Restoration of the Casa de la Piedra | Pablo Manuel Millán

NOLI ME TANGERE OR HOW TO TURN A HOUSE INTO A MONUMENT

Casa de la Piedra, a handcrafted monument entirely made of stone from stone quarries in Porcuna (Jaén), rises on a side of Paseo de Jesús. The author of this work was the local quarry worker Antonio Aguilera Rueda. He devoted 29 years of his life to accomplish his creation. The house was made without any project, just with the logical knowledge developed by a person who worked in the field of stone quarrying.

The construction was carried out by means of colossal stone structures, more than 3,000 kg each one, laid in a primitive way without using any binder, working entirely by compression.  This lack of applied technique will provoke, fifty year later, a fast deterioration in the monument. Sinking of some pillars, loss of structural stability in the north tower or appearance of significant chemical pathologies will be the reasons that force the city council, current building manager, to intervene urgently.

The intervention will have a surgical purpose, dealing with each pathology accurately. To do this, it will be necessary to remove a large number of additional elements, which had been added over the years by the family that lived there.  After a major cleaning and restoration work in the stone, a sophisticated lighting system will be installed in order to highlight all the beauty in the stone craftsmanship.  At the same time, a large set of ramps, made of marble concrete, will give access to a crystal lift, which will be the only discordant element but also the one that will enable a total accessibility to the building. This was a main requirement from the city council. In conclusion, a project that will aim, at all times, to show the stone without touching the stone.  

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Developer: Porcuna City Council

Architect: Pablo-M. Millán-Millán (Pablo Millán, architects www.pablomillan.es)

Co-workers: Inmaculada Cervera, architect; Javier Serrano Terrones, quantity surveyor; Javier Bengoa Díaz, engineering; Manuel Porcuna, electrical systems; Gonzalo Delgado, site manager.

Construction: Porcuna City Council

Photography: Javier Callejas Sevilla (Javier Callejas, photography www.javiercallejas.com)

Address: Paseo de Jesús, s/n. Porcuna (Jaén).

Starting date of construction: September 2016

Completion date of construction: August 2018

Lighting technology: ERCO

Vertical lift: Ascensores IASA

Cement and concrete: Cemex