JournalofSpanishCulturalStudies,Vol.2,No.

2,2001

Urbanism, culture and the post-industrial city: challenging the

Barcelonamodel*
MARIPAZBALIBREA
In1999,precedenthasbeenbrokentoawardtheRoyalGoldMedaltoa
city:to Barcelona, its government, its citizens and design professionals
ofallsorts.Inspiredcityleadership,pursuinganambitiousyetpragmatic
urban strategy and the highest design standards, has transformed the
citys public realm, immensely expanded its amenities and regenerated
itseconomy,providingprideinitsinhabitantsanddelightinitsvisitors.
[] Probably nowhere else in the world are there so many recent
examples, in large cities and small towns, of a benign and appropriate
1
attitudetowardscreatingacivicsettingforthenextcentury.
The above quotation comes from a press release by the prestigious Royal
InstituteofBritishArchitects(RIBA)upontheawardoftheirGoldMedaltothe
cityofBarcelonain1999.Thistextisparadigmaticofthedominantperceptionof
thecityasseenfromabroad:astylishandexcitingmetropolis,theperfectcivic
sitefortheurbancommunitiesofthetwenty-firstcentury.TheBarcelonamodel
hasgainedofficialapprovalandisbeingcopiedonaninternationalscale.Stillin
aBritishcontext,itiswell-knownthatBarcelonaisconsideredtobeaprivileged
urban reference point by Tony Blairs cabinet. In 1999, the Urban Task Force
createdbytheLabourgovernmentand led by Lord RichardRogers produced a
plan for the regeneration of ten UK cities based upon the urban programme of
Barcelona.TheObserversummarizedtheaimoftheprojectasfollows:Eachof
the target cities will be encouraged to sell themselves as exciting and stylish
placestoliveandwork,mirroringthesuccessoftheCatalanurbanregeneration.
2
(WintourandThorpe1999).
Theviewfrominsideisnotmuchdifferent.WhilstintherestofSpainsocial
democracy has been showered with criticisms as a result of the corruption and
speculationcondonedandfostered duringtheSocialistPartys periodin office,
resultingintheirbeingoustedfromgovernmentin1996,themajorityofpeople
in Barcelona remain satisfied with the way the local Socialist government has
managedthings,particularlywithrespecttoitsurbanandarchitecturalprojects,
andcontinuetovotefortheminlocalelections.Despitetheeconomicrecession
that followed the 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona has continued to enjoy an
uninterruptedheydayofnationalandinternationalprestige,aswellaspractically
unanimous consensus with regard to the quality and beauty of its urban
developments and the habitability of a city seen as both Mediterranean and
human.
Of course, the absence of any notable dissent among the citys people has
1463-6204 print/1469-9818 online/01/020187-24 2001Taylor&FrancisLtd
DOI:10.1080/1463620012008517 4

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been brandished as irrefutable proof of the virtue of the urban changes which
have been implemented (RIBAs opinion is just one of many examples). For
others, however, this consensus is a sign of la interiorizacin entre los
ciudadanos de unos criterios que coinciden con los intereses de los poderes
econmicosdominantesandtheythereforeconsiderittobeunodelosaspectos
ms graves de los procesos polticos y sociales de los ltimos tiempos
(Etxezarretaetal.1996:289).Fromanideologicalpointofview,theproduction
ofconsensusistheprincipalmeansoflegitimizingdominationandofco-opting
potentially critical citizens (Ripalda 1999: 30; Esquirol 1998: 113-30). Any
hegemonic ideology will seek to devise for its interpellated subjects a
representationofrealitythat,whilefavouringitsowninterests,canatthesame
timebepresentedastheonlytruthaboutthatreality.Thisarticlecorrespondingly
assumes that the popular consensus on Barcelona needs to be regarded with
scepticism and vigilance, particularly in view of increasing social polarization,
thegrowthofaperipheralpopulationwhichhasseenitsqualityoflifedeteriorate
sincethe1980s,andthemassivespeculationaccompanyingtherestructuringof
thecity(Roca1994).InwhatfollowsIwillanalysetheurbanchangesthat,since
the early 1980s, have produced the seductive Barcelona of the 1990s. I will
additionallydefinesomeofthemajormechanismsthroughwhichtheperception
ofthesechangeshasbeenhegemonicallyconstructed,payingparticularattention
totheroleplayedbyculture. Myaimis toexposetheideologicaland political
underpinningssustainingthisconsensus.
Thecityasideologicaltext
As soon as we think of urban spaces as texts, and therefore as vehicles of
3
ideology, thenurbanismandtheproductionofconsensusbecomeinterconnected
processes. Urban and architectonic development programmes constitute
privilegedsiteswithinwhichideologicalinterpellationtakesplace.Togiveshape
tothecollectivespherethroughaurbanregenerationprojectistosemanticize(or
resemanticize) the former; like every signification process, this is intensely
ideological (Ramrez 1992: 173-82). It becomes crucial to know what is being
built in the city and how the newly built spaces are endowed with hegemonic
meaning,inordertounderstandhowindividualsandcollectivesareideologically
interpellatedascitizens.AsGeorgSimmelarguedlongago:Theproductionof
spatio-temporalitiesisbothaconstitutiveandfundamentalmomenttothesocial
processingeneralaswellasfundamentaltotheestablishmentofvalues(quoted
inHarvey1996:246).FredricJamesonspecifies:
thebuildinginterpellatesmeitproposesanidentityforme,anidentity
that can make me uncomfortable or on the contrary obscenely
complacent, that can push me into revolt or acceptance of my
antisociality and criminality or on the other hand into subalternity and
humility,intotheobedienceofaservantoralower-classcitizen.More
thanthat,itinterpellatesmybodyorinterpellatesmebywayofthebody
[...].(1997:129)

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189

Assoonastheycomeintobeing,buildingsandurbanspacessignify.Firstofall,
because they change the structure of perception within the everyday urban
experience of citizens. Let us take, for example, the recent opening of new
avenues and arteries in Barcelona, such as the Rambla del Raval, the Carrer
MarinaandtheextensionoftheAvingudaDiagonalandCarrerAragtothesea.
In the Casc Antic, the longitudinal demolition of entire blocks of houses was
necessarytomakeroomfortheRambladelRaval;inthenorth-easternareasof
PobleNouandBesPs,whichhavebeencompletelyredevelopedandrestructured,
the changes have followed the closing down of local industries and the
revaluation of the land they once occupied. Such spatial changes can generate
positive effects for the citizen, such as a new sense of cleanliness and
rationalizationproducingprideandsatisfactionwiththecurrentconfigurationof
thecity;ornegativeeffectssuchasasenseofalienationanddisplacementatthe
lossoftheoriginalhabitat(Terdiman1993:106-47;Benjamin1973).Theresult
willdependonthecitizenspreviousrelationshiptothenowtransformedspaces
andonthematerialandsymbolicconditionsunderwhichshehasexperiencedthe
change, and will also be conditioned by the degree of persuasiveness of the
differentdiscoursescirculatingandgivingmeaningtothechanges.Inthecaseof
Barcelona, these discourses have overwhelmingly, almost monolithically, been
favourabletotheurbanchangesimplementedinthecity.
Citizensarenot the onlytargetsinterpellatedin the process of resignifying
thecity.Inaccordancewiththelogicofthetouristindustryasweshallsee,a
fundamental feature of the citys current economy the entire city turnsinto a
lucrative,luxury,funcommoditythatcanberapidlyconsumedbythetourist,a
leisurespacecommodifiedrepeatedlyinthepurchaseofaplaneticket,abookon
Gaud, tickets for the opera at the Liceu or for a concert at the Palau de la
Msica,thebookingofahotelroomorrestauranttable.Ineachandeveryoneof
theseactivities,allofthemmarkedbyaneconomictransaction,thehypothetical
touristbuysthecityandconstructsaprivateimaginaryofit:onethat,toagreat
extent,ispreviouslymanufacturedforherbymultiplelocalandglobalpractices
andinterests.Even(orespecially)inthecaseofthoseactivitiesnotinvolvingan
immediate act of consumption for example, the following of recommended
touristroutessuchaslarutadelModernismethesemanticsandhermeneutics
ofspacehavebeenconstructedfortheforeignviewer,andthisconstructionhas
necessitated a previous political and economic intervention in the form of the
restoration, face-lifting and rehabilitation of buildings, the equipment and
staffing of venues, the production of targeted bibliographies, etc. Dean
MacCannellarguesthatthetherapeuticqualityofthetouristtripstemsfromthe
touristsdesiretocreateatotalityoutofthevisitedspace,onethatsavesherfrom
theeverydayfragmented reality surroundingher inthe modern world (1976: 7,
13, 15). Such a totality can be obtained in an alien environment because the
touristcanreducethisnewrealitytoaverylimitednumberofexperiences,and
itspasttoafewvisitstomuseums.Barcelonaasaleisureandtouristsiteneeds
constantly to produce a totalizing and coherent representation/meaning of the
city,onethatiseasyandpleasanttoconsumeforthiskindofvisitor.

