Binibeca Vell. Interpreting tradition

Abstract

[EN] Following the visual and volumetric bases extracted from the traditional Mediterranean architecture, Francisco Juan Barba Corsini (1916-2008) and Antoni Sintes Mercadal (1921-1981) designed Binibeca Vell (1964-1972) a respectful complex with the environment and the constructive traditions. The integration in the site, the built forms, the materials used and the urban structure reflect the organization of a traditional village. The research aims to analyze the architectural features, the reinterpretation of vernacular elements and the local traditional construction crafts involved in the complex and the details, symbolism and aesthetics. Binibeca consists of 165 townhouses, shopping center, hotel, social club, church and a small marina, all arranged in the form of a fishing village. The urban structure, the different typologies and the construction process is considered an alternative to the block of apartments of tourist promotion, reinterpreting a model of traditional settlement. The initial proposal was to recreate a traditional fishing village that would inspire the work of intellectuals, painters and writers. Barba Corsini stated that he had felt closer to the way a fisherman builds than to an architect: “I have met Alvar Aalto on several occasions and I came to understand the superiority of the beauty of a wall made by a fisherman or a farmer compared to that of a specialist technician” (Barba Corsini, 2005). With the reinterpretation of an architecture of the past, Binibeca Vell recovers the autochthonous values of the Mediterranean coast. The resonance between topography and architecture, the harmony with the constructive traditions, the plasticity of organic integration and the picturesqueness of the access route characterize Binibeca, which incorporates the adjective "Vell" to the toponym to distinguish itself from new constructions.