Wooden Framed Structures in Madrid Domestic

7/27/2019 Wooden Framed Structures in Madrid Domestic

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Wooden framed stru ctu res in Madrid domesticarch itectu re of th to 9 th cen tu ries

S truc tu ra l decay in mason ry bu il di ng s f rom the th to19th centuries is very common in Madrid mainlybecause of poor conservation in which normalJy acom plex pathology w here crack s of different kindsa pp ear. A t p re se nt, v ery few stu die s h av e in ve stig ate dthe historical construction aspects to acquire anunderstanding of the m orphology and the structuralbehaviour in order to determ ine the real repair needsin an intervention. T his paper folJow s som e previousones (G onz]ez and A roca 2000; G onzlez and A roca2001 a; G onzlez and A roca 2001 b) w here there ha v ebeen introduced the masonry structures and thew ooden fram ed construction system s used in M adridfrom the 17 h to 19th centuries. In this one w e pretendto go further in the understanding of the historicaIco nstru ctio ns w hic h still su rv ey in M ad rid.

The starting point of this paper is related to adocumental historical approach based upon theH istoricaI Archives of M adrid. This study followsfour m ain lines: a) investigation and selection of them ost relevant contracts and documents of the J7 to] 9th centuries for an individual and an altogetheranalysis of the evolution of the construction system sused in M adrid in that time; b) transcription of suchdocum ents; c) an individual study of the structure,methods and contents of each document, such as:people involved in w orks: architects, cIerks of w orks,builders, ow ners, etc; and d) an altogether analysis ofthem w ith the aim of setting the origin, evolution andtransform ation of the construction system s used in

E . G onz lez. R ed ond oR . A ro ca H ern n de z-Ros

M adrid. To a better understanding, this study w ill bec om plete d w ith th e a dd itio n o f o rig ina l p la ns, g ra ph icconstruction details and the original transcription ofso me a bstra cts o f th e d ocu me nts c on su lte d.

DOCUMENTAL H IS TORICAL APPROACH

As it has been introduced in the previous lines, them ain point of this study is related to a documentalhistorical approach based upon the H istoricalA rchives of Madrid. The kinds of documentconsuJted and transcripted is very w ide, m ost of thembelongs to tw o m ain groups: a) the docum ents lookedup in the A rchivo H istrico de Protoco]os, A HP, andb) the archives consulted in the A rchivo histrico dela V ilJa, A V S.

Con tra cts o f w ork s c on te nts (AHP, A rc hiv oHi st r ico De Pro toco lo s)T he first group of docum ents belongs to the contractsof works, and among them are incIuded: 1) newhouses construction contracts, 2) rebuilt housescontracts, 3) repairing contracts, 4) houses divisiondocuments, 5) titles deeds, 6) expert valuation ofhouses, and 7) renting contracts. Those from w hichwe can take out a m ore detailed inform ation are thereal contracts of works. As architects, clerks of

Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History, Madrid, 20th-24th January 2003,ed. S. Huerta, Madrid: I. Juan de Herrera, SEdHC, ETSAM, A. E. Benvenuto, COAM, F. Dragados, 2003.


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1078 E . G on zlez, R . A roca

w orks, builders, ow ners and Q ther people involved inworks were not com pelled to sign a contract of workincluding: w ork conditions, m aterial prices, payingconditions, etc, there are only conserved some ofthem. Works in Madrid were usually carryed outfo llo win g a h ou se b ui ld in g tra dit io n.The contents of the documentes consulted in theArchivo Histrico de Protocolos, AHP, include theoriginal docum entation of contem porary dom esticarchitecture built in Madrid, that is: a) writteninform ation, and b) graphic inform ation. A generalapproach to the first one can be seen in the next linesthat be long to an expert valuation of a house wherethere are analysed, in the first Hnes, the fonctionaldistribution of room s containing a cellar, courtyarda ttic s, differen t ro om s, m ain t1 00 r, e tc , a nd in th e n ex tones, the different construction system s em ployed inth e fo un datio ns, fa ;;'(J1,..;J,- :,,,,~--< j ") . /J. I - r ; ~ ':

Figure 1House built in Madrid in 1635. Contract of work. AHP N2.692

W orks licences application (A VS, Archivo de laV i lla Secre tar ia )In th e se co nd g ro up o f the d oc um ents c on su lted w e fin dthe works licence applications which werecom pulsory to be approved by the local governm entb ef or e s ta rt in g and c ar ry in g out t he h ou se s con st ru ct io n.These docum ents should include the elevation of thefa


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W o od en fr am ed s tru ctu re s in M ad rid d om es tic a rc hite ctu re o f 1 7'h t o 1 9'h c en tu rie s 1079

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1080

M A SO N RY C ON ST RU CT IO N S YS TE M S

E . G onzlez, R . A roca

This part will analyse masonry structures built inM adrid in the 17th_19th centuries: 1) foundations; 2)caves; and 3) m asonry w alls in cluding: a) m ain w alls,b) ctaras or thin walls, c) party-walls and, d)partitions. To a better understanding of the writteninformation analysed, we will bring to the mostrelevant abstracts of the documents transcribed ine ach s ec ti on .