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Notunrelatedtothislogicofresignification,sometimestheconstructionofa
new space responds to an urban reconfiguration in need of new privileged
signifiersthatcanbeusedtorepresentthecitysynecdochically.Thisisthecase
indemocraticBarcelonawithrespecttoarchitecturalandurbanprojectssuchas
theFosterCommunicationToweronMountTibidaboorthePortOlmpicwhere
anewleisureareaislocated.Duetothesocialfunctionperformedbythesenew
spaces and artefacts, they become the signifiers best suited to symbolize or
synthesizethecurrentdominantmeaningofthecityasaMediterraneancentrefor
leisure,communicationsandhigh-techindustry(Iwillreturntothispointlater).
Today, these sites figure on all tourist routes and their icons appear on every
tourist map as well as on every visual representation of Barcelona financed by
theCityCouncil,forinstanceintheparadigmaticworkofJavierMariscal.
The prominence acquired by these new signifiers in recent years works
againstthesymbolicstatuspreviouslyenjoyedbyotherurbanandarchitectonic
spacesinthecity,notablythosewhichalludetoitsindustrialpast.Mostofthe
landthathasbeenturnedintoservice,leisureorresidentialareassincethe1980s
istheresultoftherevaluationofoldindustriallandandthedemolitionoftheold
factory buildings previously occupying it. As these disappear en masse, some
have been salvaged and refunctionalized in their entirety often as cultural,
sometimesasresidentialspaceswhilede-semanticizedfragmentsofothershave
been preserved as monuments: for example, the chimneys in the Poble Nou
district(oldtextilefactory)ortheParal.leldistrict(formerpowerstation).These
fragments not only lose any practical function, but in their new location their
socially symbolic potential is also reduced. In theory, such fragments for
example, a chimney formerly used to extract fumes have the potential to
becomesymbolsofbygonesocio-economicactivity,anallusiontothecityspast.
Ordothey?Thesenowmonumentalizedobjectsundoubtedlyrefertothepast,
but their spatial recontextualization disconnects them from the local history in
which they originated. Isolated in the middle of areas now reconverted into
shopping malls, new residential complexes for the middle classes, or luxury
officesforbusinessexecutives,theycanonlybeflatandmutecitations,unableto
conveyasenseoftheirownhistoricitytothoseignorantoflocalhistory.Indeed,
their disposition in space conceals the complexity of an industrial past
characterizedbysocialstrugglesandhumanrelationshipsthatwerelivedouton
that spot, replacing it with a new configuration of space which promises the
4
absenceofconflictsandequalitythroughconsumptionandthemarket. Muchthe
same could be argued in the case of those old industrial buildings
refunctionalized as cultural spaces. The potential allusion to the past that their
merepresenceinvokeshasbeenrestored,aestheticized,totheextentthattheend
productlosesits capacitytorefer toamemoryofcapitalistexploitation and of
therolethatthisexploitationhasplayedinthecityscurrentprosperity.
5
Undersuchconditions,thearchitecturalquotationofthepast paradoxically
promotes amnesia and an absence of reflection on history. This new
monumentality turns the object from the past into an empty shell, a liberated
signifier with a highly tenuous and malleable signified attached to it, whose

Urbanism,cultureandthepost-industrialcity

191

quasi-floating character can be easily appropriated both to justify the local

governmentsinterestinkeepingthememoryofthecityaliveandtoserveasthe
logo of a shopping mall. Thus its re-signification is, at the same time, a desemantization.Those who favourthis de-semanticized conservation-productionresignificationparticipatein,andbenefitfrom,thepoliticsofhistoryimpliedby
theconditionsofpossibilityandexistenceofsuchobjectsfromthepast.
Finally,thereisalsoapoliticalorideologicaldimensiontoaestheticsthatis
relevant to the urban text. Architecture and urbanism are applied arts
implementedonlywhenandifthere issufficientcapitalto financetheprojects
and sufficient political power to back them. Urban speculation, via the largescale real-estate business, is a classic phenomenon in the history of local
corruption sustaining every urban development process. But the production of
formandbeautytheterrainoftheaestheticisalsoanintrinsiccomponentof
these disciplines as well. The presence of a mutual tension and interchange
betweenaestheticandpolitico-economicconsiderationscanneverbeavoidedin
thefieldsofurbanismandarchitecture.WhatispeculiartodemocraticBarcelona
with respect to this tension is the resignifying of space, which has in turn
produced an intensification of the aesthetic component. One example comes
immediately to mind: between 1986 and 1999 the city council spent 6,923
million pesetas on its campaign Barcelona posat guapa, intended to promote
andsubsidizetheface-liftingofkeybuildingslocatedaroundthecity.According
toex-MayorPasqualMaragall,theembellishmentprogrammepromotedthrough
theBarcelonaposatguapacampaignconsolidalapercepcindelciudadanodel
paisaje pblico como bien comn y pblico, contribuye a la mejora del
patrimoniocolectivoy aumenta la comodidad,tranquilidad y sociabilidad en la
ciudad (Ajuntament 1992: 6). It should also be added that this campaign has
massively benefited the modernist architectural patrimony of the city, mostly
locatedintheEixampledistrict(Ajuntament1992:1996).Itisnot coincidental
thatthismodernistheritage,dominatedbytheworkofAntoniGaud,hasbecome
oneofthepillarsofthecitystouristicculturalprovisionand,moregenerally,of
its constructed image and personality. The proliferation of similar restorations,
together with a policy of awarding the category of listed building to some of
theserestoredproperties(whichmeansthattheyareconsideredpartofthecitys
that is, part of a public patrimony), has become an enormously successful
politicalstrategy,whichbrilliantlyexploitstheonecommunal,collectiveaspect
ofmostofthesebuildings:thefactthattheirfacadescanbeseenfromthepublic
spaceofthestreet.
TheentireprocessofurbantransformationinBarcelonahasbeencarriedout
underthetechnicalsupervisionofagroupofnotablearchitectsandurbanists.To
understand the quality and attractiveness of many of the urban projects that
nowadays constitute Barcelonas urban space one has to take into account this
groups achievements in the pre-Olympic period. But the exceptional media
attention that the group has attracted is also a crucial factor in explaining why
this quality and attractiveness have become a universal focus of attention,
popularizingthedictumthatBarcelonaisthecityofarchitects (Moix 1994a).

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The quantity and quality of the work of these professionals has aroused much
admiration for the city, to the point of becoming the only, or at least the
privileged,elementbywhichitisjudgedandthus a decisivecomponentofthe
citysseductiveappeal.Untilthemid1990s,therehabilitationandface-liftingof
entirekeyareascreated new urban spaces andcultural facilities,manyofthem
public,whichwithoutfailincludeanarchitecturalprojectbyanamedarchitect.
The presence, and convenient marketing, of work in the city by Foster, Meier,
Viaplana, Calatrava, Isozaki, Moneo, Miralles et al. intensifies the aesthetic
significationoftheseprojects, turning them, by the sametoken,into privileged
signifiersofwhatIhavepreviouslydefinedasadesignercity.
The constant tributes paid to the citys beauty have helped to distract the
attention of visitors and citizens alike from other fundamental, much less
satisfactory, issues: employment, housing, public transport, or even the
questioning of the same urban projects whose aesthetic value is so intensely
praised. One could say, provocatively drawing on Walter Benjamins famous
dictum(1969:217-51),thatthemoreaestheticsispoliticallyusedinBarcelona,
the more politics is itself aestheticized, so that political consensus and the
obedienceofthemassesareachievedbycontinuallyproducingforthemwhatis
perceivedasaestheticorartisticgratification.Itisclear,then,thatthecityisan
ideologicaltext.Letusmovenowtoamoresystematicanalysisofhowthistext
hasbeen(re)writteninkeymodes,howitsformshavebeenfilledwithmeaning,
andhowspatialchangeshavehelpedtoshapeapoliticalideologyindemocratic
Barcelona.
Culture,urbanismandtheproductionofideology
Inmyopinion,themostremarkablephenomenonintheprocessofurbanchange
thatis,inthemajortransformationsundergonebyBarcelonasurbanfabric/text
istheextraordinarybroadeningofthematerialandsymbolicterrainoccupied
by culture. The most important changes affecting the social body and the
economy have been justified in the name of culture, which becomes their
structuralaxis.Byinvokingculture,theideologicalcontinuityoftheconsensus
withregardtothecityhasbeenmadepossible.Theconnectionbetweenculture
andurbanismisestablishedthroughthelatterscapacitytocreatepublicspace:a
6
public space rhetorically defined as open to all, and therefore as a place of
encounter and of the production of collective culture. The new urbanism in
Barcelona, at least up until the first half of the 1990s, is characterized by the
enormous proliferation of cultural spaces (that is, spaces that house Culture
withacapitalC)andpublicspacesofgreatimpactandvisibility:squaresand
monuments came first, then museums, theatres, sports complexes, avenues,
promenades. The beginning of this trend dates back to the period of the
Transicin(Gom1997;Etxezaretaetal.1996;Bohigas1985)duringtheoffice
ofSocialistMayorNarcsSerraandPasqualMaragallafterhim;Ishallreferto
this in more detail below. The discourse on the need to monumentalize and
rehabilitatethecitysoastoserveitscitizens,creatingspacesofidentificationfor
the community, and the pressure exercised on political leaders by important

