Ca'n Terra | Ensamble Studio

Ca'n Terra is the house of the earth. The fruit that nature gives us, as a found space; which requires tillage and cultivation to imbue the received offering with domesticity. If the history of civilization has greatly evolved transforming ideas into built work, in Ca'n Terra, the process is inverted and history interpreted to transform it into architecture. The transfer from drawing to built mass gives way to the translation of given matter to digital data through the architectural reading of a geological discovery. The discovered space has industrial logic as a former Mares stone quarry, artistic potential as sublime cavern carved by hand, and mineral nature as extract of the stony landscape on the island of Menorca. Finding this excavated space in the guts of the earth and reinventing its use implies writing a new story that can rescue it from its abandonment. As first contact we enter the space like explorers would do, equipped with the technology that expands our vision in the dark; throwing millions of laser points on the wrinkles of the continuous stone surface we register with millimetric precision the solid structure that was built for us and is now ready to be polished and inhabited. Behind the scan, the architect's eye, directing, interpreting, creating the space again. That's why the discovery is considered a new work, destined this time to become a room to contemplate nature. In lieu of an imposing action that many times architecture exerts on the environment, we propose a trip to the interior being of matter, and recognize the freedom with which it gives us spaces to live.

Description

Ca'n Terra is the house of the earth: first just that, earth; after quarry, voided from its Mares stone; then used by the military as ammunition dump during the Spanish Civil War and later abandoned, to be rediscovered decades later and come to be architecture. The found space has industrial logic, artistic potential as a sublime cavern carved by hand, and mineral nature as an extract of the stony landscape on the island of Menorca. Finding this excavated space in the guts of the earth and reinventing its use implies writing a new story that can rescue it from its abandonment. If the history of civilization has evolved transforming ideas into matter, here the process is inverted. We enter the space like explorers would do, equipped with the technology that expands our vision in the dark; scanning the solid structure that was built for us. Behind the scan, the architect's eye, directing, interpreting, creating the space again, completing it with operations that are familiar to the stone mass: new cuts to build using air and light. Three skylights are carved in the darkest corners to naturally illuminate and ventilate the space. Stone surfaces are thoroughly cleaned from the mold and dirt accumulated. Translucent curtains are introduced to delimit areas of intimacy. Mechanical systems are integrated in a series of casted slabs that follow the topography of the cave and mixes cement with Mares powder to create a new stone. Solar panels, septic tank and water cistern enable its use off the grid. Architecture appears and we can inhabit. In lieu of the imposing action that we often exert on the environment, we propose a trip to the interior being of matter, and recognize the beauty of the spaces that are waiting to be lived. This is a project that boldly seeks a balance between nature and artifice, between histories and times, between people and the environment.
Antón García-Abril & Débora Mesa

[ES]
Ca'n Terra es la casa de la tierra. El fruto que nos brinda la naturaleza, a modo de espacio encontrado, que requiere labranza y cultivo para dotar la ofrenda recibida con lo doméstico. Si la historia de la civilización ha evolucionado en gran parte trascendiendo la idea en obra, en Ca'n Terra, se invierte el proceso y se transforma la historia en arquitectura. La transferencia de dibujo a masa construida da paso a la traducción de materia dada a datos digitales mediante la lectura arquitectónica de un hallazgo geológico. El espacio hallado tiene lógica industrial como antigua cantera de piedra de Marés, potencial artístico como caverna sublime tallada a mano y naturaleza mineral como extracto del paisaje rocoso de la isla de Menorca. Encontrar este espacio excavado en las entrañas de la tierra y reinventar su uso implica escribir una nueva historia que lo rescate de su abandono. Para tomar contacto nos adentramos en el espacio como exploradores, equipados con la tecnología que nos permite ver en la oscuridad; lanzando millones de puntos láser sobre las arrugas de la superficie rocosa registramos con precisión milimétrica la sólida estructura que fue construida para nosotros y que ahora queda lista para ser desbastada, pulida y habitada. Detrás del escaneo, el ojo del arquitecto, dirigiendo, interpretando, creando el espacio de nuevo. Por eso el hallazgo se considera una nueva obra, destinada esta vez a la habitación contemplativa de la naturaleza. Frente a una acción impositiva que muchas veces la arquitectura ejerce sobre el medio, proponemos un viaje al interior de la materia, y reconocemos la libertad con la que nos entrega espacios para vivir.
Antón García-Abril & Débora Mesa