1. MOULDING THE TOWN
Study of the integration of disused wooden industrial moulds into the urban landscape
FUNDACIÓ COMUNITAT
VALENCIANA DE PATRIMONI
INDUSTRIAL I MEMÒRIA OBRERA
DE PORT DE SAGUNT
Luis Roberto/ Maria Hebenstreit

2. Innovation
Our challenge: hundreds of old foundry patterns piled up in a large warehouse without any current use and no way to preserve them all.
Our approach: recover industrial pieces giving them an innovative use by integrating them into the urban landscape. That allows a commitment to recycling, create awareness of the collective memory, etc.
Obstacles: conservation of the material, lack of financial support.

3. Design approach
Participatory design/ Co-creation workshops. Aim: actively involve the inhabitants of the city in the decision-making process as to how their living space should be designed. In concrete terms, this means greater awareness of identity and greater self-confidence with regard to civic participation. Local artist are involved in the drawing up of first ideas. Public Workshops establish contacts and create networks with universities and regional art schools. Interviews with experts: technical aspects (conservation of wood, integration in urban architecture, administrative/legal obstacles)

4. Relation to the urbanscape
Moulding the town
Relation to the urbanscape
Sagunto, the town of stone and iron (antiquity and industry), wooden moulds as a connection of the two opposed concepts. We want users/ citizens to participate in the development of the project because we understand that the urban landscape is formed by the lived experience of its citizens/inhabitants. We want to find out if including industrial elements would reflect the collective memory of the origin of the industrial nucleus or if the use of these elements would cause rejection, because of the painful process of industrial “reconversión”. Sustainability wood itself is a sustainable, resistant and recyclable material. By giving old, seemingly useless forms a new life and a new purpose, we also set an example in terms of environmental protection in the urbanscape.

5. Scaling up prospects
The possibilities of this project lie in its innovation: the integration of wooden industrial elements into an urban landscape. It is not only about the chances of a new idea, but also about the discovery and development of new conservation and exhibition techniques.
Our installations encourage local and regional artists to participate. It is a scalable project, that aims to grow and to be extended to other municipalities. Our project is not only replicable in towns or settlements with similar characteristics, but in all places with existing elements/ objects in disuse of certain historical or patrimonial interest, and whose disposal would eventually be environmentally problematic, and are therefore recycled and integrated into the urban landscape.