Urbanism,cultureandthepost-industrialcity

193

grassroots residents movementsinorder tomakethingsmove inthis direction

areparadigmatictrendsofthisperiod.AsOriolBohigas,theheadoftheSocialist
City Councils urban planning department, famously put it, the task was to
monumentalizar the outskirts, donant-[lis] els valors significatius de la
col.lectivitat,andtorestorethehistoriccentrereversingtheprocessofdeclineit
hadsuffered,thushelpingtomillorarlaconscinciacol.lectiva(Bohigas1985:
20). The aim of this urban policy was to produce a greater uniformity in the
city in the sense that the residents cultural capital and collective memory
would be recognized within each neighbourhood. The homogenization which
Bohigasaimedtoachievebyinterveningin the mostsocially deprivedareas of
the city was, in reality, an attempt to bridge glaring inequalities and to foster
social reconciliation by allocating cultural and symbolic capital in the form of
(among other things) monuments and public spaces of socialization and
7
memory.
Thecontinuitiesandrupturesinthediscourseandimplementationofurban
transformation in Barcelona throughout the democratic period must be
understood, at least partially, in relation to this earlier stage. The major urban
projectsthatwouldfromthemid1980scharacterizeBarcelonasurbanismwere
largely justified through a rhetoric which promoted construction as a public
servicedesignedtobenefittheeverydayintercourseofcitizens,includingthose
mostdisenfranchised.Thelogicandpoliticsbehindtheseearlierprojectswould
get lost from view with the exponential escalation, in terms of quantity and
quality, of the urban projects that followed. What triggered the change? The
extentofthesocialandeconomictransformationsundergonebythecitywerea
result of the economic restructuring of the entire Spanish state that was being
effectedfromthe1970s onwards.InthecaseofBarcelona,thetransformations
basicallyconsistedinthedismantlingofallmanufacturingindustry,whichturned
Barcelonaintoyetanotherexampleofwhathasbeengloballycometobeknown
asapost-industrialcity.Underthesecircumstances,itbecameimperativetolook
forawaytomakethelocaleconomysustainable.Thissignalledthebeginningof
8
ashiftinthecityseconomytowardscleancultureandtechnologyindustries: a
local manifestation of a world-wide process in a global economy where
information and entertainment become the driving forces, necessitating the
proliferationofsportsinfrastructuresand largecommercialandculturalcentres
(Cohen 1998: 110; Harvey 1996: 246; Smith 1996). For those with major
economicinterestsinthecity,theurbantransformationrequiredbytheprojects
formonumentalizingtheoutskirtsandforregeneratingthehistoriccentrecameat
justtherighttime,allowingtheeconomicrecessiontobetackled.Itwasafirst
steptowardsthereconfigurationofthecityandthesameeconomicsectorswould
exercisepressureinordertomakethetransformationsmoreandmoredramatic
(Etxezarreta et al. 1996; Gom 1997). The pressure exercised by big financial
groups over local governments or, eventually, the alliance of both translated
materiallyintothepromotionofamixedeconomyasthemainwayoffinancing
public urban redevelopment. Politicians presented this as the domestication of
capitalthroughitsharnessingtotheprioritiesofthewelfarestate(Bohigas1985:

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63), or simply as an inevitable requirement in order to finance the public

9
spending necessary to transform the city. From the point of view of private
interests this was a very beneficial, if not indispensable, alliance. The creation
and improvement of the citys urban facilities and spaces would allow the recapitalizationoftheirindustrialland,devaluedaftertheeconomicrecessionand
now very lucratively revalued and recycled; and would help to promote the
cultural,technologicalandentertainmentindustriesthatweretobecomethecore
oftheneweconomy(Harvey1989:260).PasqualMaragall expressedthis very
clearly in 1991: en la competitivitat entre ciutats hi compten tamb, cada cop
ms,factorscomelmediambienti lesinfrastructureseducativesi culturals.En
sentitestratgicpodremdirquelesciutatssncomempresesquecompeteixen
peratreureinversionsiresidents,venentacanvilocalitzacionsavantatjosespera
la indstria, el comer i tota mena de serveis(1991: 99). The single most
instrumentaleventtriggering,encouragingandjustifyingallofthesenecessary
changes was the nomination of Barcelona as a candidate to host the Olympic
10
Games.Iwillcomebacktothis.
At this precise historical conjuncture the beginning of the 1980s the
interestsofgrassrootsresidentsmovementscoincidedwiththoseofbusinessand
financial groups and those of local government. All of them, for different
reasons,wereinneedofmorepublicspaceandimprovementstothequalityof
11
urbanlife. Butthehugespatialredefinitionsthatweretobeimplementedinthe
cityendedupnegatingtheoriginalplanningprinciples.Thesmallscale,detailed
urbanprojectsintendedtorespectandbringdirectbenefittothemostdepressed
neighbourhoods and their inhabitants had very little in common with the huge
structural transformations required to implement projects such as those of the
Vila Olmpica, Poble Nou, Diagonal Mar or Sant Andreu/Sagrera, all of them
built in what had previously been industrial and/or working-class areas. Even
though the majority of these zonas de nueva centralidad (Ajuntament 1991),
labelled as priority targets for urban development, were located in very rundown, marginal zones, the new developments were not aimed at benefiting the
existing local population. The extremely lucrative revaluation of the old
industrial areas located next to marginal, working-class neighbourhoods
wheremostofthenewcultural,sports,entertainment,commercialandresidential
facilities were builtwould end up producing precisely what the urbanplanning
12
policy of Oriol Bohigas had wanted to avoid: the dislocation of the original
neighbourhoods. The proliferation of big shopping malls has accelerated the
destruction of the social fabric of small local businesses (Grup de Estudis
TerritorialsiUrbans1999)andimpoverishedthequalityandquantityofpublic
spaces,infavour of pseudo-public (but infactrestricted and private)consumer
locales.Manyinhabitantsoftheseneighbourhoodsortheirchildrenhavedefacto
been expelled from their historic communities, unable to afford the escalating
pricesofnewresidencesintheirnowimprovedareas,orforcedoutofbuildings
13
expropriated for demolition. By working ideologically as a rhetorical
instrument for generating consensus and consent on the part of the population,

