Hello
My name is Javier Saucedo. I am an Architecture graduate from the University of Liechtenstein with a multicultural background. I am an ever-learning and endlessly curious individual. I love poetry, photography, physics, and philosophy. I adore puzzles, problems, and paradoxes, i seek the unifying principle hiding underneath. All in all, I love Architecture.
I began my studies at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City, later transferring to the University of Liechtenstein in February 2022 seeking a new challenge and learning from the Architecture I admired the most. I finished my studies in September 2023.
Since then, I have been dedicated to producing this book, which showcases the development of my last two projects at the University of Liechtenstein. It serves as a synthesis of the principles I have acquired over my five years as a student in various institutions, aiming to provide an honest portrayal of my my ethos, my process and range of skills.
Education
2002/ 2014
German School Alexander von Humboldt
Mexico City
• 2014 / 2015
Gymnasium GZE Bad Zwischenahn Niedersachsen, Germany
• 2015 / 2017
Gymnasium Alexander von Humboldt
Mexico City
2018 / 2021
Ibero American University
Mexico City
2021 / 2023
University of Liechtenstein BS in Architecture
Vaduz
Conntact
Javier Saucedo Pérez
Email: java_398@hotmail.com
Phone: +34 611 731 041
Modesto LaFuente 67
Dpto 5ºD, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Experience
2018 / 2019
Ríon and Asociates Internship
I was an intern in Pablo Rion and Associates for a period of six months, during which I worked on the production of graphical material of a diverse series projects.
2020 / 2021
Jose Enrique Lastra Internship with Arq. José Enrique Lastra
For a period of over a year, I had the privilege to work for the Architect Jose Enrique Lastra, which had a profound and long-lasting impact in my development as an architecture student.
Spanish Mother language
German C1 Sprachdiplom
English C1 Cambridge Languages
Software skills
Autocad Rhino Photoshop Revit InDesign Archicad Animate Office
Interests
•Literature
•Philosophy
•Meditation
•Freediving
•Mountaineering
Centro Torcia
Summit Hotel
Abstract
Casté is a picturesque town located in the province of La Spezia, in the Liguria region of Italy. Situated on a hilltop overlooking the Gulf of La Spezia, also known as the Gulf of Poets, Casté offers breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and the sparkling Mediterranean Sea. The town is characterized by its medieval atmosphere, with narrow winding streets, stone houses, and buildings.
Because of its location atop the hill, Casté has retained much of its historical character virtually intact. Its well-preserved buildings and cobblestone streets have been left untouched by the wave of progress that has almost completely swept through the more urbanized regions of the gulf. Because of this, ascending the long and winding road to the town feels like a journey in which one leaves the busy world below and returns to a more fundamental state, back to the begining.
This notion, although immediate in intuition, is deepened and ratified when one delves deeper into the history of the region, a history mostly ignored if not completely forgotten by the dwellers of the lower lands, from which Castè has lost all visibility and recognition. It would not be an exageration to say that most people have vitualy no idea of its quiet existence on top of the hill, or it´s significance for the region as a whole.
As I delved deeper into the literature and history of the place, I was truly amazed by the depth of the ties that bind that little medieval town and its anonymous inhabitants to the history and development of the region, and I found this disconnection between the history and its protagonists unfortunate, since it is one full of hardship and beauty.
It became clear to me, that people had forgotten their own origin story, and that became the central theme and guiding line for the project.
GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT
2nd Century BC
Archeological investigation carried out in recent times revealed profound history dating back to the bronce age, and revealed the central role the hill has played throughout the long history of the region. The multilayered site in the highestpart of the hill, where the remains of medieval fortified structures are preserved, have returned a substantialand surprising quantity of archaeological materials, including a ceramic materials represented by vases and finetableware containers of an Greek-Italic amphorae style attributableto the Bronze Age, which attes to its significance as a center of control over the trade from and over the port.
10th-13th Century AD
The same study revealed that the oldest foundation of the fortified structure at the top of the hill, known as Castello di Carpena, was built between the 10th-11th century, and controlled the territory of Riccò del Golfo and the port of La Spezia. During this period, the people of the village pleged allegence to Genoese Republic, which fortified the center into a podesteria with extensive jurisdiction over the middle and lower Val di Vara, over the gulf of La Spezia and over a part of the Cinque Terre, until the establishment of the Podesta office of La Spezia in 1343.
