La calle proyectada en el planeamiento urbanístico reciente. Murcia, 2001-2016

The 'prodigious decade' of Spanish urbanism caused a large expansion of urban lands, but also a much greater amount of planned but undeveloped land. The planning for this 'expectant city' is a challenge for the future of our cities. In this work, the streets proposed in these plans are analysed by evaluating their dimensional characteristics (surface and width) and their habitability (pedestrian-cyclist space and previsions of tree lines). The research is focused on the city of Murcia, paradigmatic case of the expansive urbanism typical of the real estate bubble. We have studied 2,096 streets from 92 partial plans approved during the period 2002-2013. The results show how the analysed variables change according to the use and density of the sectors and can be useful to evaluate the improvement of the habitability of these streets before their execution.

Un poblado para pescadores en Cartagena (España) de Carlos de Miguel (1947-1955)

The architect Carlos de Miguel González was the author of the fishing village in Cartagena (Spain). The project promoted by the Instituto Social de la Marina in 1947 consisted of the construction of a housing complex and a Fisherman's House completed in 1955. The work was part of the Plan Nacional de Mejoramiento de la Vivienda en los Poblados de Pescadores which intended to address one of the main concerns of the Spanish state after the Civil War: the problem of poor housing. Thus, numerous actions were carried out along the entire Spanish coast, some published in Revista Nacional de Arquitectura. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to publicize the Cartagena project and the vicissitudes of its construction, as the built work is quite different from the original project. It also aims to highlight its most outstanding features through a comparative analysis with the other projects published in the journal and by studying possible links with the vernacular architecture of the Region of Murcia.

Le petit livre: el jardín de papel de Gilles Clément

The Garden in Motion is a concept that was developed by Gilles Clément in the early 1980s as the result of the experimentation conducted in his garden-house, La Vallée. Clément’s interest in promoting this garden archetype based on managing neglected land led him to write a number of works in order to explain the conceptual underpinnings of his model, with the ultimate aim of having them published. From the writing of the first manuscripts, dating from 1984, to the first edition of “Le jardin en movement” in 1991, he produced a series of different documents that would form the basis of the text that was finally published. It was a long process in which Clément not only had to fully develop his ideas but also to overcome the difficulties involved in finding a company to publish what he called his ‘petit livre’. The aim of this article is to show the creative process behind Clément’s book and its relationship with the creative process of building his garden, while endeavouring to reply to the question of whether it is possible to establish an equivalence between both processes. This is made possible through the analysis of documents kept by Clément in his personal archive, some of which have never been published.

La Embajada de Estados Unidos en Madrid y la arquitectura moderna de posguerra

Between 1950 and 1955, the United States Embassy in Madrid was planned and built on the former Huerta de Cánovas estate. This building has already been studied in its pioneering and controversial implementation in the Paseo de la Castellana. Some reference has also been made to the link between Mariano Garrigues, the Spanish architect who directed the construction works, and North America. This article goes deeper, however, into some issues that have not yet been explained; in particular, the aim is to reveal how a prototype of the International Style was adapted to local circumstances. For this purpose, both foreign sources related to the North American architectural office (Foreign Building Operations, FBO) and local sources related to the Spanish architect are used. Likewise, graphic analyses are carried out to complement the available information and to focus on aspects of the site, construction, and spatial organization. The analysis is not limited to the general aspects of the building. Its link with post-war modern architecture is increased with considerations of site, structure and furnishing. The final assessment falls somewhere between absolute adherence to modern ideals and local mediation.

La influencia de la industrialización en la obra de Gerrit Rietveld. Del módulo al Kernhuis

The appearance of new paradigms in the early 20th century due to the impact of industrialisation unleashed a reformulation of the strategies used for building from the beginning to the creative phase. This paper examines in depth how architect Gerrit Rietveld used industrialisation and the strategy used in his work at the time of the so-called Functionalist Period by analysing his different projects. Without an exhaustive analysis of all his work, the aim was to get to know another facet of the Utrecht architect apart from his best known neoplastic compositional facet, related to his preoccupation with responding to social needs by the efficient organization of space, making use of industrial products and with a special interest in the constructive aspect of his projects. Finally, Rietveld’s figure is associated with that of Habraken and the connections between both Dutch architects are analysed.

