After the house has gone

Funnily enough I started a sister group just a few days ago without knowing about the medianeras pool.

Looks like these siblings will be reunited thanks to you.

Hey Reg,

Just one small linguistic correction the noun "medianera" is a Spanish word for the wall that is shared with another building. It is not necessary for the second building to be not present. This project is really *exposed* medianeras, but most buildings in Barcelona, Madrid or Sevilla have at least two medianeras with the buildings next door.

I am eating with JA Millán today, he will be chuffed as hell to learn you have linked to his text!

"Medianera" is "Party Wall". I couldn't find it in the on-line dictionaries I tried but I notices that JA Millán's pages use the phrase now.

In Colombia we call to those closed buildings sides that became very interesting after the neighbor´s demolition CULATAS

Back in the 80s, Japanese artist Akasegawa Gempei dubbed these sorts of things "Atomic Thomassons." The "Thomasson" part of the name takes some explaining, but "Atomic" is because he said they reminded him of how people's sillhouttes were burnt onto the walls of houses in Hiroshima when the bomb fell. Pretty morbid name:
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~tokyo/thomason/database.cgi?sline=33&print=1&keys4=%92%B7%8D%E8%97%F9%8A%A2%93%5C%82%E8%8C%B4%94%9A%8C%5E%95%A8%8C%8F

Actually shared wall is not correct, each building has its proper wall, medianera or Culata is just a concept refereed to the side of those buildings erected one against the other side to side. Depending on the type of structure and its conditions, parts of the demolished one keep glued to the neighbor, sometimes there is noting left but the traces of the older one because the the younger only finished the surface of the medianera that was left around by that time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47536605@N00/191181531/

Er.... It's actually "medianerias", unless they use a different term in Catalan. Remember a similar washbasing hanging 20 meters up in the air in Lavapies (Madrid) a few years back.

I think the actual meaning of the word has more to do with engineering - it's (one of) the wall(s) that actually buttresses the building up, thus it is tricky to open up large windows, etc. on it. So if you see a wall with funny, small, prison cell-like windows, it's normally a "medianeria". + There's a custom in Madrid to use them for trompe l'oeill murals.

Just my two pesetas, sorry, cents.

Kamen

I took a picture of exactly this medianera just a month ago, in the Raval.

the medianeras are very interesting as "unconscious art of demolition", but the photograph you show is not one of these. it is a (very conscious) installation art work by artist Marika, from switzerland. there is a plaque below the artwork that tells this information. this is explained in josé's text you linked to (in spanish), but i think not made clear in the blog entry. maybe you could give credit to the artist who's work you've shown here.

Funny the story of the standing walls!
I was just wondering since the theme of the discussion, if anyone would give me an impression of the young photographer that I host on my site
He does only black and white, he is a young architect and so is all about buildings and perspective. I don't think he does realize his potential
You can search for Antonio Merlin on Google, or simply click my name
Feedback would be much appreciated
Thanks