Construir y reformar la casa: hasta donde alcanzan los contratos (Cataluña, Valencia y Mallorca, c. 1480-1530)

Abstract

Foundations, walls, and roofs are fundamental parts in the structure of a house. Kitchens, bedrooms, barns, latrines, or cellars are necessary spaces for habitability, but they tend to be merely functional, and they receive little or no ornamentation. However, other parts of buildings have a more representative character, and they are given more attention. Entire façades and patios or elements such as doors, windows, staircases, studios, porches, fireplaces, and galleries are usually embellished with decorations that reflect the taste, fashion, and style of each era. Heraldry and other emblematic elements often acquire a special meaning among a decorative repertoire that draws on elements of the architectural lexicon and the stylization of plants and animals, until the arrival of the various “Roman” forms. This paper has a starting point in the wealth of contracts preserved in the archives of the Crown of Aragon, and it reflects upon private building construction between 1480 and 1530. Aspects considered include the supply of new construction materials and / or the reuse of old ones, the demands of promoters, the imposed models, the quality standards, and the dialogue between tradition and innovation (Gothic and Renaissance or “Flemish” and “Roman”), as well as other details that some of the richest documents in the archives unveil. Due to their exceptional nature, two contracts concerning the construction of three houses in Barcelona and La Seu d’Urgell are analyzed in greater detail.