The role of residential fabric in the configuration of the city in Spain in the 1940s and 1950s. The case of Jaca

Abstract

[EN] The housing problem was one of the fundamental concerns of the new State that emerged after the Civil War in Spain. Different official bodies were created to this end, facing the need for reconstruction of different cities and villages and the dwelling shortage. During the 1940s and 1950s there was a progressive shift of interest from rural housing to urban housing. A series of residential projects of different nature were developed in towns and cities, modifying their urban configuration. The objective of this work is to study different public housing projects carried out during the 1940s and 1950s in the city of Jaca by Lorenzo Monclús, municipal architect of the city, regional delegate of the National Housing Institute and urban planning technician. On the one hand, the study focuses on the theoretical models and international references on which they are based, the building types, the architectural language, and the design of the urban space. On the other hand, on the adaptability of these models to the existing city structure and its planning: a 1917 extension project according to nineteenth century models, carried out after the demolition of the city walls, and revised on successive occasions during the studied period. This analysis of a local experience is part of a wider debate: that of the urban culture in Spain during the postwar period. Despite all the limitations, modern functionalist urbanism was assimilated through public housing projects and urban extensions with open edification in smaller settlements, with techniques akin to those used in larger cities throughout the country.