Urbanism,cultureandthepost-industrialcity

195

the process of monumentalizing the outskirts and of improving public spaces

around the city has, paradoxically, facilitated the transition to a situation of
progressivegentrification,privatization,andmoreandmorerestrictedaccessto
publicspaces.
In this new situation, we are witnessing the progressive erosion of the
meaningofthetermpublicand,withit,aredefinitionofthespaceoccupiedby
culture. This is so, not only because culture is more and more radically
commodified and dependent on private producers deciding who has access to
their also private spaces of consumption (Rifkin 2000). Culture is also
redefined because those representing the public interest local government
nowunderstandcultureasakeyindustryforthelocaleconomy,andnotjustas
the symbolic realm where ideology is produced or as the realm of aesthetics.
AccordingtoPepSubirPs,HeadoftheOlimpiadaCulturalandalsothenDirector
oftheCentredeCulturaContempornia(CCCB):
En la irreversible configuraci de les grans ciutats com a centres de
serveis,laculturahijugaunpaperfonamental.Inoestractanoms de
tenir una bona oferta, una cartellera i uns museus de prestigi per al
consum interior o turstic; es tracta, tamb i potser sobretot, de tenir
permanentment la capacitat de rebre, de reciclar i dexportar idees,
sensibilitats, projectes que millorin la qualitat interna de la vida i que
qualifiquin la ciutat en la concurrncia internacional. I no hi ha ciutat
amb una vida cultural rica que no tingui unes estructures i uns
equipaments culturals consolidats en lmbit de la creaci
contempornia.(1989:6)
According to this interpretation, culture idees, sensibilitats, projectes is a
commoditythatneedstobeproducedinacompetitivemarket,forwhichpurpose
certain means of production estructures i equipaments culturals are also
necessary.PasqualMaragallhimselfpublishedRefentBarcelonain1986:akey
book for understanding his governments political vision as well as its specific
objectiveoftransformingBarcelonaseconomybygearingittowardsthetourist,
technology and culture industries. The then Mayor of Barcelona states that
BarcelonahasthecapacitytobecomethenortherncapitaloftheEuropeansouth
14
capital nord del sud europeu given its economic strength and its very
attractive,Mediterraneanartdeviure:ApartirdelarealitatcomunadePasos
Catalans,calanarmsenllenladireccidelNorddelSudeuropeuimossegar
en el mercat mundial de la cultura, turisme, inversions econPmiques, etc. Les
possibilitatssngrandssimes(1988:95).
Thisincorporationofcultureintotheeconomicrealmbecomesanevenmore
complex issue when considered alongside that of Catalan nationalismat a time
whentheSpanishstatewasdemocratizingandstartingtorecognizetherightsof
thehistoricnationalitiescomprisingit.Withinthispropitiousclimate,Barcelona
hasbeenabletoconsolidateitself,politicallyandsymbolically,asthecapitalofa
Catalannationwithoutastate,inaccordancewithallmodernWesternnationalist
projects. Cultural facilities those housing Culture with a capital C have

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played a key role here. The conception of the Museu Nacional dArt de
Catalunya,thereconstructionandextensionoftheLiceu,thebuildingofaTeatre
NacionaldeCatalunya,ofanewArxiudelaCoronadArag,oroftheAuditori,
have been implemented by the autonomous and/or local governments as
ideological instruments in the construction of a nineteenth-century-style
nationalism.Morespecifically,thesecentreswereconceivedofasspaceswhich
wouldorganizeculturefromaboveandstockpiletheculturalcapitalofthelocal
elitewhile,atthesametime,educatingthemassesinappreciationofthiscultural
heritagessupposedpublicandcommunityvalue(Duncan1991).OtherSpanish
citiessuchasMadrid(CentrodeArteReinaSofa),Bilbao(MuseoGuggenheim)
andValencia(InstitutValencidArtModern)havehadapolicyofembodying
their state politics in one large cultural centre by a big-name architect, the
containerbeingasimportantasitscontents.Barcelona,however,haschosento
disseminate the politico-symbolic meaning projected by its cultural space in
multiplearchitecturalprojects.Ofcourse,asintheothercitiesmentionedthe
GuggenheiminBilbaoisperhapsthemostobviousexamplethesecentres,apart
fromconsolidatingthenationssymboliccapital,areintegralpartsoftheareas
tourist appeal (Walsh 1995) andfunction as spaces where the national heritage
can be consumed. They are, as Neil Harris (1990) provocatively calls them,
departmentstoresofculture.
This superposition of modern nationalism onto a post-industrial economy
and a postmodern cultural logic does not always produce the harmonious
convergence of interests we have mentioned above. While Catalan nationalist
discourse has supported every space which symbolized the intensification of
nationalidentityandcollectivememoryinaglobalcontextinwhichthenationstate is being weakened and questioned, not all urban projects in the city have
served to consolidate that particular nationalism. The long-standing rivalry
betweenthelocalSocialistgovernmentofBarcelona(PSC)andtheautonomous
Catalan nationalist government (CiU) over who has most successfully
appropriatedthemeaningofBarcelona,andtheirdisputesovertheawardingof
culturalfundingandprizes,exemplifytwodifferentresponsestonationalismin
postmodernity.IhavereferredearliertotheSocialistMayorPasqualMaragalls
projected definition of Barcelona as the capital del Nord del Sud europeu.
WithinthesameparagraphhewarnsagainstthedangerofBarcelonabecoming
associated with European nationalities de menys entitat que Catalunya or
forming part of an internacional de nacionalitats oprimides. By articulating
these dangers, Maragall seemsto be dissociating himself from what might be
perceivedasaformofnationalistvictimizationoressentialism,makingclearthat
15
nationalist demands,eventhoughatsomepointsheinvokesCatalunyaandthe
PasosCatalansinhisframingofthequestion,arenottoppriorityinhispolitical
agenda. This is not at all surprising coming from the local leader of a Spanish
politicalparty,thePSOE;butitseemstomethathisanti-nationaliststancehere
doesnotobeyacentralistlogicconceivingofSpainasaunitywitharadialcentre
16
inMadrid. Rather,Iinterpretitasapositioningwithrespecttoanewhistorical
conjuncture in which the local urban unit is called upon to have a new

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197

prominence, one not necessarily subordinate to any national framework be it

CatalanorSpanishandthereforedetachedfromitssecular,politicalclaims.In
otherwords,Maragallisappealingtoalocal-urbanrhetoricthatmightbecalled
nationalist only to the extent that it promotes a discursive interpretation of
social, cultural and political practices as characteristic and reinforcing
constituentsofcollectiveidentity,whichdetermine whether socialconsensusis
reached or not. In this sense, the social-democratic local government has
promoted a nationalism for the city-nation with its own organization and
imaginary community, but one that ultimately aspires and this is the key
differentiating element with respect to earlier or current forms of local
17
patriotism to become part of a broader community of cities not marked or
limitedbystateand/ornationalborders.Whileitisnotclearfromourhistorical
perspectivethatthisformofimaginarycommunityandeconomicframeworkare
going to become dominant, we can certainly call it a response to a new
postmodern configuration of globalization in which, as the Royal Institute of
British Architects reminds us in the above-mentioned text: cities as much as
nationsareindirectcompetitionforjobsandinvestment.
Cultural facilities such as the Museu dArt Contemporani de Barcelona
(MACBA) or the Centre de Cultura Contempornia de Barcelona (CCCB),
regardless of their very different and contentious cultural politics, interpellate
community members as citizens of Barcelona, and not necessarily (though the
two are not incompatible) as Catalan or Spanish. The CCCB is financed
exclusively by the Diputaci and the Ajuntament de Barcelona, and not by the
Generalitat de Catalunya or the central government, and it receives a small
amountofprivatefunding.AccordingtoJosepRamoneda,theCentresDirector
since1989andveryclosetoPSCpoliticalpositions,theCCCBs unprojecte
presiditperunaidea.Iaquestaideaslaurbanitatcomaverdaderatradicidel
mnmodern(1989:4).Andelsewhere:Elconceptoquedefinenuestroperfiles
laciudad.Laciudadcomolugarenelquesedesarrollalamodernidad.Meparece
quehallegadoelmomentoindicadoparaunarevisincrticadelamodernidad,y
si esta revisin busca forma, la ciudad le ofrece una (Moix 1994b). The
connection made here by Ramoneda between modernity and the city is a very
familiarandwidelyacceptedone.Butitisatthesametimeawayofemphasizing
oneaspectofmodernitythatofservingasaframeworkforurbanizationtothe
detriment of another fundamental creature of modernity: nationalism and the
emergenceofthenation-state.Ramonedasemphasisfavoursaperceptionofthe
cityasaunitaryandindependentunit,ratherthanaspartofanotherentity,and
therefore underplays the notion of Barcelona as capital of the Catalan nation
without a state. In so doing, he is distancing himself and the Centres cultural
politicsandideologyfromanationalistposition.
Ontheotherhand,regardlessofhowmuchRamonedainsistsonremainingat
alltimeswithinamodernframeofreference,theCCCBprojectfitsanaltogether
differenthistoricalcontext.TogetherwiththeMACBA,theCCCBisakeyurban
project in the transformation of the city, located right in the centre of the
restoredCascAnticandheavilyimplicatedinthepost-industrialshifttowardsa

