The tower of Matrera Castle, a historic landmark in the region in Cadice, in southern Spain, had partially collapsed, losing volume and stability. Architect Carlos Quevedo Rojas has rebuilt it.
Carlos Quevedo Rojas’s restoration of Matrera castle project is controversial, accused of intrusiveness. Located near Cadice, in southern Spain, the castle tower had partially collapsed, losing a good part of its volume and making it highly unstable. In view of the importance of this historic landmark, Quevedo Rojas was asked to consolidate the tower.
The Spanish architect’s approach to the project was primarily legislative, applying law 14/2007 regarding the Historic Heritage of Andalusia. Appealing to the principle of authenticity, Quevedo Rojas clearly distinguished between the old and the new, going back to the original weave, volume and colour of Matrera Castle tower.
The architect’s words clearly reflect his approach to the project recognising the monumentum and memory of its physical consistency and its dual historic and aesthetic polarity, preserving Matrera Castle for future generations. Carlos Quevedo Rojas says that: "The project is intended to restore the monument’s potential unity, without falsifying history or destroying the traces that the passage of time has left on the castle".
Francesco Cibati
Architect: Carlos Quevedo Rojas
Location: Villamartín (Cádiz), Spain.
Year: 2011-2015
Surface area/Volume: 136.00 m2 / 2,176.00 m3
Project team: Cristina Pérez Prado, Emilio García Chacón, Joaquín Martín Rizo
Photos: Mariano Copete Franco
www.carquero.com
