Local rural houses on Ibiza .

Summary of Rolph Blakstad's thesis on the origin of rural houses on Ibiza:

We include this summary of the original, unpublished text, the first historical and typological study of Ibiza's rural architecture, carried out over twenty years by Rolph Blakstad. The complete study will be published as a book and will include a detailed analysis of the system of measurements, construction methods, decorative elements and customs, as well as the way in which these relate to the cult of Thanit, the goddess of Punic Ibiza.

The of the text and the illustrative plans have extract been kindly supplied to us by R. Blakstad for this publication. The author reserves all rights over them.

The Ibiza house maintains a balance between the traditional values of architectural form -standards, type, unity, hierarchy-, and the figurative and spatial aspects of image, resulting in a variety in which the functional and the picturesque exist harmoniously side by side.

It is this very interpretation which fascinated the architects of the G.A.T.E.P.A.C., who saw in these rural houses a reflection of their figurative world and who wished to discover, in their adaptation to the terrain, the dimensions of some of their parts, their orientation and the suitability of their elements to life in the country, confirmation of their functionalist objectives In an analysis which examines the most generalized aspects of form, Rolph Blakstad has managed to define the types (scarce and interrelated) upon which this rural architecture is based and to discover its original models.

The numerous examples which illustrate this guide and which, on the one hand, will serve as confirmation of Blakstad's observations, are, on the other, a varied and expressive display in which are gathered examples scattered all over the island which together reveal the characteristic features of this type of architecture. The "porxo" (porch) is the central space around which the house is arranged, and may be an open portico, a "long room", or the addition of both elements. Thus with a reduced repertoire of compositional elements, the Ibiza peasant could construct his house ("casament") with a simple system of additions, being quite familiar with the perfection he couid achieve. In some, we see the complete model (Nos. 52, 54, 79, 88, 96, 103, 106); in these we observe a concern for symmetry and special emphasis upon the frontal façade, where elements of particular importance are the relationship between the lateral masses and the central spaces, and a widespread taste for arches a feature which on these porches which must remind the observer of certain classical villas, appears with such liberty that one cannot be certaìn when it was adopted in this type of architecture.

All Ibiza houses share the common characteristic of a main, frontal façade, whose typological and formal structure can be ascertained through examination of the exterior.

Different approaches to the original model have given rise to a formal variety which frequently reproduces images close to those recent types of architecture amongst whose objectives is to break away from classical standards of composition. Eloquent illustrations of this are those houses where one of the lateral masses is missing (Nos. 53, 56, 104, 110, and 117), or those which incorporate a drying place (Nos. 64, 65, 97, 98, 116, and 120), thereby introducing a new balance between solid masses and spaces.

Other contributory factors to the variety of this architecture are its situation with respect to the surrounding countryside, and the arrangement of entrances, yards and patios, occasionally determined by the unevenness of the land, which sometimes produce an enigmatic and attractive first impression in which the forms we are actually observing emerge to the eye only very slowly (some of the angles of the photographs show this).

The whiteness of Ibiza houses has a unifying effect which reveals the formal relationship between different component elements.
Not all Ibiza houses are totally whitewashed since the principles followed in choosing the surfaces to be painted are essentially the protection of those areas most exposed to erosion and the evaluation of spaces; the whitewash itself, in the latter case, becomes an aesthetic and representative element.

Rural houses are normally scattered throughout the island territory and their distribution depends upon agricultural properties. They are rarely found grouped together, though there are three striking exceptions to this in the fertile valley which extends from San Lorenzo to the Eastern coast. Here, on the hillsides around the valley, are the clusters of Balàfia, Atzaró and Morna.

Balàfia (Nos. 96, 97 and 98) and Atzaró (Nos. 110, 111 and 112), have a small nucleus to which the rural dwellings are joined to form a kind of block. In Morna (Nos. 115 and 116) there is strictly speaking no nucleus, though the houses are closer together than is normal on the island. Entrance though a courtyard is typical of this spot. The complex forms a strategic triangle overlooking the valley, and this fact gives us an idea of its age, dating back to the time of the invasions. Defense towers characteristic of these clusters, remain only in Balàfia and Atzaró.