(2016) When an isolated building becomes a guideline for the urban pattern. The case of “Torrenostra” in Torreblanca, Castellón, Spain (original) (raw)

The defence of the Valencian coast (s. XVI-XVII) by building towers visually connected is part of a specific and well-planned defensive network, similar to other countries. Starting from the XIX century, the gradual resolution of this menace has reduced or cancelled the need for many of these fortifications and people start to consider them in different ways, sometimes demolishing them, sometimes using them for housing or other urban use. The case study presented here, the so called "Torrenostra" ("our tower") in Torreblanca , shows the peculiar aspect of being included as a part of a block of houses facing the sea. The environment around the tower has seen significant changes, the seaside extended, the tower transformed by its new users. After a robust restoration operated in the past years the tower shows now itself as probably it was in its original condition if not for its totally decontextualized condition and the "not so easy" connection to the contiguous houses. In the research carried out within the TOVIVA project 1 , this tower has been digitally drawn by 3D laser scanner and ground and aerial photogrammetry (using a drone). This contribution will present the main characteristics of the documentation work and the processing of the data aimed to reread the original context of the tower and how to present it to local inhabitants, visitors and tourists bringing back suggestions about the original role and features of the tower in its original territorial and historical environment. At the same time, the significant rule of the tower as determinant element in the urban plot will be underlined.