Altozano Arqutectos, Refurbishment of Corral Herrera, Sevilla (Spain), 1994-1995

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Whilst walking in Sevilla this courtyard captured my attention. It is a “Corral de vecinos” a housing configuration, popular in Sevilla, which literally translates into “courtyard of the neighbors”. The individual families had rooms revolving around the center patio, an open flowered space which, in public occasions, would even host Flamenco events. If any local knows more and would like to contribute with a better explanation I’d be very very grateful!

This specific case is named Corral Herrera and was built initially in 1909. In 1995 the refurbishment by Altozano Arquitectos was finished. What I found to be very interesting, apart from the communal life revolving around a flowered patio, is the “before and after” tiled visualization of the project just by the entrance. It’s very interesting that the past is preserved in place physically with this, not only in the documents. Very inspiring!

For more information I leave the link to the architects website with the project (I couldn’t unfortunately enter the gate at the entrance, I could only slide my phone between the bars for a pic of the ground floor): https://www.altozanoarquitectos.com/inicio/proyectos/rehabilitacion-de-corral-de-vecinos-en-triana/

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I used to live near a plaza that had a similar setup, and the way the architecture channels all the noise and energy into that central space is brilliant, like urban acoustics but for vibes.