CABANELAS AT REFU INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR

The next 13 and 14 May will take place the XII Seminar of the Network of Urban Form Studies (REFU), entitled “Interdiscipline in the study of urban form.” Organized by the International Architecture and Urban Planning Research Area of ​​the Department of Evaluation of Design in Time of the Division of Sciences and Arts for Design / CyAD. from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) of Mexico City. Continue reading

EXHIBITION ELS MONCADA A MONTCADA

EXHIBITION ELS MONCADA A MONTCADA

General view of the exhibition. Photo courtesy from Museu Municipal de Montcada

Hello,

We will begin this week talking about the exhibition “Els Moncada to Montcada” (The Moncada in Montcada) whose inauguration took place on May 12 at the Museu Municipal or Casa de la Vila, where BUO Estudio had the privilege of designing the exhibition panels that are displayed together with the pieces donated by Dr. Danilo di Moncada Zarbo Soria.

The exhibition is made up of seven areas that explain the origin of the town and the history of one of the most influential families in medieval Catalonia. It will be opened until next June 6th.

EXHIBITION ELS MONCADA A MONTCADA

Opening day. Photo courtesy from Museu Municipal de Montcada.

We would like to say goodbye and express our gratitude to the museum staff for their confidence, especially to Historians Mercedes Durán and Tania Galán.

Best regards from BUO Estudio and have a nice week!

10th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MOLINOLOGY

Next May, the 10th International Congress on Molinology will take place in Segovia. Our work will be exhibited at the Royal Mill Mint of Segovia and we will share our experience of A Paisaxe da Auga of Xesta with experts all around the world in order to exchange views and knowledge.

Since 1993, the ACEM (Association for the Conservation and Study of Mills) has been promoting the organization of these incredible congresses with the main goal being to value everything related to this heritage such as its buildings, mechanisms, history, and people, among others.

The conference will focus on the following thematic blocks:

1. HISTORY, HERITAGE, ETHNOGRAPHY AND FOLKLORE
The history of each windmill, its heritage (tangible and intangible) and its ethnographic aspects such as their way of living and folklore.

2. RESTAURATION, PROTECTION, LANDSCAPES, TOURISM AND USES
Restoration projects, heritage protection, heritage as a landscape, tourism associated with industrial heritage and traditional and new alternative uses of this heritage.

3. TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNIQUE
Information about mills technology and technique from a historical point of view and new technologies perspectives for its own dissemination, representation and use, such as computer graphics, 3D constructions, virtual reality and computer applications.

Hell or inferno, Molino do Campo, Campelo. Photograph by BUO Estudio

From BUO Estudio we are very pleased to attend this event and share with other participants some information about A Paisaxe da Auga of Xesta.

Regards and have a nice week!

HOLLY OR ILEX AQUIFOLIUM IN BUOPHILIA

With the arrival of the New Year, from BUO Estudio we continued with the description of all plant species that are part of our project BUOfilia. This time we will talk about the Ilex aquifolium, better known as holly or acivo (in Galician).

BUOFILIA. "Mundo galego"

BUOFILIA. Fragment of the mural “Mundo galego.” Photograph by BUO Estudio

BUOFILIA-MUNDO-GALEGO_acebo

Holly or acivo. BUOFILIA, Fragment of the mural “Mundo galego.” Photograph by BUO Estudio

Holly belongs to the family of Aquifoliaceae, being a species from West Asia, North Africa and Southern and Western Europe.

Regarding its etymology, its name comes from the Latin Ilex (by the resemblance to the leaves of Quercus ilex or oak) and aquifolium adjective that highlights the characteristics and qualities of the thorny edge of its leaves (acus = needle and folius = leaf).

Holly or Ilex aquifolium. Botanical illustration from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany.

