Jan Álvarez+Mariona Roura
The work shows, based on the architectural element of La Poua, how ice was produced and consumed before humans learned to produce it artificially.
Refrigerators and freezers have colonised every corner of our society, reaching the most remote and hottest places in the world, creating a society that is unaware of the natural way of producing ice, obtaining water, cultivating crops, etc., making it disconnected from its territory. Therefore, this work aims to show and highlight the way in which ice has traditionally been produced in our country.
Ever since man discovered that food could be better preserved in the cold, he has been perfecting his techniques for capturing and producing ice in order to make the most of its properties.In the past, ice production was closely linked to the climate and the morphology of the territory, and that is why in those areas where the optimum characteristics for its production were found and which were close enough to the big cities so that the ice would not melt during transport, during the second half of the 17th century, the “Pouas” (ice pits) proliferated. These were large circular stone constructions that were used to store the ice collected from the winter frosts and, thanks to their thermal inertia and their capacity to expel the heat from their interior, as a water jug does, they were able to conserve the ice throughout the year.
In Barcelona, the area that best fulfilled the necessary characteristics for ice production was the Moianès plateau. This area of the pre-coastal mountain range is located at a considerable height, which meant that frosts were frequent. In addition, the gentle slope of its shady valleys facilitated the natural formation of ice. Thus, Castellterçol and Moià became the nerve centres of an industry that became very important in the region and in the towns through which the dozens of muleteers who carried the ice in carts to the big city passed every night.
The ice industry became so important that it changed the way food was preserved and consumed forever, transforming society’s consumption habits. With the growth in demand that this entailed and with the arrival of artificial ice production machines, the “Poues” were no longer necessary. Ice production had been successfully decoupled from the territory. As a result, it is now difficult to conceive of a world in which the human capacity to produce cold has to be linked to the climate and the territory.
Authors: Jan Álvarez+Mariona Roura.
Location: Barcelona, Spain.
University: Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura del Vallès.
Year: 2023