Re-making “corralas” : spaces for creation and construction of identity in Seville’s historic district

240 Spread throughout the city, the “corralas” are essential pieces of Sevilla’s urban fabric (Spain). These spaces that were particularly shaped for an affordable co-life and craftwork activities have become a referent for contemporary creative communities, which have not just appropriated them but have emulated them. In obsolete industrial spaces, these social groups recreate this traditional way of life around a courtyard: the key element of vernacular residential architecture in this region. Corrala’s project of colife has allowed current creative workers to live and develop their practices, while, in a reciprocal process, they have become protectors of its meaning and mixed forms, an ethnological heritage in danger. This research focuses on the specific case of “El Pelícano”, a former cork factory inaugurated in the decade of the 1920’s, and its suitability for transformation into a contemporary creative venue assuming the corrala concept. The analysis is based on crossed methodologies: direct observation, interviews to the creators, participation in collective meals and other activities. A photo-shoot of El Pelícano by artist Macarena Gross presents its atmosphere and its phenomenological values in an attempt to reclaim the place of the creative corrala in the memory of this city. Creative Communities, Cultural Heritage, Inclusive City, Urban Commons, Social Ecology Macarena GROSS ARIZA | Reyes ABAD FLORES | María F. Carrascal Pérez CARRASCAL PEREZ Re-Making “Corralas” : Spaces for Creation and Construction of Identity in Seville’s Historic District. Macarena GROSS ARIZA is a photographer and researcher. Master of “City and Sustainable Architecture” (Higher Technical School of Architecture of Seville), Master of Professional Photography (EFTI, Madrid). Co-founder of “The Live Cover” project, her artistic work focused on investigating the relationship between photography and other artistic media as an urban and awareness-raising tool. The relationship between nature, architecture, landscape, environment and mysticism are other topics in which she is interested. Always in search of the new role of photography in contemporary art, her images emerge from the intersection of different media. (www.macarenagross.com / www.thelivecover.com) Reyes ABAD FLORES, PhD degree in Art and urban studies (University of Seville, 2017), graduate in History of Art (University of Seville, 2002) and Bachelor degree in Cultural Management (UOC, 2007). She is involved in publications, concerning investigations and research in the fields of architectural heritage, urban planning, cultural identity and arts as part of a research group in the ETSIE Seville. María F. CARRASCAL, Ph.D, architect, studies and explores the field of creative regeneration in contemporary cities, focusing on the role of art and art communities. Since 2008, she regularly teaches at Universidad de Sevilla in the Bachelor of Architecture and the MSc on Sustainable City and Architecture, and currently holds a postdoctoral research position in its Department of Urban Planning. 241 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy 1. Introduction Seville, a medium size city, houses an intense creative activity that occurs in several spaces scattered throughout its metropolitan area. The corralas or corralones are distinctive and functional elements of its creative identity, as well as essential pieces of this city’s urban language. Indeed, this typology serves as both, as a study model for an in-depth knowledge of the local cultural production and its social implications, and for the research of the urban question in its broadest sense, away from categorical analyses. Although the research here conducted will use the term “corrala”, “corral” and “corralón” have also the same meaning and are indistinctly used in the Spanish popular culture. According to the Royal Spanish Language Academy, the three concepts designate the same type of space: a tenement house, which contains many small apartments, usually with access to courtyards and corridors, and that host an intense community life. Indeed, the particularly rooted project of coexistence shaped in them is their most outstanding feature. Nowadays, the meaning of the corrala exceeds its formal conception. Citizens commonly considered corralas as all urban structures that around a courtyard convoked a shared life and work. Obsolete industrial spaces play a relevant role hosting contemporary forms of corralas. This research approaches the case study with the same conceptual freedom, and focuses on the inhabitant of such places as generator of new urban identities and precursor of the preservation of a forgotten hybrid heritage that emerges around this way of life. These places of “corrala life” constitute a substantial part of the city’s invisible treasures, particularly isolated and disconnected due to Sevilla’s 242 dense Islamic urban