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serviceeconomyandgentrificationofthecitytowhichwehavereferredearlier.
Moreover, the fact that the CCCB is recognized to be an imitation of the
PompidouCentreintheMaraisdistrictofParistheBeaubourgofBarcelona
indicatesadesireonthepartoftheSocialistgovernmenttoimitatetheirParisian
counterparts, not only by converting the Centre into their cultural flagship, but
also by striving to make the Catalan city part of the tourist circuit of great
culturalcitiesculturalcapitalsofEurope.
The MACBA is another, albeit very different, case in point. Under the
directionofManuelBorja-Villel,itschiefCurator,ithasalsopractisedapolicy
of recognizing, assuming and defining its identity through its location in
Barcelona and not Catalunya or Spain but in a resistant and provocative
manner. Unlike the CCCB and its institutional policy of raising Barcelonas
statustothatofthegreatEuropeancities,theMACBAhaspromotedBarcelonas
peripheral, subordinate position in art circles as an opportunity to reflect upon
modern art and to rewrite its history and its present from the margins (Frisach
2000).Bethatasitmay,thespectacularRichardMeierbuildingwhichcontains
themuseumistheclosestthinginBarcelonatotheGuggenheimphenomenonin
Bilbao:aspaceconceivedasatouristattractioninitself.
We cannot finish this section without mentioning the event that has been
most instrumental in manufacturing consensus between the different, opposing
conceptualizations and uses of culture and public space analysed so far: the
Olympic Games. Barcelonas Olympic fever understood as the citys
collective pride at having been chosen to host the Olympic Games had been
brewingsincethe citys selectionfor thisrolein October 1986,and toalesser
extent since its nomination as a candidate in 1983. A sporting, cultural and
ideological event all in one, the Games succeeded totally in generating local
patriotismandconsensus,aswellasinintroducingthecitytotheworldatlarge.
The Games were construed as a project by all and for all, an event in which
everybodycouldparticipateandfromwhicheveryonewouldbenefitintheform
of municipal self-esteem. Their planning and implementation constitute the
crucialperiodforsecuringthecityseconomicfutureand,asstatedearlier,mark
aqualitativeshifttowardsmajorurbanrestructuringprojects.Onanideological
level,theOlympicssuturedthegapthatseparatedtheminimalisturbanpolicyof
the first social-democratic government from the maximalist, populist policy of
Maragall and his team. Invoking the Olympic games as a pretext, streets were
widened, ringroads were built, hotels went up, cultural and sports facilities
proliferated.Thepretextwassoeffectivebecauseitappealedtolocalpatriotism:
that is, to a collective desire to rise to the occasion, especially important in a
country suffering from a historical inferiority complex. The Olympic Games
generated a civil fraternity, materially embodied and reinforced in every
architectural and urban project, which was perceived as required by the event.
Onceagain,thiswasnotauniquephenomenon.Inthepost-industrialcity,spaces
ofculturalandsportsconsumptionbecome,inthewordsofHarvey,symbolsof
the supposed unity of a class-divided and racially segregated city. Professional
sports activities and events like the Los Angeles Olympic Games perform a

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199

similar function in an otherwise fragmented urban society (1989: 271). More

thananyotherevent,theOlympicscontributedtotheconstructionofacollective
imaginary of democratic Barcelona for its citizens. Indeed, they made the
inhabitants of Barcelona into citizens and, for that reason, they constitute a
fundamental patriotic event that even produced its own foot-soldiers (Espada
1995: 138) in the form of voluntarios olmpicos that is, the citizens who
volunteeredtoparticipateinorganizingtheGamesinfrastructure.
TheendoftheGamesmeanttheendoftheirvastpotentialforpromotingthe
city. To replace them, another macro-project has since 1997 been proposed by
thelocalgovernment:thatofBarcelona2004:FPrumUniversaldelesCultures.
While the Olympic Games provided a great opportunity to redevelop and
restructurethecity,theFPrumisbeinginstrumentalizedtocontinuesuchatask,
through a project where the centrality of culture in an transnational context is
even more obvious. The event is supposed to span the period between the two
Catalanholidaysof23April(diadeSantJordi,Catalunyaspatronsaintandalso
theDayoftheBook,anobviousassociationwithculture)and24September(dia
de la Merc, the patron saint of Barcelona, and the day of the citys fiesta
mayor, a popular cultural event). In one of the official brochures, the FPrum
projectisdefinedasa:
convocatPriaatoteslesculturesdelmnperqufacinsentirlasevaveu,
en una gran Festa de la convivncia [...] intent de respondre al
desafiament que planteja la mundialitzaci de totes les activitats
humanes, des del protagonisme de la societat civil [...] per posar en
com tot allP que afavoreixi la solidaritat, els drets humans i un
18
desenvolupamentsostenible.
The use of terms such as dialogue, solidarity, human rights, civil society and
sustainabledevelopmentplayaprominentroleindefiningafashionablekindof
progressiverhetoric which is in fact contradicted and refuted by the increasing
19
inequalitiesthatthefacilitationofthisprojectisgeneratinginthecity. Theuse
of culture as an umbrella word or concept (FPrum Universal de les Cultures)
covering all the areas mentioned is significant in itself of the leading role and
totalizing meaning that culture is acquiring today. Joan Clos, current Socialist
MayorofBarcelona,defendsitspromotionasa thematic replacementin a new
context for the World Fairs and Universal Exhibitions characteristic of the
twentiethcentury:Lesfiresdelseglehanestatsupermercatsdelatecnologiaper
abadocsiconsumidors,perPperalseglequevevolemfPrumsparticipatiusones
debatinideesperlapau,lasostenibilitatilacultura(Altai2000:237).Whathas
not changed with respect to these modern events is their use by local
governments and financial interests as ways of promoting the city and as
occasions for restructuring and replanning it. In the case of the FPrum 2004
project,acivilized,humanistproposalfordialogueamongculturesonethatis
respectful of difference is needed to justify the urban redevelopment of the
BesPsestuaryareaoneofthemostdepressedneighbourhoodsbutalsooneof
the most coveted sites in the city with an estimated investment of 170,000

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million pesetas (Ricart y Aroca 1999; Cia 1999). Culture and urban
redevelopment,cultureandspatialrestructuringcontinue togohand inhandin
Barcelona,continuingtojustifyeachother.
Fromcriticalpostmodernitytotherecyclingofmodernity
So far, I have focused on a critical analysis of the urban and cultural
transformations defining Barcelona in the democratic period, paying particular
attention to the discontinuities and changes that, at the level of hegemonic
discourses,arepresentedasconsensualcontinuities.Mycontentionhasbeenthat
theprofoundspatialchangestakingplaceindemocraticBarcelonaobeythelogic
of a progressive post-industrial shift towards a service economy, a process
bringing with it the imposition of a certain postmodern hegemony. In the final
part of this article I will refer to the politico-philosophical implications of this
imposition, which I will also engage from the perspective of urban and spatial
considerations.
The period of the Spanish Transicin is discursively and hegemonically
constructedas,ontheonehand,abreakwiththeFrancoregimeandallformsof
politicsderivedfromorassociatedwithit,whicharerepudiatedasanti-modern;
and, on the other hand, as a continuation of the spirit and principles of civil
resistancetoFrancoism,whichinturnarepresentedasdirectlyinheritedfromthe
progressive,democraticmodernitydestroyedattheendoftheSpanishCivilWar
in 1939. This representation of history allows the new and not so new
hegemonic groups to present themselves as modern and democratic, in radical
oppositiontoareactionary,anti-modernFrancoism(Balibrea1999).Thisisvery
clear in the case of Barcelonas urbanism in the Transition period. The attacks
launchedbylocalurbanists,architectsandpoliticiansontheurbanprojectsofthe
20
porciolista periodweremadeinthenameofthenewdemocracyspositionof
enlightenedmodernity,andagainsttheunimaginativeobscurantismofporciolista
authoritarianism. Residents associations, urbanists and politicians formed
alliancesaimedatregeneratingorreconstructingacitythatwouldnowbeantiFrancoist in its social, aesthetic and political principles. And being antiFrancoist, they seemed to imply, it would necessarily become democratic and
progressive.
Iwishtoargue,however,thattheseattacksonporciolismowerealsoattacks
onmodernity.Thecriticismsofadictatorialstate,itscorrespondingarchitecture
andurbanism (tenementblocks and indiscriminate growth)implied at the same
timeanattackononespecificmodernvisionofreality:thatembodied,inoneof
itsmostdeplorableincarnations,byFrancoistporciolismo.Inotherwords,itwas
not from a position of re-found modernity that an anti-modern past was being
repudiated.Rather,itwasfrombeyondmodernity,frompostmodernityinoneof
its most progressive forms, that a perverse Spanish late modernity was being
rejected.
ToillustratemythesisaboutthepoliticalurbandiscoursesoftheTransition
period, I will use a paradigmatic text for definition of the spatial changes that
weretotakeplaceindemocraticBarcelona,ReconstruccideBarcelona(1985).