15th Century AD
According to historical sources, the castle and the villages under its controll were invaded and later destroyed in 1412 by the Republic of Genoa itself, in aliance with the people of La Spezia after Carpena’s men had rebelled against Genoese rule to submit to Florentine rule. The remaining accounts tell the story of a brutal seige which enden in the masacre now known as the masacre of Carpena, which resulted in the almos total destruction of the Castle of Carpena, as well as the farm towns of Casté and Carpena. No depictions of the town or the Castle survived.
16th Century AD
After the masacre and the total destruction of the surrounding settlements, the Republic of Genoa took complete controll of the port town of La Spezia and the Valey of Val di Vara. The remining people of Castè and Carpena were forced into exile.
It was only four years later, under Doge Tomaso Fregoso, that La Superba was moved to pity by the miserable conditions of the people of Carpi and allowed them to regain possession of their property, but forbade them to return to live on the mountain where the castle stood.
Its reported that during this period, in defiance of the prohibition, which perhaps Genoa no longer cared about, a few houses began to rise in the area below the demolished castle. The abandonment of the fortification is indicated by the archaeological evidence relating to an intense activity of stripping of the masonry works for the recovery of building materials, which was then used for the building of the houses destroyed during the raid. This indicates that some of the houses that make up the town are built out of the same stones that made up the Castle.
During the XVIII Century The Gulf of La Spezia became knowns also as “Golfo dei Poeti” (Gulf of the Poets) as it was the residence of important English poets such as Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) and George Byron (1788-1824).
La Spezia developed substantially after 1861 when the great naval arsenal there was commissioned by the Royal government.
From the time Castè and Carpena were rebuilt to the present day, both settlements have remained virtually unchanged and remained alsomst self sustaining unit the XX century.
It is clear that the Castle of Carpena played a central role in the urban development of the region and that its specific location is strongly linked to the purpose and use given to the region in its origin, as well as its historical development up to the present. Due to the specific territorial and geographical conditions, the rugged topography full of mounts and mountains that provide a privileged view over the gulf and the sea, the Watchtower, as a building Typology, continued, and can be seen throughout the region, since they offered an advantageous view of the territory and facilitated control over the roads and boats leading in and out of the region. This archeotype is at the very core of the origin of the region, and runs through it in such a way that cannot be ignored today, as the towers can still be seen allover the landscape; the various towers and fortifications rise from the hilltops and contrast very strongly against the natural landscape and the more prevalent housing architecture, while simultaneously blending in in an almost harmonious way with the sum of it all, as it has emerged almost naturally from the idiosyncratic conditions which define the region.
ELEMENTS OF THE LANDSCAPE
In the same manner, and I would argue, because of the same geographical conditions of the landscape, another particularly notable character permeates the atmosphere of the region, which on first sight may appear contrary in nature to the military character.
Over the centuries, many famous poets, artists and writers have been attracted to the dramatic landscape and privilleged views of the valleys of the gulf. Many of them have been deeply touched by its vivid enchantment, so much so that its small towns and villages became meeting places and homes for these creatives. The amount of notable artists and intellectuals that visited and developed their work in such a small region of Italy is remarkable, as well as it is the diversity of their craft. Artists of the standing of Nicoló Pagannini, notable poets such as Lord Byron, Percy and Merry Shell, Eugenio Montale were all atrackted to the beauty of this area. The same mounts and mountains which offered an advantageous view of the territory and the sea and facilitated control over the region were used by these artists and intellectuals seeking a quiet place for the reflective contemplation of its natural beauty.
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep Sea, and music in its roar: I love not Man the less, but Nature more”
Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
The House of I´ll Boschetto
As mentioned in the preface, the forgotten history became the most notable subject I identified during the research process and later during the visit to the site. It was then when I came across, by apparent chance, a dusty book titled “Nostra Storia” or “Our Story,” which was written by a local and contained short real-life stories of the common people of the region. Among them, the most moving by far was the tale of the house of “Il Boschetto”, or the little forest.
