La Vera´s vernacular architecture. Structural design and climate protec-tion in timber frame wall houses using constructive systems and local materials

Abstract

[EN] La Vera is a region in the west of Extremadura in Spain, on the southern slope of the Sierra de Gredos. Its architecture was designed for a rural way of life about to disappear. Three municipalities declared Historic and Artistic Sites were studied to define and explain their design and construction systems. A wooden frame structure is typical in the region, which uses sun-dried bricks in the infills and leaves the wooden structure visible from the outside. Its composite materials, clay and wood, subject to water and sun damage, are made resistant to weather via an extremely intelligent, skilled combination of wood, clay, pigments, lime mortars and paint. Verata´s wood frame structure is explained in detail, with every element named and how it works. Unique to these structures is the use of different elements as counterweights, which is considered a safety measure. Foundations built on granite and clay transfer moisture up the walls which results in the way in which paint and mortars are found. They have a clay or lime base, combined with pigments. The mixtures and application techniques have been documented from oral transmission. The selection of the base material of paint and mortars depends on their ventilation capacity and which waterproof or disinfection properties are required. Pigments are used as additives to increase these properties while obtaining the colour required. Nowadays, facilities to allow ventilation and sunlight are needed. This makes us question how all the applied knowledge developed over centuries can be preserved. This symbiosis of technique, design, structural knowledge, and close material use is the essence of Verata´s architecture.