Habitar una bóveda metálica. Quonset Huts en la Base Aeronaval de Rota

During World War II, and even in the years that followed, thousands of American soldiers lived in prefabricated semi-cylindrical metal huts that could be dismantled and reused: Quonset Huts. Their singular design and their multiple uses made Quonset Huts an American military design icon. The daring construction system made it possible to manufacture them in the United States and take them across the Atlantic, armed with a comprehensive instruction manual. The Seabees, American soldiers posted to Spain to build the Naval Station Rota, set up a provisional camp in 1959 comprising fifty-three Quonset Huts. Assembling them in Spain provided housing for 500 soldiers and they were fitted with all types of facilities for their functions. This text aims to shed light on this unknown case of prefabricated dwellings in our country, contextualising the history of their design, construction and installation, and analysing the repercussion of this constructive experiment in the early days of prefabricated construction in Spain.

Drawing and architectural analysis of San Ildefonso’s Baths in Seville (1542)

This paper deals with the first hypotheses of elevations and of the architectural analysis of San Ildefonso’s Baths on the basis of unpublished data offered by the Book of written descriptive records (apeos) of 1542 in the Chapter on Seville Cathedral. Our own transformation methodology has been applied to this hitherto largely unknown book in order to attain and encompass graphic representation from the literary description. After giving a brief history of the Baths, the objective is to ascertain its location, by drawing hypothetical floor plans and elevations and analysing its typology, dimensions, spaces, and building elements. This research has shown that it was one of the most important bathing complexes in the historical centre of Seville, at least in the 13th Century, although it later became obsolete and was demolished in the 18th Century.

Las casas cuartel de la DGRD para la Guardia Civil: un modelo adaptado para la propaganda

The Civil Guard barracks, promoted by the Directorate-General of Devastated Regions [Dirección General de Regiones Devastadas, DGRD] (1939-1957), are an exception within the general marginality of this hybrid architecture in architectural historiography. However, such a prominence has led to a distorted and partial approach to the architecture of these barracks, ignoring the contemporary production of the Civil Guard’s technical services. This is the first study that deals with the post-war promotion of barracks, offering an analysis that sheds light on the interdependencies and contributions made by each organisation. The methodology is based on a bibliographical review, which includes the Reconstrucción journal, the consultation of the projects in the archives that hold the documentation of both organisations and the comparative analysis of their productions. This paper aims to show how the DGRD based the promotion of its barracks on the models created by the architects attached to the Civil Guard, taking them directly and adapting them to its propagandistic interests according to Franco’s ideology using strategic implantation, a commitment to specific typologies, excessive ornamentation and the emphasis on a collective way of life.

Las aportaciones de Gropius y Wachsmann a la industria de las casas de madera

<div><p>Walter Gropius and Konrad Wachsmann made a significant contribution to the housing prefabrication industry. After the Second World War, they set principles that have served as a basis for continuous revisions in the interests of optimising the industry. The Packaged Houses are a research that shows a continuous review of the processes and constructive systems of prefabricated houses. This article tries to study (following a chronological criterion and focused on the context of this type of construction) the experience of Gropius and Wachsmann and their contributions as a basis for other investigations that, even today, continue their course.</p></div>

Art and Urban Regeneration in New York City. Doris C. Freedman’s Public Project

<p>Given its positive economic, social and urban impact, even with low-cost or low-tech materialization, the urban creativity encouraged by the arts is of great interest today. This narrative reviews one of the most prolific careers in this regard addressing the pioneering work by Doris C. Freedman. The late 1960s and the 1970s, in the context of two financial crises, saw a groundbreaking effort to formalize innovative artistic programs that recycled the obsolete city and integrated local communities in the processes. Doris C. Freedman was the first director of NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the Public Arts Council, and leader of the organization City Walls. These institutions promoted an unprecedented improvement of the public urban life through the cultural action. Such experiences led Freedman to the conception of her last project, the relevant and, still, ongoing Public Art Fund of New York City. This article focuses on her early professional years, when she began and consolidated herself in the task of legitimizing art as an urban instrument for shaping the city. This research provides a contextualized critical analysis on Freedman’s less-known experimental projects before the foundation of the Public Art Fund, enabling an extraordinary source of inspiration for a current creative city-making.</p>