Symbiosis between architecture and nature. Traditional industrial architecture in small municipalities: hydraulic mills of the “Valle del Esgueva”

Abstract

The work aims to highlight the variable relationship between architecture and nature from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, and do so taking as an object of study the hydraulic mills of rural areas and their supply channels. The 34 mills distributed along the Esgueva river valley (provinces of Valladolid, Palencia and Burgos, Spain) that make up the sample show the changes in the relationship between architecture and nature over time; changes that go from the functional valuation to another one of landscape, cultural and / or ludic character. The communication aims to explore the evolution over time of the hydraulic mills of the mentioned valley, as well as the possibilities of revitalization of the small rural nuclei where they settle, from the valorization of this type of architecture fully integrated in nature, in which architecture, vegetation, water and landscape make up a whole with great potential.