Daniela Lallone

The Reales Atarazanas of Seville are an industrial building of great capacity and size, built in the thirteenth century with the function of shipyard, which remained active, with different uses over the years, until the last century. The recent research work on the building, consisting of a cleaning of the contemporary plaster walls, has brought to light a structure that does not seem to have suffered damage with time. Its long use is a magnification of the building's capacity to survive, almost completely, although very transformed, through the centuries. This responds to a logic of solidity that made possible, diachronically, the incorporation of new buildings in its historical evolution. In the eighteenth century Charles III was able to establish the Real Maestranza de Artilleria in this building without it suffering static and structural problems. Therefore, we cannot deplore a degradation of the building, over time, which remained whole thanks to the constructive and functional versatility and the high quality of the materials with which it was designed and made. This paper aims to analyze the features that saved the arsenal from degradation: those constructive, evolutionary and economic logics intrinsic to this building that made it an emblematic and profitable site for the Crown of Castile from its construction until the end of its activities in the twentieth century. 1. Historical evolution of Reales Atarazanas in Seville: a series of fortunate events. The Reales Atarazanas of Seville (Fig.1), thanks to their architectural modernity, although with big changes and structural reductions, have survived for centuries coming to our day in which are presented as an archaeological living book where you can read the history of Seville in them reflected (Fig.2). The features that have made the dockyard an emblematic monument and closely linked to the historical evolution, social and cultural development of the city are:-The place: its location in Arenal, outside the city walls and closely bound to the river and port, essential activities in the historical development of the city.-The form: the rational design and original edification spatial versatility that have allowed for centuries the existence albeit with many functional and fragmentation redefinitions. This factory pattern allowed easy conversion by limited operations of adjustment and optimization of installations in several changes of building use (dockyard, warehouses, military barracks).-The function: its original destination shipyard forced him to maintain a direct relationship with the Guadalquivir and, therefore, changed its functionality depending on the activity mainly carried out in the river by the Sevillian society over the centuries.-The owner: the building was from the outset owned by the Crown, which, rearranged it through time in order to use it and convert it to derive the greatest benefit from the factory, monetary and / or strategic depending of the historical events that influenced the development of the city. Fernando III also known as the holy king and conqueror, was the one who, during the thirteenth century, welded permanently the destiny of the kingdoms of Castile and Leon. He conquered Andalusia pacifying the old patrimonial territories, and expanded the kingdom like no other of his ancestors had done. His plan of conquest was to unify the ancient territory and give the Kingdom of

(Arial – 11 pt – Lower case letters-Bold – left aligned) Dockyards, historical and industrial buildings of medieval and modern age are configured, usually, as large buildings with simple and solid architecture, linked to the port areas. In cities, these places become both emblems and memorials of past conquests and meetings with exotic cultures or, in some cases, the only witnesses of the presence of ancient ports. These non-artistic monuments are saved from the natural degradation of time thanks to their constant use permitted by their pragmatic architecture typically consisting of diaphanous industrial spaces easily adaptable to the different needs of use. Usually, over the centuries, they were the object of utilitarian material uses that produced greater economic benefits because the dockyards were civil and military infrastructures property of the State. In the twentieth century, with the emergence of heritage debates, these buildings are not always perceived as historic monuments with cultural and artistic value to preserve, but rather are perceived as obsolete utilitarian structures; the consequence is their partial or complete abandonment and destruction at the hands of the State, their owner. In this article we analyze through some European examples, the role of dockyards as material symbols of a glorious past, ancient trade and international relationships maintained by the Mediterranean cities and how the use of these as heritage structures is the most logical destiny for their rehabilitation.

The study of the Almohad Stamped Jars (XII-XIII century), typical pottery production of Seville , aims to highlight the uniqueness of this peculiar class of pottery untill today not much studied. The production is restricted chronologically at Almohad Empire (1147 - 1269) and its geographical distribution is attested mainly in the territory of al- Andalus with a clear predominance of material found in the Seville area , while poor or almost non-existent presence of it in the Maghreb . The research aims to give an historiographical interpretation of this ceramic class always associated at household context and possibly used for ablutions with a great sacred importance to the presence of Koranic inscriptions , and emphasize those characteristics so far not valorate , such as the strong decorative style , the big size and unusual morphology that make this production unique in the Islam world. The study of the Stamped Jars and their geographical distribution wants to identify the role played by Seville as the spiritual and political capital of Al Andalus , as emanating of cultural and artistic influences in the Maghreb and, finally, its commercial role in the Mediterranean world.