Santiago Martínez Otero – Forxa Chago
ACTIVITY
Santiago Martínez Otero carries out restoration works on grilles, balconies, pinnacles, crosses, balls, rods, hinges, palmelas and porlones (types of hinges), locks, etc.
He carries out all forge works in a traditional way, using the techniques which are characteristic of the craft and which are almost… lost today:
– Leading with purified lead.
– Oil coating.
– Grafting and forge welding to reproduce the elements which are missing within one item.
– Retrieval of traditional rivets, half-lap joints, dovetails, etc.
– Embossments for the reproduction of decorative elements such as leaves or trims, etc.
TRAINING
Escuela Obradoiro, in Santiago de Compostela.
Works in various workshops and participation in international forge gatherings.
His own research with old forge masters in order to retrieve lost techniques.
TEACHING
MA in Urban Regeneration at the University of Santiago de Compostela.
International MA in Architecture at the Fundación Compostela.
Fundación laboral de la Construcción. Training for the General Directorate of Heritage.
Rehabilitation Forum in Rianxo (A Coruña).
Different talks on restoration.
Various publications with the Consortium of Santiago de Compostela… (regarding the Carraca, the renowned bell of the Cathedral in Santiago, and the railings and historic wrought iron grilles in Compostela).
SELECTED WORK
Restoration of the Cathedral of Santiago (interventions carried out in the dome, the Holy Door, the Façade of the Obradoiro, the Clock Tower, the Botafumeiro, the Crypt, etc.).
Restorations carried out in the Cathedral of Tuy (Pontevedra), in emblematic buildings in Santiago de Compostela, such as… the Raxoi Palace (Town Council), the Convent of San Paio in Antealtares, the Convent of Santa Clara, the Convent of El Carmen, the Monastery of San Martín Pinario (fountain, cloister, pinnacle, etc.), the Hostel of the Reyes Católicos, the Royal and Major Collegiate in Sar, the Fountains of the Town Council of Santiago, etc.