Myths and legends about the holly

According to the Celtic myth, there were two kings and twin brothers named Oak and Holly, who during the entrance of each solstice fought each other alternating power. The first exercised its mandate over the summer (being its period of greatest botanical splendor), whose influence would wane with the gradual loss of their leaves and with the onset of winter, a time when the reign King Holly began by the presence its bright green leaves and deep red of its berries.

The Celts used holly, ivy and mistletoe to decorate their homes during the winter solstice in order to bring luck and prosperity. Its use as a Christmas plant is attributed to the Catholic Church with the idea of replacing it with mistletoe, pagan species widely used by the Druids, being very popular in several English poetic songs and Christmas carols like “The Holly and the Ivy”.

Holly or Ilex aquifolium

Holly or Ilex aquifolium. Photograph by Iain Turner

Nowadays, it is a protected species in Galicia and in the rest of Spain species.

With this little post, we wanted to share “our Galician world” and what a best moment to do it with such a representative plant of Galicia’s winter.

Regards and happy 2016!

REHABILITATION OF AN HÓRREO

Hello,

We begin the month with a lot of energy and with a new project! From Pigarzos’ town, located in the foothills of Serra do Suído in Pontevedra province, comes our first hórreo (1) or canastro to BUO Arquitectura.

This new request consists of the rehabilitation of an ethnographic element which was of paramount importance to the development of rural economy and for the Galician survival over the centuries.We are talking about an intervention to a construction that was use for the storage and dry of different kind of cereals. It was built in such a way, that it provided ideal ventilation to the stored product and raised from the ground to protect it from animals or humidity.

From BUO Arquitectura, we would like to thank those who have trusted us and gave us the opportunity to enjoy from this rich and fantastic ethnographic heritage that we can appreciate in all the Galician geographic area. Don’t forget to visit our projects.

Best regards and have a nice week!

(1) An hórreo is a typical granary from the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula), built in wood or stone, raised from the ground by pillars ending in flat staddle stones to avoid the access of rodents

A NEW INFOGRAPHY FROM ECO!

Hello:

Today we celebrate the International Day to Reduce Carbon Emissions or the so called International Day against Global Warming.

From BUO Arquitectura, we would like to share this infography which gives a brief explanation on the subject, giving some examples of things that can be done to reduce CO2 emissions. We hope you will enjoy it and we invite you to have a look at the other infographies at ECO. Espacio Divulgativo.

Best regards from BUO Arquitectura!

SAKACHIMALI GOES TO MEXICO CITY!

Hello,

We have finally finished and sent to Mexico our landscape project Sakachimali, A Garden at the Desert of the Lions to be presented to the client with the project house designed by Paul Cremoux Studio.

We are extremely happy with the result and shortly we will upload the full project to our web page.

Regards from BUO Arquitectura and have a nice week-end!

A NEW BACKYARD FROM MINNEAPOLIS

15Hello,

What a better way to start the year than by be commissioned to design a new garden from America! This new project will take placed in Minneapolis.

The clients live in Minnesota and have decided to improve their backyard with a new landscape design.

We are very happy, especially as it is our first project from the United States, a geographic area with considerable thermal variations, where snow is a fundamental element of design.

As we always do, we will be sharing with you some images about the project.

Regards from BUO Arquitectura!

XESTA VALUES ITS HERITAGE

28This week I had a great surprise as I received some photos of the current conditions of one of the watermills that made up the exhibition Water landscaping in Xesta: the O muiño da Cerradiña, located in Pigarzos town.

Two friends and neighbors of Xesta, Manuel Boullosa and Enrique Costal, have decided to clear and clean this watermill and its surroundings, uncovering the main structure and the water channel or canle.

Down below you will be able to see some photographs taken before the intervention the last summer. So you will be able to compare them with the current condition after the cleanup carried out this week.

I hope that this kind of interventions and initiatives will help to keep alive this material, immaterial and natural heritage for more time, so we will be able to enjoy from this wonderful place.

Have a nice Sunday and thanks Manolo and Enrique for all the work done!