Learning from Morella: the memory of the urban form and the dialogical-historical approach in the contemporary design

From the dialogical models defended by Mijai´l Bajti´n (Bakhtin 1982), GIRAS Research Group has analyzed for years the historical urban form and architecture, trying to clarify how the architect can at the same time, innovate and preserve, understanding that in the specific of each place are the seeds for a good modernization. (Muntañola 2016). To understand the relationships between history and memory and to clarify the types of memory that the architect can use to learn from the city, we use Paul Ricoeur’s theory (Ricoeur 2010) and Space Syntax as a theory as well as a meth- od (Hillier 1996). In the case study of Morella, Spain, we will see that the urban form of the historical city has kept in his memory the existence of an old gate of the wall, in a place that people has forgotten. With historical drawings, plans, written sources, with archaeological exploration and with Space Syntax analysis, it will be shown that the memory of the city is present in the constructed form. In Morella, we will find some interesting examples about how the architect can make bridges between the new design and the history of the profession, of the place and of the society, analyzing two heritage buildings restored in the core of the city, the town hall and a church as a health center, and two new buildings outside the wall, the Primary School designed by Miralles & Pino´s and the Secondary School by Helio Piñón, both of them with international awards. (Beltran 2015)Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version