Jánovas

ADAPTING ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE & LANDSCAPE

1960s 1970s 2000s

Now Pictures of historical evolution of the original settlement due to its depopulation and recent ongoing recovery. © Pictures obtained from Masterplan for Jánovas, by CeroUno Arquitectos; Drone image Galán I. 2021.

JÁNOVAS: “a village emptied by a dam which never existed”.

The case of Jánovas is a quite interesting, sad and surreal story, about a village which was formed by 42 houses and around 260 inhabitants. Together with other villages in the area (Lacort and Lavelilla), their owners were expropriated and forced to leave their homes during the decade of 1960 in order to build a big dam to regulate water for irrigation and produce electricity. Consequently, the entire valley of La Solana, formed by 17 small villages was also depopulated due to the pressure of central government to buy large areas of land and reforest them. However, the project of the reservoir was finally never realised, and the former inhabitants obtained the right of recovering their properties they had been fighting for, almost six decades later. The estate of preservation of the village was deeply ruinous, and the local community started to renovate their buildings only in 2019, under the regulation of a masterplan which was designed for that purpose recently. So far, only a few buildings have been finalised, but there are many of them which will start soon. It is an ongoing and fast process led by an organization formed by the former neighbours, who feel strongly attached to this place and many of them would like to live back in the village. However, they are aware of the need of adaptation and the implementation of certain spatial conditions which would facilitate their lives.

The village of Jánovas, despite its decaying estate and its regeneration process, can be seen as an opportunity to rethink how to live nowadays in a village at the Pyrenees, how to reformulate heritage spaces, and adapt them to current needs and challenges which local communities in mountain territories encounter. There is therefore a need for adaptation strategies, which could be sustainably implemented.

To find more information about the village: https://janovas.org/

Footprint of the floodable area of the projected reservoir and location of evicted villages over aerial images in 1956 and 2019. It would have covered three villages (Lacort, Lavelilla and Jánovas) as well as a large part of the farming land around them. © Source: Pictures obtained from Instituto Cartográfico Aragonés. Elaboration: Galán I. 2021 INTRODUCTION

ADAPTING ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE & LANDSCAPE

Mosaic of images of different activities being developed by former inhabitants and their relatives among the ruins of Jánovas. © Various online sources: eldiario.es; radiohuesca.com; elpais.es .