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Fig. 1.
Main plan of the
exposition and the
internal path.
Fig. 2.
Elevated view of the
cover and the interior
patio.
Mine Under the Roof: Parque Arqueològico
Minas Prehistòricas de Gavà
andrea ronzino, Politecnico di Torino
The complex of Prehistoric Mines of Gavà is the oldest known
gallery mining complex in Europe. It’s excavations began approximately
six thousand years ago, and its exploitation continued for
over a thousand years later. The main target was the extraction of a
particular green mineral called Variscita, used in the manufacture
of objects and precious jewels, distributed throughout all the Iberian
Peninsula. The first research, started in 1982 by the culture department
of Catalan municipalities, led to discovery an underground
complex, with galleries organized on different layers able to connects
shafts and tunnels. The general project’s program coincides with a
cultural and popular formula, particularly unusual in the tradition
of archaeological musealization. It aims to transform the site into
an interpretation centre with the effort of adjusting an instrument of
dialogue, very direct and quick, with the audience and the existing
archaeological heritage. In fact, the clear intention is to combine
different requirements for use: to study, to preserve, disseminate and
promote the knowledge from time to time collected.
The architectural proposal by the architects Freixes and Gonzáles
seeks to provide consistent response to policy requirements imposed
by the municipality. It exacted, in particular, compatibility and
complementarity between the museum installations, the excavation
research and the same structure foreseen in the intervention (fig.
1). In fact, we should not forget the obvious difficulties, mainly
structural, to settle on perforated an unstable ground (fig. 2). This
aspect is one of the most significant and crucial feature that must (or
should) to influence and become part of the compositional reasoning.
The main structure, therefore, of this great and slight cover was
conceived through the use of large metal trusses, normally employed
for industrial projects, supported by tripods pillars with circular
section (which resemble huge stools) that provide a better distribution
of ground pressure. The structural tripods, as said before,
suggest the image of transience and refer to the idea of an excavation
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