Architect : Marià Castelló Arquitectura Location : Camí Vell de la Mola km. 1,8. Formentera · Promoter : Private · Construction Manager Architects : Lorena Ruzafa + Marià Castelló · Building Engeneer : Jose Luis Velilla Lon · Structure Engeneer : Ferran Juan · Facilities Engeneer : Javier Colomar · Health and Safety Coordinator : Jose Luis Velilla Lon · Design Team : Lorena Ruzafa, Marga Ferrer · Builder : Toni 13 · Project : 2011 · Building process : 2019-2020 · Area : 70 m2 + 24 m2 porch · Photography : Marià Castelló Martínez
“Es Pou de Can Marianet Barber” is a historical place name in the interior of the island of Formentera (Spain). A rural plot where several pre-existents condition the insertion of this small first residence in the territory. Among them, the network of centenarian dry stone walls stands out, as well as the organization of the crops. The intervention is located in the western area of the plot, parallel to a trace of more than a kilometer in length, oriented to the south and protected from the setting sun by a mass of vegetation, thus releasing the most fertile area to give continuity to the existing agricultural activity.
The proposal is divided into three volumes, which order the program while providing it with a smaller grain and in accordance with the scale of the landscape. From south to north, the first volume houses a porch that offers solar protection, the second contains the more public program, and the third two bedrooms. Among them are transverse strips that physically separate the volumes, giving them ventilation and lighting, as well as providing them with services and connections.
In front of the house, there is a cistern that makes it self-sufficient in terms of water supply while offering a solarium for the coldest months of the year.
From the inside and through the porch, deep perspectives are discovered towards the flat landscape of wheat and oat fields, where the soft and warm color of the earth and the muted greens of the almond and fig trees predominate. The light, color, and material from the outside enter the interior of the house thanks to ceramics and wood, two noble materials that are combined in a subtle and timeless way.
The warmth of the earth is transferred to the ceiling and pavements, resolved by means of Mallorcan-style ceramic vaults and pressed terracotta tiles. Likewise, the tiles are used to solve various other elements, such as façade cladding, roof finish, the headboard of the master bedroom, or pebble gravel, processing in situ the losses of the ceramic elements used. The freshness associated with the color of the vegetation predominates in the humid areas, where some vertical walls are covered with vitrified ceramic tiles of a diluted green color and identical dimensions to the rest of the pieces. The light filters inwards through its passage through ceramic lattices, generating, in turn, a constant evolution of lights and shadows.
The coherence and material harmony have led to solving with white vitrified porcelain electrical mechanisms the integration of the installations in unique places such as the headboard of the master bedroom, as well as other more common such as lamp holders and toilets. A set of lights and special pieces made by hand with formwork made in our studio have also been specifically designed for this project, seeking their chromatic and dimensional integration in the context of the coatings.
Most of the furniture has been custom-designed integrated into the architecture itself, while icons such as the Torres Clavé armchair, from 1934, or the traditional chairs from Formentera pay homage to the Mediterranean artisan tradition. Other more contemporary pieces such as the table and coffee tables from the D12 collection designed by Marià Castelló and Lorena Ruzafa for the editor Diabla Outdoor, provide a slight material and chromatic counterpoint to the set.
Marià Castelló
The studio began its course in February 2002 with the first public and private initiative projects in Formentera. The connection, the respect and the commitment with the culture, the landscape and the territory of the minor of the Pitiüsas islands was determining in the professional and personal orientation chosen.
The peace, austerity, serenity, precision, humility, balance, harmony, sustainability, order, containment and ingenuity of the original character of the island inspire and dye the work of the office.
Formentera is experiencing a notable urban pressure that is characterized by an important volume of construction of poor architectural quality, which contrasts with the exceptional value of the natural and architectural substrate that characterizes it. Given this dynamic, a small-format, self-sufficient, almost artisan study structure is proposed, capable of assuming a very small volume of interventions simultaneously and with the aim of generating quality of life, beauty, health and happiness to the users of the created spaces.
To address larger-scale projects or to expand the geographical limits of the actions in a timely manner, decentralization has been chosen through external collaborations with other studies and professionals with similar values.
Formentera historically has opted for a dispersed occupation model of very low density, and in this context the isolated single-family dwelling has been the most common program to be solved. The interventions carried out on patrimonial elements have been very grateful in the research phase, and in some cases they have helped to improve the knowledge of the way in which Formentera was anthropized.
In the dissemination aspect, the study has collaborated with editorial projects of different nature, exhibitions and presentations with the purpose of spreading both the patrimonial baggage existing on the island and those contemporary interventions generated with criteria and reflection.
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