Circularidad material en la arquitectura popular del Cabanyal: reutilización estética y ambiental . Material circularity in the popular architecture of Cabanyal: aesthetic and environmental reuse

Contemporary debates on circular economy in architecture invite a reconsideration of historical practices of material reuse developed in vernacular building traditions. The Cabanyal neighborhood (Valencia), a traditional fishing enclave, is a particularly significant case due to the extensive use of ceramic cladding on its façades. This paper proposes a reinterpretation of the architectural heritage of Cabanyal from the perspective of material circularity, analysing how certain socio-economic conditions favored reuse strategies, including the use of tiles derived from production waste, defective pieces or materials recovered from demolition processes. Beyond responding solely to domestic economic constraints, these practices contributed to shaping a distinctive urban identity characterised by the chromatic richness and compositional variety of its façades. Based on typological and material analysis, the study connects these popular construction solutions with contemporary principles of circular economy and low-tech sustainability. The results allow the architecture of Cabanyal to be interpreted as a proto-circular precedent, capable of offering relevant insights for current strategies of rehabilitation and material reuse in consolidated urban fabrics.