‘can taco archaeological site’ by estudi toni girones, barcelona, spainimage © aitor estévezall images courtesy of estudi toni girones

 

 

a small elevated enclave in the middle of montmelo, a small town on the outskirts of barcelona, contains the ruins of ancient roman structures buried by years of natural causes and human interventions, until it stands half buried over a socially fragmented community. the ‘can taco archaeological site’by local practice estudi toni girones is erected with three goals in mind: to inform and communicate its historical qualities, to restore and preserve the artifacts, and to understand the small mountain location as the uniting element of the diverse community circles at its base. guests arrive to the constructby way of a natural trail densely packed with oak trees on either side. the first signs of a subtle structure appear in the distance, a pavilion embedded intothe sloping contours of the terrain with information on the relics. stepped terraces create an orthogonal landscape, shaped by a thick metal mesh filled with the excess historical roman rocks removed from the excavation of the ruins. the subtle masses are made from the landscape and blend perfectly intoit, following the formal language of the ancient footprint’s negative space. the natural gabion walls that shape the exterior partitions transition into theinterior envelope of the cavernous pavilions, slices taken out of the very ground that birthed the subject of study.

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteview from the bottom of the siteimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteruins overlook the cityimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitedirt trail leading to an entrance onto the siteimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitedesigned steps made of a gabion-like constructionimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitegeometries mirror those found from the ruinsimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitere-used rock creates a site-specific construction with a renewed applicationimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteinterior pavilionimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitecaptionimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteimage © aitor estévez

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteaerial viewimage © http://sabem.com + aeroproduccions

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological site(left) original site(right) landscaped siteimages © http://sabem.com + aeroproduccions

 

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological site

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitesite plan

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitefloor plan / pavilion 1

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitefloor plan / pavilion 2

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitesection pavilion 1

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological sitesection pavilion 2

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteconstruction of the roman castellum

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteabandoned structures covered by natural debris

 

 

estudi toni girones: can taco archaeological siteprocess of rediscovery and recycling of excess material into a new landscaped site

 

 

project info:

 

 

archaeological intervention:budget: 119.689 €     area: 2.500 m2     price/m2: 48 €/m2

pavilions:budget: 28,893 € (construction)  /  14,980 € (exterior pavilions)area: 90 m2 (construction)   /  200 m2 (exterior pavilions)price/m2: 321 €/m2 (construction) /  75 €/m2 (exterior pavilions)