Castles

What is the best place to build castles?

The slope and paving of the ground, together with the morphology of the square, are some of the key elements

Throughout the season, hundreds of Catalan squares host human tower performances. But which one is best for building human towers? The slope and paving of the ground, along with the morphology of the square, are some of the key elements. Other factors also play a role, such as the available space for groups and the public, the area covered by shade, and the characteristics of the buildings in the square. This is how the human tower builder and architect Arnau Montoya developed his master's thesis at the Rovira Virgili University Chair for the Study of the Human Tower Fact on the Cultural Landscape of Human Tower Squares, which was later expanded and revised in the volume of the Enciclopèdia Castellera dedicated to human tower squares.

In this way, Montoya assesses the characteristics of the squares in five different aspects: the ground, the environment, the space, the climate, and the buildings. The first is worth 30% of the final score, which decreases to 10% in the last. This division was designed based on the results of the survey conducted with more than 400 human tower builders, who chose which characteristics seemed most important to them. The first master's project also included the historical importance of the square and the records achieved, but the second limited it to architectural and spatial aspects.

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The Plaza de la Villa de Vilanova i la Geltrú, the highest-scoring plaza

After analyzing all the characteristics, the one that receives the highest score is Vila de Vilanova i la Geltrú Square, with 4.33 out of 5. It is closely followed by Raval de Montserrat in Terrassa (4.3) and Vila de l'Arboç Square (4.24). The other four squares that exceed four points are Santa Ana Square in Mataró, Vella Square in El Vendrell, Villa Square in Torredembarra, and Vino Square in Girona. In the case of Garraf Square, it receives a four or a five for all its characteristics. The only exception is the layout of the streets adjacent to the project area, which only receives a 1.

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What is the ideal place to build castles?

The Plaza de las Cols, in the queue

At the bottom of the 17 squares analyzed, however, is the Plaça des Cols de Tarragona, with a score of 2.85. This is reserved for the city's four colles and stands out due to the limited space they have to operate, so they must rotate their location in the square. This is why, from the outset, it has a score of 1 and 2 in the two most valued elements: paving and slope.

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In the results of the study, the Tarragona square is far behind the other two at the bottom of the ranking, which are Carrer del Doctor Robert de la Bisbal (3.54) and Plaça Sant Jaume de Barcelona (3.66).

The magic of intangibles

The final study focuses on those architectural aspects that can be quantified. However, in the human towers, it's clear that other, more emotional, identity-based, and intangible elements also come into play, making each square unique. Thus, for many Tarragona residents, performing in the Plaça de les Cols provides an extra something they don't experience anywhere else. In fact, the circumstances of an architecturally complex square create an even stronger bond.