SITE​

Ermita de Montalegre, Spain

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STATUS
Conceptual Project 

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PROGRAM
Communal Olive Oil Press Center

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TEXT

A series of sandstone houses cluster in an arid terrain near the small chapel of Ermita de Montalegre in the Pre-Pyrenees. Each structure offers a space for the local community to support their olive oil production. A drying room sits at the highest point, followed by a grinding room, a pressing room, and a storage room. The architecture accommodates the process and works with the topography: as the olives are pressed, the oil flows down the terrain. 

 

Through a close collaboration with local stone masons, the sandstone houses are envisioned to be built using their regionally specific knowledge of stone construction. Designed with the sandstone formations on site, the buildings act as vessels within the land. Sandstone floors serve as large bowls for drying and channels are carved for guiding the liquid oil from room to room.