The relevance of harmonising the technical level of social housing with the urban level of the neighbourhood through the example of the 500 dwellings in Albacete

The Architecture and Household Trade Union built nearly 2,000 subsidized dwellings in Albacete from 1941 to 1971. It was the responsible entity from the end of the Civil War until the beginning of Democracy of the social policy programs in Spain. Later on, and together with the National Housing Institute, were responsible for the construction activity. Its limited budget, scarcity of technical and human resources and an urgent need for new housing developments, constituted the basis for producing a vast housing market of low construction qualities. However, thanks to the true architectonic expertise of some of the professionals, some of the developments were designed with a clear urban strategy and in direct relation with the city, which characterizes them to be studied and conserved. This is the case for the selected development for the analysis, the urban complex of the 500 dwellings in Albacete, the Hermanos Falcó Neighborhood. Designed and built between 1963, Alfonso Crespo and Adolfo Gil architects, and 1977 second reformed project by the architect Fernando Rodríguez. It is characterized by its layout on the territory, its controlled relation with the city and its different types of open blocks. Above all, its spatial and human scale strengths, directly related to the European post-war proposals, have to be emphasized; although its technical deficiencies affect the interior quality of the houses. This paper examines its virtues and failures and proposes, using current tools, its renovation. This proposal main aims are to extend its lifetime and develop the particular and urban sustainability levels.

Visions of the Spanish Revolution: identities and conflicts in post-welfare societies

This is a case study that analyzes photographic documents of the social protest in Spain between 2011 and 2013. The analysis is qualitative and considers the use of space, the visual expression of the messages and the orientation toward the causes or effects of political, economic and social changes. Visual sociology allows us to appreciate, in the case of the Spanish Revolution, a dynamic of “reflexivity” unrecognizable from other research approaches. Two successive waves of social mobilization in response to two different shocks can be appreciated. The first is given by political corruption, unemployment and the threat to consumer society. The second shock is caused by the savage cuts in the Welfare State. Social mobilization is expressed differently in each phase, and the forms taken by the protests show how the class structure in post industrial society shapes the reactions to the crisis of the Welfare State.