Description
Book SynopsisHistorical studies on the involvement of architecture in twentieth-century politics have overlooked its contribution to building Spain's democracy. This pioneering book seeks to fill that void. Between the late 1970s and early 1990s, Spain founded representative institutions, launched its welfare state, and devolved autonomy to its regions. The study brings forth the architectural incarnation of that threefold program as it deployed in the Valencian Country, a Catalan-speaking region on Spain's Mediterranean shores. There, social democratic authorities mobilized architects, planners, and graphic artists to devise a newly open public sphere and to recover a local identity that Franco's dictatorship had repressed for decades. The research follows the impetus of reform and its contradictions through urban projects, designs for cultural amenities, and the renovation of governmental and professional bodies. Architecture for Spain's Recovered Democracy contributes to current debate
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations. Acknowledgements. Introduction. CHAPTER 1. Institutional Bases of a Democratic Architecture. CHAPTER 2. Urban Design and Regime Change: Túria River Park (1979–1991). CHAPTER 3. Between Cosmopolitanism and Localism: The Valencian Institute of Modern Art (1984–1989). CHAPTER 4. Recovering Heritage for the Welfare Age: The Roman Theatre at Sagunt (1984–1993). CONCLUSION. An Architecture for the Region. Bibliography and Archival Sources. Index.