FoundationsT he c on stru ctio n o f fo un da tio ns, a s m ost c on tra cts a ndre co rd s o f w ork s in th e h isto ric al a rc hiv es m en tio ne d,alw ays w ere a concern in the construction process. T oclassify the foundation types, we can analyse:

Z CA LO D E C AN TE RJ A(2 h il ad as 0 1 d es cu bi er to )

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A RR AN Qu E D EL M UR O DE f A C H A D AS OB RE L A C IM EN T A C 6 NT O N G A O A S D E M A M P 0 5 T E R A D E P IE D R A T O S C AC A D A 2 - 3 P I E S D E A L T U R A

fi N D E T O N G A D A A P R E T A D A C O N P S N

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C AP A D E N IV EL AC I NT O R T A D A D E C A L S O B R E E L F IR M E

d im en sio ns, (d ep th , w id th , th e le ng th w as d ete rm in edby the length of m ain w alls) laying foundation w orks,stages of filling the foun dations, m aterials, etc. T heyw ere built in tw o different w ays: 1) F oundations w ith zanja co rrida or a trench w hich w as then filled w itha m ixture of stones and mortar placing the biggestones at the bottom in different courses separated bytw o lines of bricks, and 2) foundations by m asonry-filled pits and arches of stone or brick on the top.This second method was used when the site to lay thefoundations w as filled with dem olished m aterials orwhether there was some eJement that needed to beoverpassed, also water conductions. A typicaJfoundation built in the domestic architecture inM adrid in 17th to 19th centuries is show n in figure 3.W e have m ade a selection of three abstracts, one ofeach century , explaining these construction sy stem sme nt io ne d a bo ve

E L E v A C i N D EL M UR OD E f AC HAD ADE A lB A llE Rr A C ONM E Z C L A DE CA L y ARENA

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GRANITO

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P RO fU ND ID AD M tN IM A DE LAC\MENTACION2 P IE S P O R D E B A J O D E L P I S O D E L SOTANOFigure 3Typical foundation built in the domestic architecture in Madrid in 17th to 19th centuries


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W o o de n f ra me d stru ctu re s in M ad rid d om estic ar ch ite ctu re o f 1 7th to 1 9th c en tu ries

. . . que se a de abrir zanjas hasta ]0 firm e m edio pie m asanchas para rodapie que esto es mas ancho de ]0 qued em uestra la p lan ta y las a de m aci~ar con ]a mezla de caldicha y areposada y de piedra de las canteras de SanYsidro y a de rccivir toda la piedra que saliere de losredinos dejandolas a nibel del suelo o lIadero quatrod edo s m as b axas p ara e] asien to d e sillares y para elijir ]amampostera. Que en el patio y patinejo a de sentar unsillar alrededor de m edia bara de lecho y media bara dealto y a esta altura, an de quedar todos los cimientosadbirtiendo que en el pao de ]a cavallerica lo s q ue caendel los a de labrar por de fuera con piedra pedernal de ]amarjcn y por de dentro como los de demas los a deenrassar y en rassad os to dos a n ib el y encim a a de elegirverdugos y pilares adbirtiendo que e] patio y patinejo ylo q ue falta d e e]ejir en la calle to do a d e ser d e a]ba ilera. . . Contract of work of a house built in CI S an M ig ue l.AHP NI ]0.849 (1669).. . . Se ha de vaziar e] vano de los sotanos y gruessos deparedes a ]a profundidad de diez pies y quarto desde elpisso de ]a calle continuando las zanjas de otras paredesco n un pie d e zarp a exterio rm en te, y en lo y nterio r, m ediopie que es una de zcalo al cuerpo del cuarto vajo, y dospies mas profundo que e] pavimento de otros. Queh alla do e l f irm e y puesto i nibel se haian de m azizar laszanjas con mampostera vien travada de buena piedrapedernal, con su mezcla de ea] correspondienteenrrassando de tres en tres pies y hechando i cadaenrrasse sus dos y]adas de canto de ]adrillo de la mejorcalid ad levan tan do las p ared es en la m ism a con fo rm ad asexcepto ]a que hunde los dos sotanos que ha de ser debuena fbrica de alvailera . . . A Y S. 1-46-3 (1747).. . . Los cim ientos han de construirse de piedra pedernalcon mezcla de cal y aren a; sob re terren o firm e, dn dolecuatro pies de grueso hasta medio pie mas bajo que eln ivel d el p iso d e ]a calle, en d ond e retallnd ose m edio piede cada lado se sentar el zcalo de cantera de tres piesde altura lo menos con su tizon correspondiente,resultando dos hiladas descubiertas en e] punto mselevad o de la calle, co ntin uan do nivel h asta e] m as b ajo ,sin que falten estos en ningun punto de la fachada. . .A YS 1-1 ]4-26 (1838).

