56|CUADERNOS Restoration of the “Victoria Grande” Fortress (Melilla, Spain) FACING the restoration project without betraying its original, particular charm that only the ruin has, as a work of re-elaborating a discourse that links different ages and diverse experiences, with the awareness to be able to listen to the unexpected that could appear under the layers of history. And doing so with the close collaboration of different professional disciplines, those were the initial cTonditions and the premises of this work under the leadership of architects from Chacel 8 studio. he complete renewal The fortress was planned and built thanks to the Wad-Ras treaty between of the facilities of the in 1736 by the military engineer Juan the Spanish Crown and the Reign of “Victoria Grande” Martín Zermeño (some years later he Morocco. fortress has maintained was also the author of the restoration after its completion some of the Montjüic Castle in Barcelona). Care for details elements that depict the This bastion in triangle-shape was, The lighting design of the project is evolution of the building in the beginning, a place where you signed by Javier Gorriz, from DCI along the centuries, remains of the cannot enter, later used as a prison Consultancy, and it is the result of the different activities that hosted in the (the place you cannot escape), and careful application of LED technologies past. The original pavements are visible, and also modernist ceramic tiles that came later, in this play of time layers there is a narrative that addresses the curious visitor and tells him tales about the past. Re-filled after the premises abandoned its original military use as defence structure, the moats have been unearthed and now they surround again the whole perimeter, that can be accessed walking through a wooden bridge, just like in the old times of this building that once stood protecting the old city of Melilla and that later landmarked the division between the old and the new city. turned into a ruin for the lack of use. Now, the place is a public space open to the visitors and will contribute to shape the identity of the city and free port of Spain’s Melilla, in the North of Africa. The result of the restoration aims to constitute a map on History, a reader of the events that have shaped the geography of the city and that gave to the building the marks on its skin. The city of Melilla defined its territory by shooting a 24-pounder long gun at full power and then measuring the range of their defensive weapons: the distance reached established in 1862 the borders of the free port in terms of integration in architecture, in the sense that the luminaires have disappeared or become transparent not to interfere visually in the contemplation of the environment. We can find a number of imaginative solutions about linear elements integration, all of them equipped with high quality LED sources. Sometimes they fly under the vaults drawing swift lines that uplight the ceilings, or create a play of dramatic backlights in the stone blinds when they are observed from outside the faces of the fortress. All the perimeter is lit from the moats, washing the walls with a play of colour © Braulio Tortosa