Aulets
Arquitectura en Corto invites you to the Espacio Arquia in Madrid (c/ Tutor, 16) on Thursday, September 17, at 7:00 PM for the screening of the short film Amarar. The title refers to a traditional Mallorcan technique of treating wood by immersing it in water to increase its durability. This term has become the name of a sustainable design project that transforms native pine trees into contemporary furniture of high artisanal value. In collaboration with the University of the Balearic Islands, the project also researches the use of this wood in construction. The initiative is led by Francisco Cifuentes and Sebastián Martorell, founding partners of the Palma de Mallorca-based firm Aulets Arquitectes. "We have a vast forest mass on the islands," explains Cifuentes, "but 95% of the forests are abandoned. At the same time, we are importing 70,000 tons of wood for construction. Architects must build with materials that can regenerate local ecosystems. A change in the model is necessary." Directed by Marc Hierro, the short film presents several solutions proposed by Aulets Arquitectes and other project collaborators to promote responsible forest management and utilize wood as a durable, recyclable material with full traceability. Following the screening, a discussion will feature Francisco Cifuentes, Sebastián Martorell, and Albert Cuchí, author of the article "Construir el territorio," recently published in the El Croquis monograph dedicated to the architectural work of Aulets Arquitectes. "What Aulets pursues," asserts Cuchí, "is the recovery of the territory as the authentic field of action for architecture, maintaining an appropriate relationship with resources, ensuring the renewability of extraction processes, and weaving construction together with other social activities to build an ecological society."
Synopsis
Every January 17, the Festa del Pi de Sant Antoni is celebrated in Pollença (Mallorca), where residents pay homage to their traditions by cutting, transporting, and climbing a pine tree—an act that symbolizes the community's bond with the forest. Currently, almost the entire forest mass of the Balearic Islands has been abandoned and left exposed to the risk of fires and natural disasters. In August 2020, a severe storm devastated more than 700 hectares of forest in the Serra de Tramuntana. What can be done with all that wood? The short film explains the proposal of the Amarar project, led by the Palma de Mallorca-based firm Aulets Arquitectes: to turn Pinus halepensis (the Mallorcan pine) back into a resource for the local economy, regenerating ecosystems and activating the entire value chain from forest management to craftsmanship, industry, design, architecture, and construction.