layout. Their architecture is of ordinary appearance, hidden behind the modern conception of landscape. Nonetheless, they play a unique role as “islands of silence”, shaped by the communities who inhabit them, who with their common actions, traditions and encounters define the territory. Given the private nature of these places and the continuous threat of disappearance conditioned by real estate pressures and other economic factors, this work aims to understand, from a historical and territorial perspective, the urban, anthropological, sociological and ecological dimension of these sites in order to compose a complete picture of their significance and to contribute to the survival of these unique and dynamic spaces of enormous social, cultural and urban value. The purpose of this article, simple and complex like the phenomenon of the corrala itself, is to understand why these places have survived, how the link of identity between these dwellings and their residents developed, why simply passersby find them so captivating: in short, why are these spaces –the residue of small industrialists, mechanics, etc.– so important for some people and so unknown for others, and what the future could hold for them. The chosen case study is the El Pelícano artisans' corral in the North Casco of Seville, an old manufacturing area. Originally this corral was one of the orchards that existed in the city, which belonged to the Convent of Santa Paula. In 1840, a cork factory was created in the same area, a type of company very characteristic during the industrialization that was taking place at that time. In 1930, after several transformations, the ownership of the factory fell into the hands of Juan Morell, changing the use to what it is today: allowing a mix of uses. This diversity still remains, although little by little the artisan works would be combined with other contemporary creative activities. From 1950, it had several owners, until a year ago when Miss Ana 243 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy Merino acquired the place. Figure 1. Topographic plan of the city of Seville (1771) drawn up and outlined by Francisco Manuel Coelho, by arrangement of D. Pablo de Olavide, assistant of Seville. Engraving in intaglio (etching and burin) by José Amat, "awarded by the Royal Academy of San Fernando" 2. Historical Introduction, Architectural Description, Background and Values in the Urban Context of Seville The Andalusian neighbors' corrala, and especially the Sevillian corral, as Luis Montoto and Rautenstrauch described in 1882, was a “more or less spacious courtyard, in whose center a fountain rises or a well sinks: a fountain or well that is service of the neighbors, who use their waters for all the uses of life, as long as the pipes and the rains allow it. These neighbors' 244 corrals or patios before being communal houses were convents, stately homes, palaces and alhóndigas, whose architecture was used and re-adapted for the accommodation of families. Others, which we can properly consider neighboring pens, are the result of planning and obey an architectural model with some common characteristics and with variants of adaptation to the size and shape of the site where they were built. “The architecture of houses (with patio) could be considered an analogy of the shape of the city” (Rossi, 1975:102) This type of collective architecture was established in Seville in the 16th century to house the immigrants coming to the city, attracted by the activities in connection with the trade with the New World. Distributed throughout the intra muros area, the corralas coexisted with mansions and other buildings of importance (Hazaña y la Rúa, 1930). This type of architecture, which was based on the Roman Domus and adapted to the needs of growth and evolution in a city that also inherited a Muslim layout distinguished by the importance of private common space, underwent a morphological recycling and ended up generating small areas of public space within the city blocks and houses (Naranjo E., 2010). The patios and streets, the soul of the corralas , with their parterres and crossings as places of encounter and representation, are an adaptation of the fundamental elements of the Mediterranean city where the inhabitants find the proper context for their expression, where the collective spirit is contained and protected. As scenes of daily life and in the context of an urban society of enormous contrasts, that of the s. XVII, it is worth noting the importance of these spaces in their functionality as theaters. In front of the delirium, framework and 245 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy modern appearance, in the comedy corrala there are no curtains, no stage or hierarchy, as mentioned in her thesis Abad Flores (Flores, 2017: 57-58). These islands of suburban life in the city, regardless of the ruling powers (monarchy, church, Inquisition) allowed a freedom and spontaneous creativity that represented the true popular culture and