CelIarsH istorical ho uses bu ilt in M adrid, prin cipally thoseplaced in m ain streets, often had stores in the groundfloor and cellars or undergrounds under them . Theywere masonry walls built only with brick or withmampostera around 3.0-4.0 feet width (84 cm)and then covered with brick vaults with the bricksp la c e d r a d ia l ly s o t h e y m ad e th e f lo o r s o f t h e a b o v e

1081

stores. Both w ere com unicated by staircases or evenprovisional stairs. In general they w ere only built inthe first cruja facing the main fa~ade where theyp la ce d w indows, a ls o c al le d


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1082 E . G onzlez, R . A ro ca

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M asonry w a11s can be classified in four groups: 1)m ain w a11s, 2) traviesa, thin or secondary w alls, 3)p arty -w a1 1s, a 11 stru ctu ra l w a1 1s, a nd 4 ) p artitio ns,w ith no structural function but only a partition roleo

1) Thick wa11s, main wa11s or fa,


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W o od en f ra me d stru ctu re s in M ad rid d om estic a rc hite ctu re o f 1 7'h t o 1 9th ce ntu rie s

Figure 5H ouse built in M adrid in 1692 in m asonry eft exposed. A V S1-10-44

decreasing from 1.50 feet in the main floor to only0.5 0 in the third floo r; th ey al so regulated the doors atstreet level, the sidew alks and the finish w ork in thefayades. T he next abstract of a 1 9th century docu mentrefers to it.Los balcones en el caso de ser voladizos tendrn lo m aspie y m edio los del piso principal, uno los de] segundo, ym edio los del tercero, dando les de altura tres pies y trescuartos, y el intervalo de los balaustres seis dedos,dejando recibidos las patillas en e] grueso de la pared unpie, y mas de otro separados del vivo de la luz de lasventanas. En las puertas no habr batiente ni peldao quesalga de] filo esterior de las fachadas, para que noim pidan e] trn sito p b lico , d ebien do ab rir aq uellas h acialo interior de ]a posesiono En ]a acera se sentarn losas depiedra berroquea de medio pie de grueso y cuatro desalida, cindo]a con el em pedrado, labrada toda m oda

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con punta tirada bajo de un arrasante y sentada conmo rt er o de c al , s in que e n e ll as puedan a br ir se l umb re ra so ri zon ta ]e s l os s t anos , d eb ie ndo c ol oc ar se e st as e n l asm oc he ta s d e la s p ue rta s, v er tic ale s lo s d em s h ue co sde ven tan as; y por ltim o se rebocarn las fachad asdecentemente con arreglo un buen orden dec on str uc ci n. . . AVS 1 -1 ] 4- 26 ( 18 38 )2) T hin w alls , C ta ra s o r ta bic on esThis second part of the classification of masonrystructural walls built in M adrid houses of the 17'h toth e 1 9th ce ntu rie s, a l so c alle d cta ra s o r ta bic on es(or thick partitio ns), w ere seco ndary or traviesa

w alls that cut m ain w alls perpen dicu larly. They had awidth of 3/4-1 foot (21-28 cm) and were located ininterior cou rt w alls, interior w alls and staircases. A sin the preceeding section, they were built in twodifferent ways, that is: 1) thin walls, Ctaras ortabicones made with a wooden vertical andhorizontal structure and filled with masonry workwhich will be studied in the next section, and 2)masonry thin walls. This second w ay of building theC taras w here, in g eneral, the resultan t w idth of thew all dependant on the position of bricks. The bricksmost commonly used were those of (lf x '/4f x 2 fg),CM x 3M x 2 fg) and (2 f x 3M x 2 fg).

3) Party-wallsThe m ain stru ctural fon ction o fthe party -w alls w asth e lateral o r b ack sep aratio n o f n eig hb ou rin g h ou ses.They had a width oP/4-1 foot (2]-28 cm). Clerks of

w orks used to build them perpen dicu lar to m ain w allsand to the rear of houses. A s m entioned previously,the historical presence of party-walls was alsoreg istere d in th e d ifferen t co ntracts o f w ork s, reco rd sand by-Iaws in Madrid. After the great fire of thePlaza Mayor de Madrid took place in 1790,V illanueva asked the loca] governm ent of M adrid tooutlaw building partywalls with wood and toencourage raising them only in brick. At the end of19th c entury and in the construction of new zones ofM adrid, M adrid laws stipulated that at least everythird house should h ave a p artyw all m ade totally w ithbrickw ork , rising at least a m etre over th e highest p artof the roof. Nonetheless this was not alwaysrespected. As with the main walls discussedpreviously, the vertical section of masonry partywall s a lso decreasedwi th he ight, be ing reduced b y


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1084 E. G onz lez, R . A roca

a r o u n d 1 /4 f e e t in w id t h a t e a c h f lo o r . In t h is w ayparty-walls had a typical width of 3.25 feet at theground floor, 3.0 feet at the m ain floor, and so on untilt he r oo f.

