LINE 1
Research on Modern Movement
General
The group is focused on mid-twentieth century modern architecture. The research is devoted to understand the autonomy or dependency of the architectural aesthetic systems with respect to the context of location and the constructive methods. The knowledge acquired about form control factors is applied to the teaching of the architectural project.
The research is aligned with the criteria of “Horizon Europe. Work Programme 2023-2024: Cluster 2, Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society”. It aims to meet EU goals and priorities on enhancing democratic governance and citizens’ participation, on the safeguarding and promotion of cultural heritage, and to respond to and shape multifaceted social, economic, technological and cultural transformations.
Ongoing research
The image of a building under construction is a powerful stimulus for the imagination of any observer. The visual potential of the transitory stages of the construction process was immediately recognized by photographers, engineers and architects. The birth and development of photography coincided with the very important debates about construction methods when important public works and infrastructure operations were carried out. The camera became a fundamental tool for engineering and architecture: a hallmark of modernity. Photography of the building under construction became a genre in itself in the mid-19th century. Engineers incorporated the camera into their field work and to disseminate all phases of the construction of the great public works of the 19th century: cartographic surveys and geographical demarcation, progress of bridges, roads, canals or mechanical experiments. Architects and their clients also saw the advantage of recording construction processes. Local or national governments commissioned the preparation of catalogues and albums of monuments. However, compared to engineers, architects, even making use of the record of the construction process of their proposals, prefer to disseminate the photograph of the finished work. Their usual destination is the private archive; they are often overlooked in explanations of architecture. The project aims to locate, compile and present in a public and understandable manner the photographic documents that show architecture in works between the years 1922 and 1992 in the city of Barcelona. The goal is to gain a deeper understanding of buildings by revealing the hidden structures that underpin their visible form, sometimes defying the logic of appearance. In this way, better understand the relationship between the technical conception and the aesthetic conception of the building. This is framed in the national and international context.
Title: Form study of the intermediate states of the building. The image of construction works. Barcelona. 1922-1992. Scientific coordinator: Gaston, C.. Period: 1/9/2024 - 1/9/2027. Duration: 03 years. Scope: National. Institution in which the research was undertaken. Department of Architectural Design. Funding body: Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades (MICIU) and European Union. Code PID2023-149552NB-I00.
Equipo investigador: Cristina Gastón Guirao (IP), Luis Martínez-Santamaría,
Félix Solaguren-Beascoa, Jaime Ferrer, LluIs Ángel Domínguez, Pedro Leao Neto
Isabel Segura Soriano, Martí Llorens, Fernanda Aguirre, María Fernanda Jaua, Andrea Parga.
Doctorando/as : Oriol Ferrer Frau, Judit Taberna, Gabriela Naranjo, Sol Diéguez.
Previous research
Gathering and disseminating the material from the photographic archives of modern architecture of the 20th century at this time will serve to improve and facilitate the understanding of the built heritage and to open channels for the training and acquisition of new skills in relation to the visual understanding that must accompany and illuminate the design of our buildings and cities from now on. The projection of the future of our natural and urban environments has to do more than ever with the capacity for visual discernment.
The aim is to expose the intersections and relationships between photographers, architects, the geographical environments of each, the urban relations of the buildings according to their location, the points of view and the frames that recorded the projects at the time, and its presence today.
Featuring the urban landscapes of modernity in Latin American, avoiding seeing buildings as isolated facts. Through the compilation and selection of the graphic material associated with each location, at the same time as the architecture is discovered, the legacy of a good number of photographers that historiography has relegated so far is revealed. A documentary provision that reveals unpublished perspectives on this architecture and on the imaginary that records it.
The photographic record of modern architecture is understood as a visual heritage.
ATLAS INTERACTIVO Registro visual de arquitectura urbana. América Latina 1940-197
Since autumn 2017 the digital platform entitled: Interactive Atlas has been active
Visual record of urban architecture. Latin America 1940-1970. This platform is the result of the previous project entitled: "Architecture, photography and the city: geolocation and comparative study of the photographic records of modern architecture." HAR2016-76583-R. Ministry of Science and Innovation. IP: Cristina Gastón Guirao. Other entities: University of Zaragoza, Polytechnic University of Madrid. It has been qualified “very satisfactory” by the AEI (Research State Agency) final report (October 2021).
Five International Architecture and Photography Seminars (SIAF) have been completed in Barcelona and Madrid in which the project researchers have participated and for which there have been important external collaborations from professionals and institutions. The collection of books has also been completed.
Collection of five seminars -49 items-. https://upcommons.upc.edu/handle/2117/96821
Collection of books -4 items- https://upcommons.upc.edu/handle/2117/110171
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