Pozo Podenco by Gartnerfuglen Arkitekter + Mariana de Delás

Description of project by Gartnerfuglen Arkitekter + Mariana de Delá

Traditions in Mallorca continue to drift into making the island a tourist served region. Hotels, restaurants, beach houses and clubs keep opening providing a mirage of paradise to those in search for a quick and easy sun tan. Amidst these bustling tourist areas there are still areas where locals manage to live a life in where time has stopped, and alien tourist sun consumers seem far away. Being concious of the value of the land and the pleasures it provides, one way they manage to under grow the traditions is by spending their free time carrying out classical rabbit hunting by means of Ibizan hounds, (native to the Balearic islands).

Every week during hunting seasons, these hunters perform popular techniques involving long madrugada strolls looking for rabbits  in where a good connection with the hounds is fundamental for success. When the morning is over the hunters come together and prepare a lunch in where preys are cooked to share in a banquet with friends and family.

(Rabbits and partridges are promoted and looked after throughout the country estate through sustainable hunt, which includes being fed, given water and controlled by vets)

The plot chosen to intervene is on an old well inside a lush cave-like orange tree grove made in the 1920s which was used by the hunters as a rest area to refill canteens, give water to the dogs and irrigate the fruit-bearing trees. The stones that surrounded the well had disappeared throughout the years becoming only a hole in the ground protected by a trap door.

The Mallorquins value (fresh) water highly. Surrounded by the salty ocean, and with almost no rivers or lakes the well, or "pozo" is their "source of gold" and it should be treasured. The well provides hydration, rest and contemplation, but also functions as a place for social gathering. 

The Pozo Podenco functions as an airy stop along the saunter, and is built to manifest the importance of water in this rural environment. The construction is composed by a 3x3 meter grid made with reused timber frames. A central retractile tower boosts from the middle of the structure, keeping the well protected when shut and accesible when in use. The tower also serves as a place marker on the fields when elevated and protects the well when closed. A winch fixed to the inner core elevates the timber tower frames through the structural guides.

As the doors and tower are raised into the warm sun, a slight stack effect will occur creating a light breeze by the shaded well. For the thrill seeker the tower is equipped with an internal ladder leading to the small lookout with excellent views to the surrounding fields.