4) PartitionsAs m entioned before, partitions, the fourth groupof m asonry walls studied in this paper, divided thefloors into usable spaces and did not have a structuralfunction. From a structural point of view, they wereheld up by the w ooden w alls and w ere therefore built

as thin as possible to reduce their weigh. They werebuilt in tw o different w ays and their thickness variedin each case: 1) w ood fram ew ork partitions filled w ithmasonry, analysed in the next section, and 2)Masonry partitions built as follows: a) principalpartitions or


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W o od en f ra me d str uc tu re s in M ad rid d om estic a rc hite ctu re o f 1 7'h t o 1 9'h c en tu rie s

Table IT imb er s tr uc tu ra l e leme nt si T DIMENSIONS~1

NAME I Length Height W idth If--- ,-

(feet) (feet/fg) (feet/fg) r:

' 30 1 Y. feet 1 O

I

00 l'

~o:, anda quart e~ 1 _: ;~ , 1 1/4 feet 1, :. t~ Ooe third by onT1[30 t 1, t-- 3/4 ,

I

Ii fourth beam > 38 .eet 1 3 O 1---1--I O oe f ou rt h b y o neI

22-30

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314ft ,1 , y, 1-. ~Xth beam > 30 eet , i'I i ~2, 2 -f ee t ' vi gu et a' 22~ , ~' ' ,-'- -1 3/4 ''Half 'vigueta ' (12 f) ~---L-.-, '

'

0 0 M ad ero Ofa 6i,

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8fg}0--- ---t-=-:.-~ Maderoofa8 16 9fg I Hg ,I :;j M ad ero ofa 1 0 1, I -~ -1 ',1 :dOUble_ - ~.--L-~ l~~ - IT ab lc 2Timber non-st ruc tura l e lements1'-- -'-' . DlMENSIONS - -l NAME Length W idth I Height 1~'- -- (Feet)-+,(Fingers)(FingerS) -jI

;1,

' A lfargia' of 1 2 feet 12 1,

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1... -- '-] 5I

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I I ti feetI 14 t-- -~ Heet, 7 i --1I

~ 1Heet P~~'sptank~ -24--; - - J1~ 14feet f 14 ----, f--- ~Chilla's plank f 2. 16 1 2 dHeetl ,1 7, -I ~a's p'ank_~k 8/3 4 l ines ,As we can see in the next abstraet from the earlyyears of the 17'h eenturies, in the eontraets of w orksall these wood elements were perfeetly typifiedfo llo win g th e tab le s p rev io usly sh ow n.C ada b igeta d e b ein te y t re s a st a b ei nt e y cuatro que es loque a de llevar la sala baja y alta y esto se en tien decargando en el pilar de la m edianera con su bobedilla

1085

acabada en toda perfezion por precio de quarenta yquatros. Cada madero de a seis de la m isma manerarem atad o po r p rezio de v einte y och o reales, C ada m ad erode a ocho de la misma manera rematado y que tengadesde doze pies arriba sin no los tubiere rezudiendolos aellos p or vein te reales, C ad a p ie de v ig a de terzia y quar talabrado y sentado por tres reales y medio. Cada pie deviga de quarta y sesma labrado y sentado por sesentamaravedies. Cada viga de tejado que sera de quarta ysesm a con bentaja toscas sentadas por prezio de treintareales. Cada tabla de una quarta de ancho clabada porsesen ta m araved is. C ad a tram o de m adera d e a seis cuatroal tramo entablado con tablas de carreta por prezio debeinte y dos reales que es cada tram o o ch o d ucad os. C ad atramo de m adera de a ocho cinco al tramo entablado de lamisma tabla cada madero de doze reales que es cadatramo sesenta reales. Cada peldao de escalera de unabara de grueso perdidas las zancas y m esilla s p or p re ziode catorze reales. . . Contract of work. AHP Nl 7055(1636).The elevation of the neeeesary provisionalstrueture to build the house, the seaffolfs, were alsoregistred in some eontraets of works indieating the

main seetions of the wood elements, the way ofplaeing them , and also som e instrueeions to follow ,sueh as not to leave too many brieks on them, top re ve nt po ss ib le a ee id en ts. . En la construccin de andamios de las fachadas deesta casa, se observar que las almas sean de sesmascolocadas en m edio de los huecos, escepcion de las delos estremos que estarn la lnea de los murosmedianeros para que por este medio no resul tenm echinales en la fbrica; los puentes sern de m aderos de

seis y los tablones de buena calidad, sin nudossaltadizos, poniendo tres por lo menos en el ancho decada andam iada, no consintiendo el Arquitecto secarguen con m ucho ladrillo, y para evitar todo m otivo dedesgracia, se pondrn m aderos de ocho de diez entrelas alm as q ue sirvan d e an tep ech o barand illas; elevad osd e lo s tab lon es cu atro p ies m en os cu arto ; red oblan do estecuidado en donde se coloque el pescante, el que serformado con toda solidez, y los andam ios interiorescuidar el profesor se hagan segun arte, con la idea deprecaver la ocurrencia de una desgracia. A V S 1-114-26( 18 38 ) .

