The historic city as an urban planning problem in the 1970s. Fernando Chueca Goitia’s contribution to the European debate
- Autores: Ascensión Hernández Martínez, Valerie Magar Meurs
- Localización: Conversaciones, ISSN-e 2395-9479, Nº. 11, 2021 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Conversaciones... con Fernando Chueca Goitia y Carlos Flores Marini), págs. 228-258
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
Abstract During the 1960s and 1970s, European cities underwent a profound transformation process in which relevant elements of Western architectural heritage were sacrificed. Spain was no exception, and the impact of developmentalism (1959-1975) was devastating in our country. As a consequence of this situation, the argument of the historic city emerged as a severe urban planning problem, which gave rise to virulent discussions. In this context, the architect Fernando Chueca Goitia became a critical spectator of the phenomenon, which he denounced in public on repeated occasions, assessing the causes and effects, identifying the agents and protagonists and denouncing institutional neglect through an active work of dissemination that included articles in the press and specialized magazines, conferences and books such as La destruccio?n del legado urbani?stico espan?ol (1977).
His ideas should be considered in relation to the thinking of contemporary figures such as Jane Jacobs, Cesare Brandi and Giulio Carlo Argan, among other professionals, whose opinions show how in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a growing feeling of disgust and rejection of the effects of the urban theories of the modern movement on the historic city and urban life in general; this would be the seed of the demand for another urban model more respectful of the historical heritage and also of its social uses.
