Housing building typology definition in a historical area based on a case study: The Valley, Spain

This paper introduces the problem of the abandonment of historical housing located in city centres. These constructions are usually excluded from the cultural heritage conservation processes, and therefore a large quantity of them is currently unlivable, and because of this there is an urgent need to propose solutions. However, the extent of the existing building stock and the additional difficulty of protecting its patrimonial value requires an accurate analysis. This work makes a contribution to the definition of historical housing areas by cataloguing the different dwellings, hence it underlines the need to define building typologies in order to simplify the multiparametric analysis and identify the main vernacular characteristics on such a wide scale. This definition of typology may include all the parameters which value and characterize a historic house through an approach which combines a territorial, urban, architectural, and construction perspective. Likewise, data processing will enable the selection and definition of building typology. The methodology proposed serves as a policy guideline for analysis of buildings in historical centres, prioritising the preservation of the cultural heritage value and the recovery of the historic use of urban space. This method has been tested in a previous case study of the Jerte Valley (Valle del Jerte), located in The Central System, Spanish and Portuguese: Sistema Central. This study approaches the analysis of a vernacular housing stock of three thousand dwellings by: first, taking into account the complexity of the historical area analysing the territory, landscape, architecture and urban variables; then, by selecting the representative building typologies; and, finally, by defining information sheets. The culture heritage of the Valley, based on adequate information, will be protected.