Landscape intervention in Caño de Hierro

Caño de Hierro is a steep-sided canyon on top of which is placed Hornachuelos, an Andalusian white-housed town placed between Córdoba and Seville, near la Vera del Guadalquivir. The caves of Caño de Hierro, formerly used as a refuge and as a warehouse for agricultural surplus, were buried under rune and undergrowth for decades, and they were only kept alive in the memory of the local elders. They are a remnant of old times, a different pace and a different lifestyle. Its enhancement is part of an operation that aims to recover the heritage of Hornachuelos for its neighbours and to point out the enormous natural, historical and architectural richness of the town. For the enhancement of Caño de Hierro a pedestrian promenade is proposed. This walkway starts at the access road of the town and culminates in the largest of the caves, la Cueva de las Carretas. The operation must span nine meters in height and the surface available to solve this ascension is limited. Six retaining walls are drawn as well as six cuts in the terrain, resulting in the pedestrian promenade: a geometric layout that solves the ascent and the transition from a road to a natural, rugged environment. Caño de Hierro is a raw, beautiful landscape. Its range of yellows turns into brown as the day ticks over and the sun falls. The irregular geometry of this place does nothing but magnify the changing character of this place, submitted to the variations of the sunlight. This landscape has its own torn aesthetic that the walls, with their colour and formwork, aim to recognize. They now become part of this great plinth that is Caño de Hierro for Hornachuelos. At the top of the trail, under la Cueva de las Carretas, the promenade expands itself, offering a viewpoint. From here it is possible to see the opposite slope of the pipe, and in the distance, the orange grove that extends to the horizon. The culmination of this small walk is none other than observing the landscape from the landscape.