Research by PhD Candidate Miquel Reina Ortiz
Miquel Reina Ortiz is a PhD candidate in Architecture (2015-present) at the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University. His research titled “The Role of the ‘Detail’ in the Historic City. The ‘minimal units of signification’ of the Historic City of Barcelona” concerns the relationship between different scales of intervention within the context of the historic city. He has been a Teaching Assistant (2015-present) in heritage conservation, site and building documentation, urbanism and design studio. He collaborates with the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) in the development of new digital workflows applied to heritage conservation. He participated in international field works (Ethiopia and Nepal) and co-authored articles on topics related with digital heritage documentation. He studied architecture at ETSABarcelona (UPC), where he graduated with honors in 2011. He holds a MsC in Restoration and Rehabilitation at ETSABarcelona (UPC). His professional experience in the architecture studio Ravetllat-Ribas Barcelona (2008-2015) focused on adaptive reuse. As a licensed architect he designed public space projects, housing projects, interiors and competitions.
The Role of the ‘Detail’ in the Historic City. The ‘minimal units of signification’ of the Historic City of Barcelona.
Since early times the city has been understood as a whole composed of parts, but this relationship has been challenged over the years. My proposal seeks an understanding of the whole of the historic city from a part —the detail or minimal unit of signification. This term is considered as the indivisible element that both demonstrates the reality of the city (tangible and intangible) from its tectonics and engages with its inhabitants through spatial memory. From this perspective, this research examines the first city that was named historic, Barcelona and one of its most characteristic tectonic elements, the Catalan Vault. Ildefons Cerdà was the engineer responsible for the urban extension known as Eixample in 1859, being the first scholar who faced the challenge of defining the historic city in relation to the new one. The new city was understood from its construction; accordingly naming his proposal for the new science ‘urbanism.’
The Catalan Vault was originated during the XV century in Catalunya and used extensively in the construction of the city —being finally considered as part of the identity of the place. This technique has mostly disappeared in Europe, actually only present in the restoration of historic buildings. The present investigation conducted the study of its evolution and conservation approach —together with the practices and processes related to its craft— in the most significant heritage buildings in Barcelona’s historic city. Consequently, I propose that the “construction and construing” of the Catalan Vault as an example of a minimal unit of signification can be considered as a source of meaning related to the historic city. From its recognition and intervention at the large scale, this research suggests that it is possible to address how we currently understand historic urban preservation posing the idea that “the whole is contained in the part.”