Urbanism,cultureandthepost-industrialcity

201

This book offers an urban, aesthetic, political and economic explanation of

Barcelonasreconstruction.Itsauthorwastheinfluentialarchitect,urbanistand
intellectual,OriolBohigas,whowouldplayamajorroleintheimplementationof
21
suchchanges. Bohigasstexttakestheformofacritiqueofmodernityoffered
fromtheprivilegedpositionofanintellectualfromtheperipherybutatthesame
time extremely well-informed, who charts the results of a short-sighted, selfinterested application of the principles of modernity at the service of a
speculativeeconomyinthethroesofexpansionandfast-trackdevelopment.The
books critique of the limitations and errors of modernity is, I wish to argue,
offeredfromapostmodernposition.
From the start of his book, Bohigas states that the operating principle of
porciolista urbanism is obsolete, because it is based on unlimited expansion
financedbyprivatecapital.Bycontrast,heproposesthereconstructionofwhat
isalready there,stimulatedandfinanced by public bodies. He equally rejects
the amendments to porciolista speculative urbanism defended by the Plan
22
GeneralMetropolitano(PMG), becausethislatter understands thecity com
ungransistemacoherentiracional,enelqualdominaunamenademetafsica
de la totalitat(1985: 14) but in reality implies un model ideal de
sistematitzacii,pertant,dutopiaregressiva(1985:14),unesdictaduresque
dissimulen amb les obres de gran abast i amb la inassequible totalitat les
mancances petites i quotidianes de la realitat (1985: 15). Although he
recognizes that this urbanism [ha aplicat de forma] ambigua i sovint errada
uns conceptes urbanstics que es varen inaugurar com a revolucionaris i
transformadors i, a la fi, shan mostrat reaccionaris i sense futur (1985: 22),
he mostly goes on to connect this totalizing vision of the city to the
dictatorship.Thisisimplicitinhisuseoftheexpressionutoparegresiva,and
quite explicit in his observation that: Cal recordar, daltra banda, a quina
classei aquinsestamentsafavorien aquellapolticade granssistemesi a qui
sacrificava la manca duna adequada atenci als problemes particulars dels
barris(1985:15).
ItishighlysignificantthatBohigassobjectofattackthroughouthisbookis
centrallyconstructedaroundtheconceptoftotality.Heusesthetermtotalityto
defineakindofurbanismwhich,besidesbeingpoliticallyanti-democratic,antipopular, anti-human and pro-big private business interests, is also presented as
un sistema global apriorsticament racionalitzat i aspticament coherent i
incontrovertible (1985: 30). By adding this extra component to his critical
definition, Bohigas merges his critique with the critique of totalizing
representations that is central to the postmodern rejection of modern metanarratives.
Indeed, Bohigass justification of his position and of his proposed changes
obeysapostmodernlogicinitsattentiontomarginsandsilencedminorities,as
wellasinitsrejectionofgrandutopias.Asanantidotetothemacro-intervention
whichhedeems harmful,Bohigasconstantly advocates minimalism and microinterventionsthatdonotaimatradicalstructuralchangeinthenameofautopian
blueprint. Thus he advocates el concepte de ciutat com a suma conflictiva de

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trossos reals (1985: 9), des de la pea relativament autPnoma del barri, del
sector destructura fsica consolidada (1985: 14), the consideraci del
problemesurbansapartirdelesrealitatssectorials(1985:16),andaretornala
ideadelcarrer,laplaaieljardurbans(1985:18).Inshort,inoppositiontothe
formerurbanismthatispretesamenthomogeniiuniversal(1985:23),Bohigas
proposesonethatismltipleiheterogenienlesintencions,enelsmtodesien
els instruments (1985: 23); not a urbanisme totalitari i crptic, but rather
plenament participat pel ciutad (1985: 23), one that is free per convicci
antiutPpicadelesprevisionsinassequiblestemporalmentimetodolPgica(1985:
24). The aim of this new approach is to reconstruct the city from below, by
paying attention to the needs of its most humble citizens, dignifying
neighbourhoods, avoiding the social segregation produced by big motorways
dividingdistricts,andtotallyrespectinghistoricalstreetlayouts.
AtonepointinhisargumentBohigasstates:
s important adonar-se que aquest nou requeriment es troba suportat
alhora per les propostes que sorgeixen de la participaci popular
encaminadajademocrticamentsensenecessitatdedemagPgies,perles
conclusionsdelsdebatsdevoladaculturalenelcampdelarquitecturai
lurbanismeielqueencarasmssignificatiupeldesprestigideles
actitudssistemtiquesenelquadredelesmetodologiescientfiquesidel
pensamentfilosPficmsprogressius.(1985:14)
In the ensuing explanation of what this pensament filosPfic ms progressiu
mightbe,Bohigasinsistsonanewattentiontotheindividualandtotheattackon
23
methodbyphilosophersAgnesHellerandPaulK.Feyerabend. Inotherwords,
inordertoexplainandjustifyaprojectthathehimselfdefinesasprogressivein
socialandhumanterms,Bohigaslinkscertain tenetsof postmodern philosophy
and of postmodern architectural and urban planning theory to the demands of
grassroots residents movements that were so politically crucial in Barcelona
local politics during the Transicin through to the early 1980s. The key to the
early political consensus in democratic Barcelona was the building of this
alliancebetweenthepeopleandtheculturalandpolitical elites,betweensocial
movementsformedinthestruggleagainstFrancoismandthenewphilosophyand
aestheticsinfluencedbypostmodernthought.
Veryshortlyafter,however,theoriginalpositionsheldbythispoliticaland
cultural front, which can be defined as a critical, progressive form of
postmodernity, would be massively neutralized. The rapid, constant
implementationofthevariouschanges definedandanalysed inthis article in
practice,hegemonicallypresentedasacontinuumproducedadifferentkindof
consensus:onederivedfromcomplacencyanddevoidofanygrassrootsorcivil
resistance. Once it became hegemonic, this consensus became the political
oppositeofwhatithadbeen,totheextentthatitsucceededinco-optingvirtually
all forms of civil resistance coming from outside institutions. These would be
replacedbywhatJoanRoca(1994:601-4)hascalledtheorquestacinritualde
simulacros de participacin. Even more significantly and paradoxically, this

Urbanism,cultureandthepost-industrialcity

203

consensus abandoned its original political critique and its rejection of the
excesses of modernity, in order to embrace two fundamental concepts of the
modern period, recyclingthemfor its own purposes: the concept of totality, so
radicallycritiquedbyBohigas,andtheendofhistory.Thesetwoappropriations
constitutethespatio-temporalaxisofthedominantdiscourseonthecitysincethe
mid-1980s.Theywereextremelyeffectiveineliminatingthemajorityofvoices
of resistance and in making the immense majority of the citys inhabitants
embraceconsensus.
Therejectionoftotalityasaformofviolenceaimedatimposingafalsekind
ofuniversalism,omniscienceandobjectivitywascentraltotransitionaland,asI
have argued, postmodern attacks on porciolista modernity and on the Plan
General Metropolitano. Paradoxically enough, having frequently been the main
target of Socialist criticism in the 1970s, totality became the buzzword of
Socialistconsensusfromthemid1980son.Thesamelocalgovernmentthathad
opposeditwouldnowimposeitasameansofclingingtopower,bymeansofa
totalizing and globalizing discourse and a megalomaniac aesthetics. The
philosopherXavierAntichputsitthisway:
a las puertas del siglo XXI, parece impropia la antigua pretensin de
mirar el mundo bajo el prisma de la totalidad, como si todava fuera
posibleorganizarunacultura[enlaquese]pretendeorganizarlotodoal
dictado de lo grande, monumental y desmesurado.[...] a pesar del
desprestigio de las macroideologas de referencia, en el mundo de la
cultura contina perviviendo una determinada forma de hacer a lo
grande, propia de un modelo imperial que no es aplicable a lo que
debieraesperarsedeunaBarcelonaquehasidobanderaenladefensade
laEuropadelasciudades.(1996)
DespiteAntichs accurateassessmentofBarcelonas urbanandculturalpolitics
sincethemid1980s,Iwouldliketodisagreewithhisrejectionoftotalityasan
anachronism. Totality continues to be an indispensable element in the
manufacturingofconsensus.
From and for the purposes of a position of power, the city must be
representedasarationalandorderedunity,onethatisfullyunderstandableand
visible. The map is the physical incarnation of this need, and its taxonomic
function,operationalsincetheearlymodernperiod,farfrombeinganachronistic
hasinfactbeenenhancedthroughuseofthemostsophisticatedtechnologiesof
surveillanceand panoptic observation, promising full visibility of their objects.
Beside their function as a control mechanism, totalizing visions of the city
providethecitizenwithasingle,overallrepresentationofit:animageclaiming
toembraceeverything,oreverythingthatmatters,withnoshadows,nofissures,
no dissidences, these being represented as an innocuous pluralism. It is
interestingthatAntichshouldrefertototalityasaprismthroughwhichtoview
theworld,becausetheprovisionofinstrumentsthatenableallcitizenstoseethe
city as a totality has been a highly effective way of generating consensus in
Barcelona. In the successive publicity campaigns organized by the social-