It was the tale of Elena and Enrico, two farmers from two different villages who spotted each other across the rocky landscape and fell in love with each other. Elena was from Porcale, Enrico was from Carpena, so when they married, they decided to build their house on the top of a smaller hill beside the road that connected Casté to Carpena, from where they could see the place where they grew up. They built it stone by stone between the two. They raised cattle and every day for 30 years walked together down the 10km road to La Spezia carrying 10L of milk each to sell it, and walked back together the excruciating 10km uphill carrying water and supplies. When they got too old to make the walk anymore, they opened a small Osteria under a Pergola, where they sold appetizers made from what they cultivated in their garden, and because of its privileged position, it became a meeting point for all the villagers of the region.
After they died, the house underwent different owners and renovation attempts, but it was eventually abandoned and left where it is today, and what was a cheerful meeting place for the people of the region, it’s now a somber shadow decaying in the background.
The project
I felt the abandoned house of Il Boschetto was an embodiment of the problems that such settlements are dealing with in current times. Since the value of these settlements is embedded in their history, it´s knowledge is the only thing which makes it manifest. By gathering stories and the mamories within them, people can reevaluate the possessions they inherited. Hopefully, this reevaluation could lead to their protection and preservation.
Following the long-standing practice observed in Casté of reusing materials and repurposing buildings, understanding and upcycling their histories, and by providing a place in which to gather and learn about them, I believe a broader context can be provided to the inhabitants of these towns. This could lead to a revaluation of their property and infuse in them an interest and pride in preserving and maintaining them, as well as providing the information needed to make conscious projects and decisions.
That is why I decided to develop a cultural center in the abandoned house, focused on the collection and maintenance of books, texts, photographs, and objects that contain relevant historical fragments concerning the people of the towns of the valley and the region. This way, the history they tell is preserved to be studied and understood by its inhabitants and future generations. This is based on the premise that material and tangible heritage only acquires value when connected to intangible historical value, and that it is only when this material object is understood from a historical point of view that the need to preserve and conserve it arises.
I decided to name it Centro Torcia, in memory of Elena, which is the Greek name for torch, with the hope of shedding light on the forgotten stories of the people who built the place we see today over hundreds of years.
Bsement
The lower levels of the house will be used to house the majority of books and shelves, as it shelters the books from sunlight and transfers the biggest structural load directly to the ground. As the original plans show, the exterior of the house used to have a double staircase which went around the property and communicated the path from Casté to Carpena, of which nowadays only half remains. I proposed to build the missing half to allow free circulation around the house and a wider range of paths to discover the place.
Pre-existing structure
Of the preexisting structure, only the stone walls remain in stable enough condition to maintain. I would propose removing the gypsum covering in order to reveal the original stone. My proposal would be to place a T-shaped concrete truss that would connect the old stone structure with the new wood beams and provide support for the upper walls of the new floor that would be placed atop the old one. The second level would house a public reading room, as well as lavatory installations.
PROGRAM AND STRUCTURE
“Aufstockung”
In a similar fashion, the new walls are also to be enclosed by a reinforced concrete chain that will give the building stability and prevent water from penetrating the wall, thus avoiding water damage. This concrete chain will also support the structure of the pergola and provide stability against wind and other external forces without obstructing the view from the valley. The new floor will host a multipurpose room, where exhibitions, meetings, lectures, and events can be held, along with a small cafeteria.
Pergola
The use of the pergola was inspired by the previous one made for the Ostería and modeled after the one seen in the photograph in the introduction, where a more rustic use of pergolas is placed on the upper terraces of the house to provide a shaded and comfortable atmosphere outside during the heat of the summer months. The formal version of this element serves the same purpose, maintaining the lightness of the structure while ensuring its stability and safety. It is also intended to be an ending place for contemplation of the beautiful valley.
Basement | N-2
Intermediate Floor | N-1
FLOORPLANS
Abstract
Perched at an altitude of approximately 2,126 meters above sea level, Avers (Juf) stands as the highest permanently inhabited village in Europe. Situated within the Swiss Alps, its geographical location offers unmatched views of towering peaks and pristine alpine landscapes.