the best of their feelings. Figure 2. Plaza del Pelícano. Entrance to the Corrala, front door Returning to the formal question, the corralas were never limited to a specific area of the city, mixing with the stately houses, the palaces and other large buildings. During the 17th-18th century, the city was made up of large blocks managed by religious orders, inside which large orchards were cultivated and in its immediate surroundings, were made up of low-income workers' houses. Some authors, called it: the Convent City. The plague of 1649 took 46% of the population, which made the city plunge into a deep 246 economic and social crisis. The crisis lasted until the s. XIX, and together with the decrease in population, caused the confiscation of Mendizábal in 1835, which ends with all the convents of the Church with less than twelve members. This gave rise to the gardens and other communal spaces being occupied by guilds and small industries, creating a series of houses converted into goldsmiths, blacksmiths and others linked to sacred art. This architectural response survived up to the 20th century, due to the lack of development of an architecture for the low-middle class. It is then, when the Cheap House Law arises (June 13, 1911), as the first trial to provide decent housing, to the middle and lower classes, thus promoting social housing. With the development of the functional city and construction of taller buildings in the 1960’s as a solution for the lack of housing and the precarious nature of low-income dwellings, the corralas entered a new phase; or perhaps they simply continued to evolve naturally, adapting to Seville’s urban needs and/or shortcomings. The tradition of trades and crafts located in these buildings has partially survived, and has even evolved towards new forms of creation. The creative communities that live in the corralas , some of which are still considered marginal, whereas others are included in the emerging sector of the new cultural and creative industries, are the ones who have discovered, used and even maintained this heritage landscape. As evidenced at other moments of the city’s contemporary history, creator and artist are party to the most forgotten parts of the city and regenerators of its obsolete spaces. A new dimension of heritage that goes beyond roots, tradition and identity, and is linked to quality of life and belonging to a place (Bandarin, 2011; UNESCO, 1995) 247 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy This concept of corrala has also been carried out in contemporary times to other types of fundamentally industrial spaces, where other species of corralas are constituted but with a less material sense of identity and which does not correspond to the same typology of house patio. Since the second half of the 20th century, such flexible industrial spaces have been absolutely ideal for creative activities and co-creation in contemporary times. Indeed, all these old factories and productive spaces are an exceptional breeding ground for Seville's creative life. Furthermore, their communities offer innovative solutions for the identification and preservation of these places, a material and intangible heritage at risk. “Thus, the urban fabric is no longer defined as an irrational labyrinth. Although it is a non-monumental city that is constantly remaking itself at the expense of itself, remaining definitively undefined, it does not, however, stop articulating itself as an artistically perceptible ensemble that the citizen builds from the accumulation of experiences of their daily life in this space ” (López Lloret, 2004 p. 410). Figure 3. Common spaces at El Pelícano 248 Seville’s historic district synthesizes its history, and to a certain extent, comprises its specificity: its occupants represent the sediment and cultural heritage on which the city’s narrative is built, the culture that makes it different. As Chacón Holgado and Ruiz Ballesteros maintain, the city is shaped by actions that in one way or another try to define the territory, to “make” the city as the driving force of its internal vitality, to project its future: this is what makes it so important, so significant. In this sense, the corralas play a very specific role. Nowadays, a person chooses to live in a corrala due to an intrinsic need to maintain the physical memory of a type of architecture, to maintain reflections linked to tradition, flamenco, handicrafts, hence to culture. At present the corrala is a sort of temple one reaches after passing through narrow passageways. These islands of silence in the city maintain a dream, a utopia, a common feeling shaping an ideal cartography. This silence is not literal: it is the low-pitched sound of a beating heart, as described by John Cage in his book “Silence”, on coming out of the anechoic chamber in which he tried, but failed, to find total silence. The technician tells him that the low-pitched sound corresponds to the circulation of our blood, and the high-pitched one to our brain in operation. And from the silence of music to costumbrist painting reflecting the joy in 19th century corralas , coetaneous with romanticism and industrialisation, just as we perceive their present-day residents: a material scale representation of urban limbo, a place of mediation with its complex parts and spaces for diversion, threatened at present by the pressure of the real estate market and other economic factors. 