The Earth and the Sun like architectural basic elements: ten bioclimatic houses in Amayuelas de Abajo, Palencia, España

Abstract

Amayuelas is a very small village in a rural, economically depressed Spanish area. The construction of ten private houses l Vas recently made by traditional methods, earth and adobe walls, passive and active solar design, 10lV environmental impact materials and with the addition of new technologies such as solar thermal collectors and photovoltaic cells.
The buildings were finished September 2001.The owner is the mutual association "Entramado ". The experience was supported by European program s and the use of earth walls was laboratory tested by the Departamento de Edificación de la Universidad de Valladolid, in the "Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Valladolid " (Spa in) This co-operative was helped by the ecological town of Amayuelas and found collaboration from the NGOd "Arquitectos sin Fronteras Castilla y León ". The experience provides a source of valuable results, and it suggests a code model for earth construction in this area:
1. Revitalising depressed areas, through the realisation of new settlements.
2. Involving different decision-makers with solidarity, making stronger the participation and new systems of co-operation between community and neighbourhood to recuperation of social space.
3. Building respectfully with the environment and landscape, in a sustainable way.
4. Linking old and new technologies, and recovering old tradition systems with a good level of comfort.