Architecture for Informal Tourism - Mild Occupation of Landscape through Campsites

The IAM Research group (Investigation in Mediterranean Architecture), from the La Salle-Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, is developing its research on the architecture of touristic settlements. Its aim is to regenerate the coast of Catalonia by examining the close relationship between heritage and landscape. Part of this research has been developed through case studies of campsite settlements as a typology of the mild occupation of natural environment. Main particularity of this kind of settlements is that their implantation in landscape is based on a duality between formal designs provided by architects and informal occupation developed by users in their private plots. In order to recognize qualities of these lightweight and dual architectures of the 1960s, this paper is focused on a comparison between two examples which landscapes are completely opposite. The aim of this research is to raise awareness of the values of these kind of settlements: temporality, nature and informal occupancy.