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democrat City Council since the mid 1980s, global images of the city have
proliferated, supplied by the poster artists that the city council attracted and
eventually co-opted from the margins oftheundergroundcomics and pop-art
scene. Themost paradigmaticfigure here isJavierMariscalbutFlavioMorais,
Outumuro, Carmelo Hernando, Stanton have collaborated here as well. These
artists,allcomingfromthemargins,havecontributedhugelytotheimplantation
ofastandard,popular,totalizingvisionofBarcelona,figuredasacombinationof
oldandnewemblematicelements(theSagradaFamiliatogetherwiththeFoster
tower), including the newly reconstructed and resemanticized waterfront in a
homogeneous, attractive totality excluding all dissonant elements. This is, of
course, the ideological trap of the totalizing image: it implicitly denies the
existence of what is not made visible: undesirable spaces and subjects, the
increasinglytransnationalcircuitofcapital,informationandintereststhatmake
thecitypossible.
ReferringtothehistoryofportraitsandimagesofBarcelonathatthecityhas
24
beenabletopreserve,AlbertGarcaEspuche statesthatanyrepresentationof
the city is always just one representation of it, a vision marked by particular
interests:QuiposseixilaImatgedelaciutat,hesays,posseirlaciutat(1995:
18). Here he is referring to those with the power to decide what will become
visibleinthecity,whathierarchywillgoverntheorganizationofthevisible,and
whatwillberelegatedtoinvisibility.GarcaEspucheisparticularlycarefulwhen
describing the relationship between image and power, and when calling the
readers attention to what the picture always hides. Global images (those
supposedtorepresentthewholeofthecity)coincide,hesays,withtimesofgreat
civic unanimity, when it is possible to produce and conceive of a contained,
acceptableimageusableaspropagandaforthecitizensatlarge.Heidentifiesas
global images those images produced in Barcelona from the mid-sixteenth
century through till the end of the eighteenth century. According to Garca
Espuche, such global images were not generated again until the time of
Maragallismo. Let uscite again the Royal Institute of British Architects press
release of June 1999, which corroborates Garca Espuches stress on the
embracingoftotality:
Barcelona is now more whole in every way, its fabric healed yet
threaded through with new open spaces, its historic buildings
refurbished yet its facilities expanded and brought up-to-the-minute.
Past and present, work and play are happily intermeshed in a new
totality that is more than its often splendid parts, and is better
connected even to sea and mountains. And yet the character of
Barcelona, though changed, is more distinct than ever and ready for
theglobalage[...](myemphasis).
ForMicheldeCerteau,onthecontrary,theseductivetotalimageisrather:
therepresentationofapanopticpower[...]afiction[...]thattransforms
thecityscomplexityintoreadabilityandthatfreezesitsopaquemobility

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intoacrystal-cleartext[...]atheoreticalsimulacrum[...]apicture,of
which the preconditions for feasibility are forgetfulness and a
misunderstandingofprocesses.(1985:128,124)
Forgetfulnessandthemisunderstandingofprocessesarealsotantamounttothe
end of history, to the extent that they imply a reconciliation with reality
(represented without shadows or secrets), la anulacin del hiato entre
idealidad y realidad (Esquirol 1998: 10), making obsolete the concept of
historyasastruggletotamenatureorasadesire/needforabetterworld,etc.
The immediate consequence is a democracy without politics that is, a
democracyofconsensusinwhichconfidentandpassivecitizens,mutewith
satisfaction,placethemselvesinthehandsofpolticos-gestionarios[paraque]
se encarguen de brindar toda la prosperidad, felicidad, paz y estabilidad
posibles (Esquirol 1998: 10). The end of history leads to conformism and
pragmatism, and it feeds on the arrogant assumption that one is living in the
best of cities at the best of times, seducing citizens and visitors alike into
believingthatthisisreallythecase.
Totalityandtheendofhistory,athrowbacktoaHegelianismtailoredtothe
interests of the most conservative form of postmodernism (Ripalda 1999: 18997), can be interpreted as necessary ideologies for the accomplishment of
consensus, and they become particularly feasible in times of prosperity and
optimal geo-political conjunctures, as it is undoubtedly the case in democratic
Barcelona.ThesekindsofappropriationofHegelianismhavebeenoccurringin
theFirstWorldsincethetimesofsocial-democraticprosperityfollowingtheend
ofWorldWarII,asexpressedintheinfluenceoftheworkofAlexandreKojve
and, in a more recent post-Cold War version, that of Francis Fukuyama. Their
recurrence in Barcelonas case, following a period when far more progressive
premises rejected the most anti-democratic and anti-human elements of
modernity, demonstrates the need to understand postmodernity as a historical
frameofcontradictorycomplexity.Inordertoanalyseit,acombinedglobaland
localapproachisrequired.
Notes
*

I wish to thank Quim Aranda, the Fundaci Tpies and the MadeinBarcelona group, especially
NoemCohen,forgivingmeaccesstoinvaluableinformationtodocumentthisarticle.
1
http://store.yahoo.com/award-schemes/ribroygolmed.html
2
SeealsoIrving(1999:5-6)and,inSpanish,Fancelli(1999:12).
3
In calling urban spaces texts, I do not mean that urban spaces constitute a discourse without
extra-textual materiality. I mean that circulation in the city is possible only inasmuch as urban
spaces are, semiotically speaking, made up of readable signs whose meanings are continuously
decoded and negotiated. Phil Cohen (1998: 95-100) rejects this use of the term, arguing that the
metaphor of the city as text has historically allowed power structures to control the decoding
process, stigmatizing as other anybody considered not to be not properly readable. Without
denyingthevalueofthiscritique,Ibelievethatthesemioticanalysisofthecityastextcanstillbe
politicallyuseful.Andincallingurbanspacesvehiclesofideology,Idonotmeantoimplyaonedirectional or static process. Different social actors, operating under conditions of inequality, can
intervenetomodifythistextortosubvertitsdominantuses(DeCerteau1985:122-45).

