NUA arquitectures is the architectural studio in charge of an intervention that aims to contribute to the recovery of the agricultural cultural heritage of Alt Camp, a Spanish region, located in the province of Tarragona. The project is located at the highest point of an agricultural property dedicated to the cultivation of olive and almond trees, near the Monastery of Santes Creus.

The project deals with the renovation of a small shelter that is part of a set of isolated stone rooms, which were originally built to manage the crop fields, with the intervention of recovery and recycling the architects intended to save the memory and experiences of those who worked and inhabited the territory.
A new life for Mas Carpi, designed by the architecture studio NUA architectures, is a renovation intervention to give a second life to the Mas that follows the ancestral logic of maximum use of resources, which is why these rooms built with the stone itself place blend with the stone terraces that structure the entire territory.

The intervention involved several parts, the first was to replace the main structure using local stone walls, the second was to demolish the horizontal structure to replace it with a wooden structure with a flat ceramic tile roof, and a improving lighting and ventilation by opening new windows to achieve a better relationship between inside and outside.


A new life for Mas Carpi by NUA arquitectures. Photograph by Jose Hevia.
 

Project description by NUA architectures

An intervention that aims to contribute to the recovery of the agricultural cultural heritage of Alt Camp. A recovery and recycling project that preserves the memory and experiences of those who work and inhabit the territory.

At the highest point of an agricultural estate dedicated to the cultivation of olive and almond trees near the Monastery of Santes Creus, in Alt Camp, Catalonia, stands a small stone shelter that is part of a set of isolated and minimal stone dwellings. scattered throughout the territory, shelters originally built to manage crop fields.

Following the ancestral logic of maximum use of resources and built with the local stone, these ancient constructions merge with the stone terraces that structure the entire territory, forming a single indissoluble unit that builds the identity of this cultural landscape.


A new life for Mas Carpi by NUA arquitectures. Photograph by Jose Hevia.

Only a few stone walls remained standing from the original construction, which had been renovated using fragile and precarious solutions that had blurred its physiognomy. Sheltered under four pine trees and a centuries-old oak that provide shade and with views to the south, with the Camp de Tarragona and the sea at its feet, its location, however, was privileged.

The Mas Carpi rehabilitation project is a global recovery operation of the original construction. Firstly, restoration and replacement, where necessary, of the vertical structure of stone walls with stone recovered from old demolished terraces on the plot itself. Secondly, demolition and replacement of the existing horizontal structure and roof with a new laminated wood structure and a ceramic roof of flat tiles. Also improving lighting and ventilation by opening new windows to achieve a better relationship between the interior and exterior, and, finally, enabling and activating the interior through a new ceramic floor, new furniture, and the renovation of the facilities to make it completely self-sufficient through solar energy, which covers all the electrical demand of the complex.

An intervention to give a second life to the Mas as a home, taking advantage of everything that exists and using natural materials typical of the place and with low environmental impact, using passive bioclimatic strategies that take advantage of the conditions of the location. A rehabilitation that tries to maintain the essence of the old construction and its close relationship with the Alt Camp landscape.

More information

Label
Architects
Text
NUA arquitectures (Arnau Tiñena, Maria Rius, Ferran Tiñena).
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Project team
Text
Gavina Piras, Manuela Piras, Paula Roch.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Collaborators
Text
Technical architects.- Josep Anguera.
Structure.- Egoin S.A.
Carpentry.- Carreté Finestres SL.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Builder
Text
Teules SL.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Dates
Text
2014-2023.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Location
Text
Santes Creus, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Photography
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
NUA arquitectures is a young practice based in Tarragona and founded in 2013 by Maria Rius, Arnau Tiñena and Ferran Tiñena that explores and works in areas related to architecture and design in different scales by sensitive strategies to the memory of places and the environment.

Studio's work explores areas of architecture and design at different scales through strategies sensitive to the memory of places and the environment, seeking to provide answers to the contemporary social and cultural challenges of cities and territories through interventions that have The main objective is to improve people's lives.

NUA architectures has diversified its activity in different fields and typologies, focusing projects from the urban perspective to the detailed design simultaneously. The work and work carried out in recent years have recognized it as one of the emerging young studios in Spain and Europe, within the framework of the last three editions of the Arquia/próxima program (2014, 2016 and 2018), and this one was selected year 2023 as one of the 40 most promising studios under 40 on the continent according to the European Center for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, and the Chicago Athenaeum Museum (Europe 40 under 40).

In 2016 it was one of the 7 studios selected to represent Catalonia at the Venice International Architecture Biennale, and recently the studio's projects have been recognized in the European Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe awards (2019), in the FAD (2018), at the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (2018, 2021, 2023), at the ASCER Awards (2017, 2023) and at the Alejandro de la Sota Biennial (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 ), including the extraordinary award for the last 20 years of its edition in the rehabilitation category (1997-2017), among others.

NUA's work has been published in different national and international media, and has been included in AV's "Spain 2019" yearbook. Recently the Argentine publishing house Bisman has published a monograph on his work.

The studio has been invited to give lectures at several universities and institutions in Spain, Italy, Slovenia and the United States, such as the Design Museum and the Santa Mònica Arts Center in Barcelona, COAMadrid, the Barcelona Schools of Architecture, Madrid Donosti , Valencia, Milan or Cagliari, the International Archmarathon Congress in Milan, the International Congress of the Piranesi Awards, in Slovenia. the Congresp Scaliurbani of Livorno, or the College of Architecture of the Texas A&M University and the University of Virginia, among others.

NUA architectures has been part of the teaching team at the Reus School of Art and Design (EADR), of the Barcelona University School of Design and Engineering (ELISAVA) and is currently part of the School's Projects and Urban Planning teaching team. of Architecture of Reus (EAR-URV). He has also participated as an external jury in several critical sessions at the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB-UPC), at the School of Architecture of the International University of Catalonia (UIC), at the de la Salle School of Architecture (URL), and at the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University.
Read more
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...