información del siglo XVI de un inmueble concreto, de una manzana o de una zona de la ciudad con su estado actual. Así por ejemplo, en el caso de la casa situada en la calle Segovias se han dibujado las plantas a partir de su apeo del siglo XVI y se han comparado con las del siglo XX y el siglo XXI. Además se han documentado sus reformas y transformaciones a lo largo de siglos (fig. 15). El volcado de toda la información en un sistema de información geográfica facilitará su manejo con variados intereses futuros, abriendo nuevas líneas de investigación sobre cuestiones diversas. Se pretende analizar el estado actual de los inmuebles que aún hoy se conservan y la documentación gráfica sobre intervenciones arquitectónicas del siglo XX que existe en el Archivo Municipal de Sevilla y en la Fundación FIDAS del Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Sevilla. En definitiva, esta investigación trata de ofrecer datos útiles a profesionales responsables de la intervención, la conservación y difusión patrimonial (arquitectos, arqueólogos, historiadores...). Ello supone un gran reto para la investigación en una ciudad que cuenta con una valiosa arquitectura, a veces oculta o desconocida. AGRADECIMIENTOS HUM-976. Expregráfica. Lugar, Arquitectura y Dibujo. Proyecto I+D “Vestir la casa: espacios, objetos y emociones en los siglos XV y XVI”, PGC2018-093835-B-100. Esta investigación ha sido financiada por las ayudas de internacionalización al Instituto Universitario de Arquitectura y Ciencias de la Construcción (IUACC) del VIII Plan Propio de Investigación y Transferencia de la Universidad de Sevilla.