The housing and living conditions in the region are unique in almost every way from anywhere else, living in Juf entails unique challenges and inherent to alpine environments. At its high altitude, Juf has a resilient community that lives amidst challenging living conditions. Residents born in the region have adapted to the demands of the mountain life, but the bith rate has been in a steep decrease, number of new people willing to move there is low and the younger generations are seeking living oportunities outside.
We were therfore required to find a way to have a “big impact”, while thinking of the natural conditions of the Alpine region and the building culture that has developed on it, the specific material, topographical, geographical and natural conditions of the site, as well as the historical, cultural, socioeconomical and landscape, whie respecting the use of the local materials to create a suitable building adaped to the harsh conditions.
During the visit, I tried to reflect on the Genius Loci, “the spirit of the place” or “the essence of a location”, as I thought the way to adress all this different conditions and requirements, the building should embody this spirit.
During a long walk across the rocky landscape, i found this lonely hunting cabbin in the middle of nowhere. I didnt even realized its presence untill I was right in front of it, since it perfecly blended with the natural landcape, as it seemed to arrise from the land itself, as an arranged state of matter.
I felt strongly that this cabin was an embodyment of the Genius Loci.
GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT
Juf
Juf / Avers
Avalanche danger zones
To the set of problems and complication, an analysis of the site revealed that the great majority of the region was in a “imminent risk of avalanche zone”, depicted in the map in red, including the village of Juf Itself. Only grey areas are considered to be safe. In spite of this, the village, made almost entirely out of stone and wood, has withstood docens of avalanches thoughout its history.
Centro Torcia
One of the fascinating ways in which houses are protected from Avalanches comming from the Alps behind is by building the upper houses into the terrain and building a “Spaltkeil” behind, which removes the resistence of the house from the forces of the avalanche and diverts them over the roof built to withstand them. The houses below are then constructed without the Spaltkeil, since they are protected from the initial impact.
This idea of individual houses arranged in a comunal interest to protect eachother seemed to to be representative of the character of the people who lived in them, since every person we met from the village seem to share the same interest of living a more or less isoleted life, which seemed to be why they chose to stay in one of the most remote places in Europe, and this common interest allowed them to live collectively and harmoniously in a comunity.
My name is Javier Saucedo
This seemed to me to be at the verry core of the people of the village and in complete connection with the spirit of the place. As we the days we spent in Juf went by, I started to notice that there was in the indeed something special about living in such a way, in a remote cabbin 2200m above, in a place were not even trees grew and silence permeates the land, alone but together.
Even if I tried i could not put into words what that feeling is like and the serene state of that absence of everything, the only way of transmitting it is by experiencing it, which is why I decided that providing this unique experience of living in a remote cabin within a comunity in that remote place was the only way to to show the importance of preserving the village and its lifestyle.
Single Cabbin
A single cabin provides the privacy and volunraty isolation that the people who visit the region are seeking, but lacks the collective space to meet in comunity, which is fundamental to provide an enjoyable experience.
Multiple cabins presented the problem that replicating the position of the houses in Juf its imposible, since each one of them has a unique structure, and they seem to have been placed almost through a process of natural selection, in which only the ones who resisted years of avalanches have remained.
My name is Javier Saucedo
In light of all this different problematics, creating a single unified structure seemed to be the only way to guarantee the complete protection of the guests while allowing them to circulate freely. Besides, the unification of the individual structures would increse their collective stability, while reducing material costs in half.
Section found in Archive
This Section of a house in Juf shows the original structure of the house imbeded into the terrain and shows how the preassure bent the original stone wall over time, which was then later replaced with a contrete wall connected to a concrete foundation. I didnt want to use concrete walls, since it seemed to be in contradiction with the Genius Loci, and prefered to instead shape the walls accounting for the bend over time to counterrest it.
SECTION
Transversal section
In this way, two rows of individual cabbins are connected through a covered circulation that connects into a central building which houses the common areas, providingin this way the opportunity to stay at a secluded cabin and have a space for comunity.
Lower cabins | N-1
Ground
Upper Cabins | N1
Birth of a Goddess
Girl with a Pearl Earring