Construction system s built w ith tim berThe main eonstruetive systems built w ith timber int he dome st ic a rc hi te ct ur e o f 17th -19t h c en tu rie s in


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1086 E . G onz le z, R . A roc a

Mad rid w ere : 1 ) t ir ob er w alls , 2 ) w oo de n f lo ors , a nd3 ) wood en roo fs .1) T im ber w allsThis section of the domestic architecture of17th-19th centuries of M adrid is separated in five

groups: 1) main walls, 2) traviesa, thin orse co nda ry w alls, 3 ) p arty -w alls, a ll o f the m s tru ctu ra lwalls, 4) partitions (no structural function), and 5)corralas or corridor houses. As it has been said inthe previous section, walls were not only built w ithm asonry but also w ith a m ixed structure.. Tim ber-fram ed faltade walls. M adrid faltadewalls from the 17th century until the end of the18th century were built with a timber frame

which supported wood and m asonry t1oors, andw as filled w ith brick, rubble, plaster, adobe, etc.They w ere built on a m asonry first level (groundor store t1oor). This constructive systemcontinued from the main t100r until the roof.Then the faltades could be left exposed orcovered with a finish of mortar and plaster, orm adrilenian revoque. Typically the houseshad four or five floors over the cellars: groundflo or, m ain t1 oo r, se co nd , th ird a nd attic s (ro ofs) ,depending on the w idth of the street they face. Infigure 7 is shown a house built in Madrid in1747.. . Que sobre las medias varas de las fachadas

continuando su elevacion se hayan de sentar los piesderec hos, y carreras de tercia para entram arla por el altod e c ua rto p rin cip al d is min uy en do la s p ar ed es p or la p ar teynterior hasta quedarse en pie y medio, y se deve rafa brica r eligie ndo los va nos de ven tana s d e bu ena fa bricade A lvailera . . .. . . Q ue se haya de levantar el alto del quarto segundo consus entramados en las fachadas de m adera de tercias delm ismo gruesso de pie y medio de buena fabrica deA lva ilera, y en lo ynterior de sesmas y taviques deyesso y cascote guardando los plom os de los vanos com omuestra e alzado. . .. . . Que en la elevacin del quarto tercero se haya decontinuar con los m ismos entramados de tercia concarreras y puenttes de la misma calidad de pie y medio,del propio grueso en las fachadas, y de la misma fabricade alvailera dejando sus vanos de ventanas comoexpresa el alzado, y sentando las soleras ynteriores alnivel de las exteriores. . . A YS. 1-46-3 (1747).

In 1790, a great [re ocurred in the P J a z a M ayor ofM adrid, where more than 50 houses bum ed, and waso n1y sto ppe d a t a h ou se tota lly bu ilt w ith m as onr y. T his

114'

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W o od en fram ed stru ctu res in M adrid do mestic architectu re of 17,h to 19 'h centuri e s

occ ur re nc e, a s we Il a s th e [ r e- pr one c on st ru cti ve s ys temsusually employed in M adrid houses, caused Juan deV illan ueva [3] to adv ise bu ilding fa(,:ad es totally o fm asonry in M adrid, and to not allow w ooden elem ents.In the follo wing centu ry m ost of the ho uses w ere builtfro m th e fo un datio n to th e eav es o f th e ro of in m aso nry ,and Ieaving w ood fram ed construction only for thinwa lls , p ar ty -wal ls , p ar ti tio n s a nd co rr al as waI ls .. Timber-framed thin walls, Ctaras ortabicones. Villanueva in his book Arte dea lb a ile ra e xp la in s th es e tw o d if fe re nt b uild in gmethods. He suggests to build these walls onlyw ith m ason ry , and not w oo d, but in practice w oodstru ctu ra l w alls co ntin ued to b e b uilt u ntil th e startof the 20th century. The section of the woodelem ents used in the ctaras also decreased asthe house grew higher. That s, the ground t100rused beam s of tercia, the m ain flo or used beam s ofsesma, the second t100r beams of maderos de a6, the third floor beam s of m aderos de a 8, andso on as in the contract of work show n in figure 8.