255 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy seeks to ensure the survival of this unique corrala , of great social, cultural and urban value. As Miguel Serre said, a project is not prepared starting from nothing; there is always something ready to be used and taken to its destination It usually requires prior observations and knowledge, though this is not enough; he also points to an ethical and aesthetic commitment in order to adjust and time the program, the means and the materials, processing complex information, at times insufficient, which is sensitive to an evolving reality. In order to carry out a transversal analysis in the course of the field research, we defined our strategy based on the use of crossed methodologies: direct observation, interviews (both individual and in groups), participation in collective meals and other activities. A basic questionnaire was drafted for the interviews, although in practice questions were open or semi-structured, with the possibility of recording unexpected facts and establish new hypothesis. A selective sample of the different sectors that coexist in this space, formerly used for industrial production, consisted of about 90-100 tenants. The sample includes the experiences and opinions of the site’s most representative sectors, namely music, flamenco, art, craftwork and small scale industry. Every module at El Pelícano is organised depending on whether it is a workshop, dwelling-workshop or business premises. Another important analytic instrument for this research was visual recording with photographs of the place, activities, persons, to make descriptions based on these images and reflect from a more artistic perspective the intangible, ethical and aesthetic values that the site transmits. Observing users in their habitual environment is often the best way to determine their needs. "We believe that in this definition of the 256 city thought in terms of body movement and perceptual emotion with its established topological and qualitative hierarchy, it defines its aesthetic value. This seduces and fascinates through the form, the inhabitant being captivated through him of the fundamental contents of his life world” (López Lloret, 2004, p.410). Just like the archeologist at an excavation site focusing on the bowl of an ancient civilisation to determine aspects of people’s nutrition at the time, the work of a photographer is a tool in search of artefacts and outcroppings, clues and sounds in the course of field observation that reveal the type of life of the users of the site. No public photographic documentation of these spaces is located since Jordi Tarrés and Ignacio Benvenuty carry out the work "Corrales de Sevilla. Catálogo Fotográfico" in 1990. In order to address the results of both methods of exploration in El Pelícano, three general sections will be defined based on the creative experience of the space itself: creative life, creative work, and creative work and life. The corrala, as occurred in the second half of the 20th century to other vacant manufacturing sites in the hands of creators, assumes the precept of “art as life” (Karpow, A., 1993). The boundaries between everyday domestic actions and innovative creation are blurred. What was a working space tends to become one for living, unfolding stages of a distinctive path that aims to connect every aspect of human existence. This also represents a vivid confrontation against the modern model of the functional city, looking instead towards an “Unanticipated City”, that one that James R. Hudson identified for the district of SoHo in New York City (Hudson, J.R, 1987). This is a liquid and vibrant city affected by processes of “invasion-succession” that remark old identities and overlap new ones, which begins by the action of brave avant-garde or countercultural communities in postindustrial 257 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy contexts and continues to conform a landscape of alternatives to urban codes and zonings. The corrala builds upon the exceptional and reacts to the homogenization of life that usually feeds traditional city planning. Challenging that formula of conventional life, it creates a way of natural urban ecology, a sustainable option based on urban recycling and shared resources, co-creation and co-existence. 1. Life Corrala. 2. Work Corrala. 3. Art-as-life Corrala. 