## 2 Materials and Methods
### Documentation
#### 2.2.3 Descriptions of City Elements  
We will now present complementary information related to the main elements that made up the city: buildings and streets.  
The search for information on buildings in the Canary Islands presents significant challenges, as few remaining structures have remained unchanged since their construction. Archaeological investigations have also yielded limited relevant information. Therefore, the analysis of houses has been carried out primarily through written documentation.  
The Adelantado and many of the settlers came from Andalusia (southern Spain) to the Canary Islands and attempted to replicate the typological and constructive models of their places of origin [26]. However, the difficulties at the time imposed a process of simplification, resulting in the removal of many formal or artistic elements, leaving only technical or structural features.  
To estimate the dimensions of the buildings, various documentary sources were studied, including the distribution of properties after the conquest of Tenerife, the study of the evolution of lots due to purchases or sales, and the historical catalogue of the city of San Cristobal de La Laguna. The chronologically closest source was the catalogue, which estimated the base of houses at \(12.9\times 7.6\) m, with a floor height of 3.6 m, and a roof angle of 26.9 degrees. The houses were usually developed around a single \"crujia\" (corridor) with a longitudinal axis parallel to the street. The interior layout was simple, and a large vegetable garden was common [27]. The kitchen was usually a separate construction [26], attached to or separated from the house and located on the side most protected from the wind.  
The main building system for facades was masonry [26], which involved superimposing unworked stones forming rows of varying width and height. Two types of masonry were present on the island: ordinary masonry which used mortar or cement to join the stones and dry masonry which did not. Lime was also used in wall coating, either alone or with the addition of clay and pigments. While the colour of the houses is not directly mentioned, in his book [2] [PERSON] describes the city of Santa Cruz de la Palma as having \"white houses\", which can serve as an indirect reference. Windows were scarce, with their presence being more common on the upper floors with shutters used to close them. Roofs were inclined and generally gabled, covered with tile [26].  
Figure 3: Physical model of San Cristobal de La Laguna from around 1588.  
Distinct compositions of facades, doors, windows, and roofing allowed for the identification of five architecturally-functional types developed by civil architecture in San Cristobal de La Laguna since the conquest period: terrera (single-story house), granero (the house-barm), sobradada (multi-story house), comercial (commercial house), and armera (armoury house) [28] (see Figure 4 from [29]). These types were differentiated based on the city's economic activities.  
The main features of the five typologies are the following [28]:  
* Terrera: a type of house that has only one floor. Its features varied depending on the economic status of the owner. It is generally located in the oldest part of the city, in the back streets of the main streets and on the periphery of the city.
* Granero: a house generally with two floors, with the upper floor intended for the storage of cereal to protect it from moisture.
* Sobradada: usually intended for the residence of the landowner who rents it out and occasionally performs some other activity.
* Comercial: a two-story house with a mezzanine that facilitates access to the public visiting the house for commercial reasons.
* Armera: a house located on the main streets as a sign of the importance of its inhabitants. Some examples have stonework on the facade that frames doors and windows.  
These houses were placed on streets that were either made of dirt or paved. By examining documents from that period [30], it is possible to determine the distribution of both types.