In the tw o next abstracts w e refer to it.que el salon alto se com pone de una ztara a la parte de lacalle y un tabique dentro. La citara nezessita m as cuerpoy esta se a de acom paar y crezer echando solera abaxo ycarrera arriva de quarta y sesma labrada y nudillos quea br az en s ol er a y lo que se anide y p ie s d er ec ho s y puen te se n la s b en ta na s y riostras dando de gruesso a esta paredtodo el largo de la calle de dos pie y medio porqued efien da en b erano del m edio da y lo mismo a de ser lapared qu e cay al orien te p or su d efen ssa ase de m a< ;i< ;ar elpie y medio de dicha citara de yeso y c as co te e ch an dogatos que una uno con otro baxando lo que le toca a dichacitara. . . AHP NI 10.849 (1669).T abiq ues princip ales, so bre q ue han d e cargar lo s suelo s,y el de la escalera, que cae al Patio, han de ser sus carrerasde m ad era de terzia con su s resp ectib os en tram ad os, hastarecivir el suelo de los desbanes, y de alli arriba seran devigueta, y sesma, sacando sus cepas sobre el firme dem am po steria, y sobre ellas sus buenas vasas de piedrav erroq ue a; y los interm edios la m ism a m am postera demedia bara de grueso hasta la superficie, y desde allih asta en rrasar co n dich as v asas, sera su citara d e lad rillode un pie de grueso. AHP NI 16.455 (1760).In the contracts of works, they also include theco nstru ctio n o f staircases tim ber w alls.

1087

Figure 8House built w ith timber-framed walls: main walls, thinwalls, timber partywalls and timber partitions. AHP NI1 0. 84 9 ( 16 69 )

y en lo ynterior se deveran entramar los taviques paraform ar las escaleras, vajo de sesm a, y el de la zitara quehunde vajo de tercia, y los peldaos de las escaleras hande ser de viga de pie y quarto desde el prim er sotana hastael ultimo del des v an con sus entradas suficientes en lasparedes y taviques para su seguridad. Y por que al pissodel quarto principal empieza la escalera que tiene suentrada por la Calle de las Carretas de otra forma queatajo y se reduze a yda y buelta, y carga sobre el suelo untavique que para recivirle se pondra una tercia dondecargue la division, y continuar esta por toda la alturac o m o e x p r e s s a e l a lz a d o . . . A V S 1-46-3 (1747)


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1088 E . G on zlez, R . A ro ca. Timber-framed party-walls or telares demedianera. These walls were built w ithtelares that is a m ain w ood vertical structuresu rro un ded w ith ro pes o r to miza an d sep aratedby 5-6 feet. Then a wooden capital was placedon the columns and over it the beam used tosu ppo rt the floo rs. T he spaces o r cuarteles leftbetween wooden vertical and horizontalelem ents w ere filled w ith different m aterials:mampostera, adobe, brick, rubble orcascote, etc. as it can be seen in the figure 9.T he section of the w oo d elem ents also d ecreasedas the house grew higher, sim ilar to theco nstruction o f fa;ades. T he nam e usu ally givento each w oo d stru ctu ral fram ew ork, depend ed o nthe width of the wooden element carrera andfrom it b uild ers d im ensioned th e rest o f the w oo dstructure.

F igur e 9T im ber-fram ed p arty wall o r te lar d e m ed ia nera . CIVen tu ra d e la V eg a

las m ed ianeras co n sus vasas y carrera de vigu eta, asesm a en tram ad as d e su s resp ectib as m ad eras . . . A HPNI 16 .455 (1760 ).. Timber-framed partitions. When buildingfram ed w ood partitions, builders often tried tosupport them from perpendicular w alls so as notto add too much weight on the floors.Ligh tw eig ht fill m aterials su ch as adob e, b rick ,and small rubble, but m ost often with plaster.

T heir d im ension s varied betw een 1, 3 /4 , 1/2, and1/4 foot. They w ere usually built in tw o w ays: 1)supported directly on the tloors employingmainly maderos de a 6, maderos de a 8 orde m aderos de a 10' and w ith a filling of bricks,plaster or rubble or 2) w ith a hung constructionsupported on a beam spanning betweenperpendicular w alls and using m aderos de a 8and de a 10 and filling them only with brickso r plaster. A th ird typ e w as rarely used b uilt w ithad ob e (ru bb le a nd p laster).

Los tabiques de quarto principal (de las divisiones)algunos de ellos, com o son los que cargan en los vanos,se haran colgados, que estos bien echos, quanto masd elgad os, so n m ejo res, pero a d ond e n o v ea ne zesario estaprevencion, se haran de m edio pie de grueso, y l o m is moen los desbancs; para dem as tabiques de divisiones de lobajo, de forja de madera de a diez su entramado con susvasas ordinarias, cepaes y citaras. . . AHP N 1 16.455(1760).. Corral as walls. The final type of walls that

will be studied in this paper are the corralaswalls, made of open wooden framing whichsupported the galleries around the interiorcourtyard. In corralas houses, a series ofcorridors are supported by an open fram ew ork ofvertical and horizontal tim ber elem ents. Thesetypes of walls were also called courtsentram ado s. Th ese stru ctural w alls in corridorhouses had around 3/4-1 foot (2J-28cm ) w idth.

