RIUSO E VALORIZZAZIONE DEL CONVENTO DI SAN JOSÉ E SANTA TERESA A VALENCIA, TRA ANTICHE MEMORIE E NUOVE ESIGENZE: IDENTITÀ, TRASFORMAZIONI E RELAZIONI SOCIALI

The ancient convent of San José and Santa Teresa, which is located in Carmen, one of the most important areas of Valencia, represents an emblematic case of reuse and valorization and the possibility of using historical memory as a tool to interpret and understand the present and transmit the identity of a place to generations to come through functional mixity and opening to the city. The Convent was built inside the walls between 1609 and 1628 near the Portal Nou square and reflects the architectural lines of the Santa Teresa reform: constructive simplicity and traditional materials. The small building originally featured a church, a cloister, convent rooms and a garden. The church presents a latin cross plan and is the part that best preserves the original appearance, characterized by the presence of a pavilion dome and decorations that follow the classic Castilian tendencies. Various restorations have affected the complex since the second half of the 18th century. The building was adapted to new uses and styles, consolidated after the damage caused by the assault of the Republican militias during the War of Independence and repaired after the 1957 flood. The last important restoration was carried out between 1978 and 1979. The abandonment of the complex by the last monks, in 2007, begins a period of neglect that lasts ten years and increases the deterioration of the structures and reduces the interest in this important Valencian monument. In 2018 a project by Francesc Rifé, under the direction of Santiago Máñez and Juan María Sánchez, gives back to the convent the proper attention and propose to restore and adapt it to a contemporary use. The project aims to investigate the methods of reusing and enhancing the convent of San José and Santa Teresa, evaluating the criteria, objectives and results of the restoration project that transformed this seventeenth-century monument into a «Convent Garden», a cultural place based on relational exchanges, commercial and gastronomic offers, and, soon, a luxury hotel.