Saturday, August 19, 2006

NaCl

We are working on three new building projects in the small Spanish hill town of Cardona. We are also researching salt.
Cardona is one of only two places in the world where naturally occurring rock salt reaches the surface of the earth. The town was formed and always relied on salt for its economy. The salt mines were closed in 1990. We want to find a new relevance for this natural resource. We are researching the specific propeties of this salt, including its effects on the soil and possible methods of environmental reclamation, its curative properties for the human body, the unstable geologic effects of salt and water, and its potential use as a building material.
Each aspect of this research holds urban, spatial, material, social, and environmental consequences.