Wine cultural landscape and vernacular typologies in southwestern Iberia: three case studies in Alentejo and Andalusia

Abstract

In the Mediterranean scenery of the south-western Iberian Peninsula, vineyards and wine-making have consistently been key pieces of the man-made cultural landscape, influencing urban design and even housing. This paper compares wine production influence in the cities of Borba, in Portuguese Alentejo, Jerez de la Frontera and Bollullos Par del Condado, in Spanish Andalusia, throughout the spheres of territorial organization, urban layout, presence of production buildings inside urban areas, and winemaker and wineworker housing. The study is based on architectonic surveys of building types: wineries, dwellings and houses with integrated wine production on both sides of the Guadiana River. The information gathered in surveys is complemented with data from historical documents, such as transaction records from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The research analyses cycles of prosperity for the three case studies – which are often coincident and related, within the frame of pre-industrial global trade – and the effects of those in winery and housing typologies. Across the studied area, vernacular winery types adhere to the same two categories, or typological lines, of building: the domestic winery and the autonomous building. Wine related architecture is still a key asset in these cities' material and cultural heritage, as it provides scale and uniqueness to the urban and rural ensembles, despite the fact that wineproduction has been removed from cities’ centres to outer industrial wineries. The memory of wine-induced prosperity is imprinted on the cities’ physical realities, giving meaning to their collective memories and proving to be an asset to future development.