Woo den flo orsH istorically floors w ere built in w oo d until the endof 19 th century , w hen they beg an being b uilt w ith steelbeams. From a structural point of view, theconstructive system employed was a horizontalstructural fram e of tim ber beam s supported in m aintw o-lay ered o r tim ber-fram ed fa;ad e w alls co verin gm ain spans of floors. S tru ctural floo rs organ isationvaried depending on the spans; in buildings of onlyone bay (span), for very small distances (3.0-4.0)meters, the beams were directly supported on themasonry or timber-framed walls; when the spanswere of m edium length, that is, (5.0-7.0) m eters, thebeams were placed perpendicular to main walls and

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W o oden fram ed stru ctu res in M adrid d om estic arch itecture 01 ' 17thto 19' centuries

sm aU beam s follow ing the direction of m ain w aUs; inthose houses w ith large spans, that is, (8.0-9.0)m eters, it was recom mended to build the house w ithtwo bays (spans) follow ing the timber beams thelongitudinal direction. T he perim etral sup ports w eresol v ed whether in the lateral party-walls or in thefa,;ade and back court walls. The central supportswere sol ved with pillars or with secondary walls orctaras. Even if the spans were in every floor thesam e, the seetion of the tim ber fram ed floors couldvary depending on the height of the house: mainflo or, se co nd t1 00 r, th ird flo or, e te .

They were basicaUy built in two different waysaecording to the separation of beam s: 1) hueco pormacizo: and 2) hueco wider than macizo. Thespaees left between them were filled with roughmasonry work or different timber planks nai1edtogether. N ext we w iU exp1ain eaeh of them .T im be r flo ors c on stru ctiv e sy ste m so lu tio n Hu ec opor m acizo: T his solution consisted of separatin g thebeams by around the same width as the width of thebeam ilself. This distance eould vary (5.0-11.5)fingers. The most eommon timber sections used inthis t100r solution were the maderos de a 6,maderos de a 8 and m aderos de a 10. The spacesleft between them were so]ved whether: ]) withtim ber planks or enlistonados, 2) w ith brick s w hichwere placed directly on the beam s and the under partwas [eft uncovered or with a false roof; and 3) filledwith rough masonry work. In figure 10 we can see aphotograph of it.

hechando los suelos del quarto segundo en la pieza delangula de madera de a ocho cargando las cavezas en laf ac ha da d e le va nte y en la pieza inmediata viguetas de av ein te y dos pies que carguen en la fachada del Norte. . .. . . hechando los suelos del guarto tercero en la pieza delangula de la misma madera de a ocho y al co ntrario delantecedente del quarto segundo cargando las cavezas enla fachada del Norte, y en la ynmediata de viguetas en lamisma conform idad. . .. . . hechando sus suelos de desvanes en la conform idadque los del quarto segundo. . . A V S 1-46-3. (1747).Timber floor constructive system Hueco-m acizo. This solution consisted of separating thebeam s a distance w ider than the section of the beamitself and around (1.5-3.0) feet width . The most

c om m on tim be r s ec tio ns used in th is t1 r s olu tio n

1089

Figure 10Timber t100rs constructive system solution Hueco pormacizo. CI Relatores

are third and fouth beam , fourth and sixth beam ,vigueta, madero de a 6 and madero de a 8. Asin the preceeding section, the spaees left betweenthem were sol ved in two different ways: 1) w ithpIanks and 2) filling the spaces left w ith roughma so nr y o r cu aj ad o .The introduction of stee] beams for floors in thedom estic architecture in M adrid did not appear untilthe end of 19'h century. A t that tim e the tim ber t100rswere substituted by floors with doub]e T beamsseparated by approximately one m eter and with thespaces 1eft betw een them filled w ith eeram ic botesand b laek plaster. T his structure w as su pported on them ain w a]ls by steel squares and cJam ps. In a previouspaper (G onzlez and Aroca, 2000) w e have show n thecom parative advantage priees for the steel and theu nd er ly in g lo gi e o f t he s ub sti tu ti on .


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1090 E. G onz lez, R . A roca

RoofsThe construction of roofs typically em ployed inh is tor ica l d om estic a rch ite ctu re in M adr id in 1 7th _19 thc entu rie s b y stu din g the s tag es an d th eir c om po nen ts :1) roof w ooden fram es, m ain structure or arm adura