1. Life Corrala. - Flexibility and Openness. A large wooden gate acts as a barrier from the Plaza de El Pelícano. As if it were a small town within a city, a cobblestone road opens, on its edges, geraniums in recycled pots, some chairs, bicycles, more plants, also cars. A little more forward the doorman house, which does not intervene, but does order. In front and before the corrala begins to branch into small cobblestone streets, is the workshop of Ignacio Rodríguez, cook and inventor . He defines the space as a courtyard of artisans [ corral de artesanos ], where he occupies one of the dwelling-workshops. He considers El Pelícano to be a traditional location for metal smiths and for other tradespeople linked to the arts and crafts. He believes that the corrala is the only option in Seville to have a dwelling-workshop, in contrast with the apartment, which is the main residential standard in Seville. The main asset of the corrala is the absence of a closed structure: for residents, all areas are to a certain degree an extension of the domestic sphere. Space is flexible, adaptable, variable, and malleable. 258 He defines the corrala as a sociological complex due to the coexistence of different professions with different needs and dynamics. The majority of tenants are there due to recommendations. Communal living is conditioned by respect for the common areas and perception-use of units as business premises, workshop or dwelling-workshop (they do not have habitability permits). He affirms that one of the reasons why El Pelícano has survived urban development and speculation is the emotional involvement of the former owner, Miss Ana Merino, with the site. Tenants are charged a cleaning fee for maintenance of the common areas but the embellishment and the care of plants, etc., depends on individual responsibility and interest. Ignacio Rodriguez, amongst other residents, has launched an experimental project to have a vegetable garden. Communal living is governed by a tacit agreement of tolerance based on the common interest to keep this unique place alive, which according to the interviewee cannot be substituted or Figure 7. Ignacio´s kitchen at his studio during the interview. 259 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy improved with any other place in Seville. He also refers to the fragility of the model, to the failure of attempts to institutionalise or regulate it, using as a reference the Rompemoldes new building. Located few meters from this site, this is an adapted model of dwelling-workshops with patio designed for artisans, artists, etc., where communal living is not that simple due to the difficulties of reconciling domestic life and production activity. In contrast with the original production structure and open distribution of El Pelícano, Rompemoldes was constituted on the model of housing around a big formal patio (casa patio). Figure8. Artefacts and outcroppings at Emilio´s studio. - Internationality and Horizontality. The workshop house of Alexa Grande, visual artist , is a loft of more than six meters height, with a large glazed ceiling through which the sun enters and warms up the space in winter and when fully opened, it enters the sky inside the studio, generating current and blending outer space with interior. She defines 260 El Pelícano as a corral de artesanos . Born in Menorca (1986), she moved to Seville from Hamburg to carry out a project for the Flamenco Museum, without planning on moving to the city. The flamenco artist Torombo (who also lives at El Pelicano) suggested that she try to find a space there to share. She finally decided to exchange her dwelling-workshop in Hamburg with another visual artist who had one at the corrala , where she currently lives and works in an independent manner. From her point of view, El Pelícano constitutes an extension of the city, an archipelago of different cultures, realities and territories of Seville. At the same time, she believes that this space represents the opposite of the productive city, where different functions are separated (residential, production, leisure, …), creating a consensual balance, or mechanical harmony. Alexa highlights the importance of architectural horizontality to generate better flows of communication and cohabitation; in other words, a more human closeness between the inhabitants. 2. Work Corrala. - Inclusion and Development. On the other hand, Karolina González “la Negra”, flamenco dancer and professor , defines El Pelícano as a corralón; in fact, she rarely uses the original name to refer to this collective space. Karolina is from Colombia, and came to Seville in 2002 to study flamenco. She soon contacted with Torombo, who recommended that she share business premises for rehearsals at El Pelicano. She is currently the director, together with her husband the artist José “el Oruco”, of a flamenco dance school in one of El Pelicano’s modules. She has been associated to this space since she arrived in Seville. 