Agustín Martínez Renedo
Cobblestone pavements, Fresco painting, Furnaces and kilns, Lime or gypsum finishings, Lime or gypsum paving, Lime painting, Manufacture of adobe bricks, Masonry, Rammed earth and adobe walls, Rubble masonry walls, Scagliola, Sgraffiti, Stone, ceramic or other types of flooring, Training, Wattle and daub walls, Wooden horizontal structures
TELEPHONE:
ADDRESS:
Camino de En medio, 9 – 26141, Alberite
ACTIVITY
Headed by Agustín, the firm Cobijo Natural is notable for rendering and plastering work with clay and lime in refurbishments of traditional masonry facades of adobe, brick and even straw. This involves using clay from pits in the vicinity of the worksite, mixed in the… undercoats with straw and in subsequent coats with sand, first coarse and then sieved.
Agustín began working with lime in 2003, when he took several courses given by Francisco Azconegui. This introduction led him to further explore the field himself and to contact seasoned stuccoists who had done fine work with lime in his village (Alberite in La Rioja), allowing him to learn various techniques widely used in the area. These stuccoists had in turn learned the trade with Catalan master artisans of the Solé family, who settled in Logroño and did outstanding work in and around that city.
Further to such work with lime and earthen coatings, Cobijo Natural has expertise in techniques such as flooring, paving, etc., always using natural local materials and favouring sustainable, eco-friendly construction.
TRAINING
Agustín started out in the trade in 1991, working with other builders in Alberite for eight years. This experience led him and his brother to set up independently as conventional builders. Then on a visit to Zamora he found how a friend of his had… used lime to coat the walls of his house, leading him to a new approach to building, and to abandon many of the materials he had used hitherto. He took courses in the use of lime with Francisco Azconegui and subsequently in stonemasonry at the León Trades Centre, in rammed earth at Amayuelas, in straw-bale house-building with Rikki Nitzkin, etc.
TEACHING
His first teaching experience was in 2010, when he was given the opportunity to do a refurbishment project in Camprovín (La Rioja). This was an employment workshop for nine participants paid for by the town hall and the regional employment service with rural development funds.… Over a year Agustín was able to apply and transmit all the techniques that he had been learning, along with new ones developed by himself.
Currently he is working with the People’s University of Logroño, delivering workshops on earthen coatings, adobe brick-making and lime renders.
SELECTED WORK
His most notable work includes the refurbishment of the 12-century Chapel of San Martín de Jubera, a rural guesthouse in Pino de Bureba, stuccowork in wineries and private homes in Alberite, plaster flooring in Burgos, and earthen renders in Hormaza.
