Abstract

This text will present the results and the course of the research taken by the author in the study of the brick masonries in Valencia’s historical city centre (Spain), in particular in the neighbourhoods of Velluters, Seu-Xerea, Carmen, Mercat and San Francesc.

The research is based on the tracing of a socio-economic and cultural technique joined to preindustrial brick production and its implementation in the city of Valencia. It establishes the main features that join the manufacture and employment of preindustrial bricks, to a specific chronological and geographical environment, from the foundation of the city to the arrival of industrial ceramic productions.

Within this framework, a detailed record of historical brick structures will reflect specific metric and technical information. To do this the research has focused on the study of 84 historical buildings, both residential and monumental, and 95 brick masonries have been selected (exposed walls, repointed, painted, or rendered surfaces, rammed earth walls, gauged or glazed masonries). All this has generated a comprehensive collection of information which reflects the technical, diagnostic and analytical aspects of the bricks, accompanied by a study of archaeological sources, arranged in 19 records relating to Roman and Medieval bricks.

Thanks to the results obtained by the study of the masonries, along with the collation of archaeological information and the analysis of brick and mortar samples, it is possible to extract statistical information and reflections. Through the analysis of technical features it’s possible to see the synchrony of the masonries through the centuries, or the lack of chronological coordination between them. In particular, elements like basements, openings, lintels, eaves and brickwork contribute to the understanding of the evolution of brick masonries in Valencia’s historical city centre. Consequently it’s possible to design an archaeometric curve, specifically for the city, defining dimensional and productive variations in preindustrial bricks throughout the centuries.

Finally intervention guidelines, specifically designed for these brick masonries, are proposed, recommending a set of operative and methodological steps that ensure the conservation of these historical urban structures.