and roof wooden secondary structure or pares, 2)entablados or tloorboards m ade of rastreles andplanks in a sim ilar way as they built floors and, 3)c ov er in g e lemen ts .Roof wooden frames (main structure andsecondary structure). Roofs were built with a m ainwooden structural fram e of beam s and a secondarystructurallevel of pares or sm all beam s placed andnailed perpendicular to the first ones. T hey w ere builtin different ways: a) a la molinera, this was theusual type for roofs built to courts or corralas. T he par es o r sm all b ea ms a re p erp en dic ular ly su pp ortedon main walls and over them they placed planksbefore placing the roof tiles going always onlytow ards one direction; b) par e hilera, in houses oftwo bays (spans) where over a central wall theyplaced very short pieces of wood named enanosand over them a hilera which served to build theridge from w here started the pares or sm all beam sgoing to meet the beams placed on the fa'iades andbackwalls. They were then covered with planksp la ce d p ara le ll to th e su ppo rts ,

que sen tara cad a pie de estribo i y ]e ra de v igueta de quartay sesma uno con otro por precio de dos reales y mediosentando los estribos a cola como es costumbre. Quesentara cada pie de vigeta de quarta y sesm a en arm adurapor precio de sesenta m aravedes. Y si fueren vigetas quepasen de veinte y tres pies cada pie en armadura porprecio de dos reales y un quartillo. Que sentara cadamadero de a diez doblado en armadura por diez y seisreales. Que sentara cada madero de a ocho en armadurapo r v e in te y dos reales. Q ue sentara cada pie de estribo demadera de a ocho sentado en caxas por precio de dosreales.. A HP N I 10.849. CI S an M ig ue l. (1 66 9) .T he third m ethod, c) par y picadero, is nearly thesam e type as the first one but, in this case, the paresare placed over the beams named soleras andcarreras, w ith cut s in the central piece namedpicadero.. . . Que sobre otro suelo se haian de sentar sus aleros desesma vien clavados contra los maderos de] suelo que

sirven de tirantes y sobre otros extremos en el angula seha de sentar por lim a una tercia con un picadero donde sehan de assegurar las pendolas y pares que seran de sesm asbien clavadas, y en ella y en sus cavios dejando lasbuardillas con sus antepechos de form a que dem uestra elalzado y deveran ser de buena madera y conformaciontodo entablado de chilla, y bien clavado y tejadoconvasisco a lomo cerrado con voquillas de yessorespald ada s y Cavalletes . . . A YS. ]-46-3. (1747).2) Floorboards or entablados: rastreles and

planks. Once this fram e or m ain structure was raised,they placed small longitudinal pieces of wood orrastreles and planks nailed on them (oftenmentioned to be of ripia: 4 feet x 8/3 fg x 4 lines).Nonetheless V illanueva suggests to place bricks onthem or bovedillas betw een them adding m ortar inthe under part to avoid the frequent and undesiredfires that threatened M adrid. In the m id-19th century itwas m entioned, as a posibility in the new by-Iaws ofMadrid (1862), to build them with iron but, in fact,iron was not used until the next century.3) Covering elements: roof tiles. After placingthe planks, the most common and almost the onlyelem ent used to cover the m ain w ooden roof structurewere the roof tiles. Nevertheless, for those newhouses that could be built in the new Ensanche ofM adrid, the contem porary by-Iaw s m entioned a greatset of other possibilities, such as m etal plates of steel,lead or zinc.

CONCLUSIONST his a pp ro ach v erif ied th e u nifo rm ity of the stru ctu ralconstruction systems of masonry: brick work andwood framed mixed with rough masonry used tobuild the domestic architecture in Madrid duringmore than three centuries. Once the maincharacteristics of the basic contruction elem ents areknown, induding the materials, dimensions andm ethods of construction, a structural analysis can becarried out to guide future interventions (ifn ec ce sa ry ) .

NOTEThis is part of an investigation work financed by theC om unida d de M adrid


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W o od en fra me d stru ctu re s in M ad rid d om es tic a rc hite ctu re o f 1 7'h t o 1 9'h c en tu rie s

REFERENCE LISTArdemans, T. 1719. Declaracin y extensin sobre las

O rdenanzas que escrivi Juan de T orija. F ra nc isc o d elH ie rr o . Mad ri d.Borns y G urrea, M . ] 982. O bs er va cio nes s ob re la p r ctic ad el a rte d e e dific ar . Im p. d e C ab rerizo . V alen cia, ]8 41.Gonzlez, E. and Aroca, R. 2000. Tipificacin de lassoluciones constructivas de la edificacin dom sticamadrilea de los ss. XVII-XIX. Actas del TercerC on gres o N acio nal d e H is to ria d e la co nstru ccin . Vol.1,49-61.Gonzlez, E. and Aroca, R. 2001 a. StructUral analysis ofM adrid dom es tic architecture of 17'h-19'h centuries..Structural Repair and Maintenance of HistoricalBuildings, STREM AH . Edited by C. A. Brebia.

Gonzlez, E. and Aroca, R. 200 l b. M asonry Structures inM ad rid D om estic arch itecture o f 17 th 1 0 1 9th centu ries.H istorical Constructions 2001. Proceedings of the 3,dInternational Sem inar. G uim araes 7-9, N ovem ber, P. B.L ou ren

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Wooden Framed Structures in Madrid Domestic