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In the words of Manuel Borja (1996: 120): [Aquestes citacions histPriques] ens mostren la
reconstruccidelaimatge,perPnoeldrama.[...]Nosolsnoreconeixenelteixithumiurbdela
zona,sinquelamaguen.AlsoagainstthispoliticsofamnesiaseeRoca(1994:730-2).
5
Theconceptofanarchitecturalquotationofthepastthatisvoidofanymeaning,alsoknownas
historicism,isoneofthecentralfeaturesofpostmodernarchitecture.SeeJameson(1991:18).
In amore general sense, the instability and infinite slippage of the signifier with respect to the
signifiedisaconstitutivetenetofpost-structuralism.Mycriticismisnotoftheinstabilityofthe
sign, but of the uses made of this instability to create a dominant semantic politics in
democraticBarcelona.
6
Public space is nominally for all citizens but in practicality access to it is restricted to certain
individuals and groups. During the modern period, access to public spaces was determined by
gender (since women that is, bourgeois women were supposed mainly to occupy the private
sphere), but also by race and social class. According to Fredric Jameson (1997: 129): private
(space) issimplywhatinterpellatesme asanintruderwhile theexistence or thewaning of atruly
publicspacecanbemeasuredbythedegreetowhichitstillinterpellatesmeasacitizen.Thekey
political question here is whether all individuals are really interpellated by public spaces and
whethertheyhaveequalfreeaccesstothem.Forahistoryoftheconceptofpublicspace,seeBoyer
(1994:7-11).
7
Sculptures by Bryan Hunt, Oldemburg, Pau Gargallo, Tpies, Chillida or Mir are still today
dottedacrossperipheralorpopularareassuchasthenorthendoftheTneldelaRovira,Parcdel
Clot,CanDrag,ParcdelaCreuetadelColl,HortaoSants.Alsocharacteristicofthearchitecture
ofthisfirstSocialistperiodaretheso-calledplazasdurassquaresbuiltonacementgroundand
very inexpensive to maintain and furnish and the casales (civic centres) built in every city
district.
8
SeetheCityCouncilmanifestoPlaEstratgicBarcelona2000.
9
See Ferran Mascarellswords in Ribalta (1998: 108). Mascarell has been City Council Head of
Culture since 1999 and before that was Head of the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona. He is an
important figure in the formulation of the Socialists cultural policies. See also Gom (1997) and
Etxezarretaetal.(1996).
10
Oriol Bohigas (1989: 125-6) explains in his memoirs that Narcs Serra, first social-democratic
Mayorofpost-FrancoBarcelona,hadsincetheearly1980shopedthatthecitywouldbechosenfor
the Games because he saw this as aunique opportunity to secure its fast-track restructuring. This
was not the first time that abig cultural-entertainment event had been utilized in Barcelona as an
excuseforurbantransformationintimesofcrisisandeconomicrecession:theothertwoexamples
aretheWorldFairsorganisedbythecityin1888and1929.
11
This coincidence helps explain the process of co-option/institutionalization of the once very
belligerentresidentsmovementsthatwouldtakeplaceinthecourseofthe1980s(Roca1994:601).
12
Thoughhehimself,in thesuccessiveinstitutional posts he heldunderMayorsNarcsSerra and
Pasqual Maragall,wasveryinstrumentalin producing the opposite of what he had once preached
(Bohigas1989:125-35).
13
A number of grassroots groups and organisms whose members are affected by these specific
problemshave beenorganizingtodefendcitizens rightsand to minimize the impact that these
transformations are having on the citys social fabric and politics. Good examples are the
PlataformaCvicaopposingtheProjecteBara2000,andtheFPrumRiberadelBesPs.
14
InwhichheincludedZaragoza,Toulouse,Montpellier,ValenciaandMallorca.
15
I am using the word nationalist here in its most common meaning in the Spanish political
context,whereitisappliedtothoseideologieswhosepoliticalpriorityisthedefenceoftherights,
howevertheseareunderstood,ofthehistoricnationalitieswithintheSpanishstate.Needlesstosay,
partiescoveringthewholespectrumoftheSpanishstate,andspecificallythePSOE,arenotdevoid
ofnationalism,Spanishnationalisminthiscase.MypointisthatMaragallsprojectforBarcelona,
even though he ultimately belongs to the PSOE, is not fundamentally aligned to a Spanish, and
clearlynottoaCatalan,nationalism.

Urbanism,cultureandthepost-industrialcity

16

207

Whichdoesnotpreventtheirinterestsandobjectivesfromoftencoinciding.Ontheonehand,
the nation-state framework has proved very compatible with this politics of facilitating the
leading role of cities. What we could call the Spanish state politics of 92 fundamentally
promoted three urban enclaves, Seville-Madrid-Barcelona. 34% of the one billion pesetas of
publicinvestmentintheOlympicGamescamefromthestate.Ontheotherhand,thestate-wide
politicalandeconomiccrisisfollowingthecarefullymarketedboomof1992causedadeclinein
the citys prominence, because it signified a de facto halt to subsidies and investments in the
most crucial and ambitious projects for the development of post-industrial Barcelona: the
expansionofElPratairport,andthebuildingofahighspeedrailroadlineconnectingBarcelona
withMadridandFrance(these projectsare only now,in2001,being materialized).Finally,the
Catalan autonomous government has also promoted the internationalization of Catalan cultural
and economic connections within the framework of the European Community, invoking a
historicnationalcommunitywithS.E.France:CatalunyaNordandOccitania.JoanRoca(1994:
607-8) notes the difference between the local (Barcelona) and autonomous governments
strategies in this respect, arguing that the City Council proposes a community among cities,
whiletheGeneralitatdoessoamongregions.
17
It could be argued that the urbanism and civility invoked by the Socialists in the 1980s has an
important precedent in early twentieth-century Noucentiste discourse, particularly in terms of its
anti-nationalist (Catalanist) implications, which both share. In this article, I limit myself to
highlighting the ways in which the civility invoked in the 1980s was aresponse to contemporary
historicalconjunctures.
18
See Barcelona 2004, 10 preguntes sobre el F/ rum (n. d.) on the web page of the FPrum
http://www.barcelona2004.org/ which contains more complete and up-to-date information on the
FPrum project. From the time of its first formulations by Pasqual Maragall in 1997, the project
receivednumerouscriticismsforitslackofspecificityandfocus.
19
AnacutecriticismoftheFPrumprojectandtheeconomicinterestsinvolvedintheredevelopment
of the areas where the FPrum is supposed to be located (now a marginal working-class
neighbourhood, BesPs-La Mina) can be found in MadeinBarcelona (1999). See also Ricart and
Arosa(2000).
20
Jos Mara de Porcioles was Mayor of Barcelona between 1957 and 1973, years of great
economic expansion, also known as the aos del desarrollismo, in Barcelona and in the
Spanishstate.Urbangrowthinthisperiodwascharacterizedbythelocationofagreatnumberof
manufacturing industries in the outskirts of the city and the need to accommodate everincreasing waves of immigrants coming to work in these industries. The result was
disproportionate,unplanned,speculativeurbangrowthintheworking-classneighbourhoods and
industrialbelts,alongwiththeindiscriminateopeningupofbigroadarteries,withnorespectfor
the history of the citys topography. The lack of rigorous urban planning, of concern for the
qualityoflifeofthenewpopulations,andofinfrastructures,togetherwiththelackofanyethical
considerations in the building of new residential areas, are characteristic of the years of
porciolismo .
21
A prominent member ofthe generation of children of the ruling classes who had grown up under
Franco and were privileged enough to become dissidents (what would later be called the gauche
divine),OriolBohigasjoinedtheranksoftheprogressivecivilresistancetolateFrancoismveryearly
inhislife.HewasoneofthefoundingmembersofthearchitecturejournalCAU,apublicationknown,
amongotherthings,forbeingextremelycriticalofporciolismo.Bythetimeheheldhisfirstpostonthe
SocialistCityCouncil,itisnotanexaggerationtosaythathewasthemostcharismaticandinfluential
architect in Catalunya. Bohigas has been Professor at the Escola d Arquitectura de Barcelona since
1971andwasitsDirectorin1977-1980.HehasalsobeenHeadofUrbanAffairsonBarcelonasCity
Council 1980-1984 under the first social-democratic Mayor of the Transicin, Narcs Serra; Mayor
PasqualMaragallspersonaladvisor;andCityCouncilHeadofCulture1987-1991.
22
The Plan General Metropolitano was the first urban project approved during the Transicin,in
1976;itwaswrittenbyAlbertSerratosaandJoanAntoniSolans.SeeRoca(1994:615-21,627)for
acritiqueof Bohigassattack on the PGM in Reconstrucci and from his institutional position of

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power, which helped to minimize the projects impact. According to Roca, Bohigass successful
attack opened the door to later deregulation and urban speculation favoured by the socialdemocratic governments. Roca defends the continuation of the PGM as the only existing
institutionalwayofcurbingthefrenziedurbandevelopmentofthe1980s.
23
HerehecouldhavementionedCatalanandSpanishphilosophersthatweremuchclosertohim,
such as Xavier Rubert de Vents (De la modernidad. Estudio de filosofa crtica, 1980) or
FernandoSavater(Panfletocontraeltodo,1978),whichintroducedpostmodernthoughttoSpain.
24
Garca Espuche curated a 1995 exhibition at the Centre de Cultura Contempornia (CCCB)
entitledRetratdeBarcelona,devotedpreciselytodifferentimagesofthecityandtoananalysisof
theirtransformationsacrossthecenturies.Iamquotinghiswordsfromthetwo-volumecatalogueto
theexhibition.

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