261 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy The aspect of El Pelícano that Karolina values most, amongst others, is that it is a space for development, where she has been able to pursue her artistic career, balancing it with her family life. She considers the common areas as the “patio of the house”, where her children have grown up even though it was never their place of residence. She highlights the role of the caretakers (Coque and Ana), who live in the building, thus adding to its communal, domestic character. As part of this family/domestic hybrid, she points to two phenomena: on one hand, the birth of a baby in one of the dwelling-workshops and on the other, the case of a resident who has been at El Pelícano since 1977. She thinks that given El Pelícano’s fragility and uniqueness, it should be declared a BIC (Good of Cultural Interest) or benefit from some type of protection that ensures its survival without modifying the essence and the natural evolution of the space. For the interviewee, this corral/corrala/corralón is a site that cannot be replaced. Figure 9. Karolina and her daughter at the studio. 262 -Creative Industry and Shared Resources. Alberto Ramón Luque, former small scale industrialist , is the longeststanding inhabitant at El Pelícano, where he has lived since 1977, like many other small industrialists, technicians and mechanics who following the close of the cork factory started to adapt the space into different workshops, taking advantage of the factory’s layout and of the machinery that was left behind when it closed. In this context, the industrial past of the Macarena neighbourhood should be highlighted. For Alberto R., who lives in one of the dwelling-workshops, the essence of the corral is production, small scale industry represented by the small blacksmiths, mechanics, hydraulic pump workshops, etc., that filled the site as part of the natural evolution of the industrial sector. The existence of infrastructure and equipment attracted other professionals, giving rise to a small scale industrial hub where workers ended up living in their modules or in the vicinity as corporations or guilds. This reality was transformed by industrial zoning and the transfer of activities to industrial parks. About twenty years ago, this transformation allowed other types of inhabitants and professionals to come to El Pelícano, in this case linked to handicrafts, music and finally art, creating in this collective space a community of 46 workshops of artists and artisans and the annual “Barrio Abierto” [neighbourhood open house] event. 263 Chapter. 01 이슈- Citizen Participation Pedagogy 3. Art-as-life Corrala. - Care and Attachment. Following disenchantment with the world of construction, marked by speed and mediocrity, Ignacio, ´the wooden man´ (architectural technologist, 45 years old) decided to change professions and become a carpenter. Following a course in basic carpentry for unemployed persons, he enrolled at the School for Artisans of Gelves. Thanks to his academic achievements, he won a scholarship to work in Florence with a French artisan specialised in curved furniture. Back in Seville in 2008, he found premises at El Pelícano where they repaired car radiators… “You see the cobblestones, the flower pots on the door, the little houses, the type of scene…it’s as if you were in little village, a different space outside the city, something like an island inside the metropolis. The cobblestone street marks the common spaces of a simple patio. In a patio, those who live on the ground floor are responsible; in the street, everyone is responsible. Since then, he has found his best friends, holiday companions and partner here. Seven years ago, he finished building his house inside the workshop, and then completely moved in. The key is horizontality at ground level, where everything is shared and exchanged and work gets done without asking for anything in exchange. He highlights the great difference that exists between those who use the workshops during working hours and those who live there. It’s all a matter of care: when you take care of something, it becomes yours. When you use a space and then leave, the relationship stops there. 264 - Interchange and togetherness. Just in front Alexa Grande´s studio Emilio´s studio, a metal smith , is based. As soon as the interview begins, he clarifies a fundamental, differentiating fact: “I don’t sleep here, I live here.” Emilio, who is 55, hardly remembers when he began in the trade, a family tradition. As a child, he spent afternoons in the workshops of the Salesian artisans helping his uncle. Later he studied at the art school and in the workshop of a gilder. At the age of 19, he took charge of his uncle’s workshop when the latter fell ill. He settled at El Pelícano 22 years ago: it was his neighbourhood. All the different trades linked to religious art, such as carvers, gilders, carpenters, embroiderers, sculptors, co-existed in this former cork factory. He said that he named the corralón , which is probably one of the oldest. He confirms the hypothesis that communal living at El Pelícano has always been very special, Figure 10. Ignacio “The wooden man” and his studio, during the interview.