Reconstruction of memory: Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo

Like a phoenix, the Liceo Theatre, once the biggest opera venue in Europe, has overcome its turbulent past to become a historic site for Barcelona’s cultural scene. The Liceo was opened on April the 4th, 1847, after the Spanish Crown took many lands off the Church and sold them to businessmen in ord...

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Glavni avtor: Loya Piñera, Vanessa
Format: Online
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Izdano: Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2011
Online dostop:https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/bitacora/article/view/25173
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spelling oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article-251732018-10-17T18:32:56Z Reconstruction of memory: Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo Reconstrucción de la memoria: el Gran Teatro del Liceo Loya Piñera, Vanessa Like a phoenix, the Liceo Theatre, once the biggest opera venue in Europe, has overcome its turbulent past to become a historic site for Barcelona’s cultural scene. The Liceo was opened on April the 4th, 1847, after the Spanish Crown took many lands off the Church and sold them to businessmen in order to create private infrastructure. The theatre is found at the Rambla dels Caputxins —which at the time was walking away from its role as a marginalized side street to become a grand avenue— and its plan was designed, as customary, following Italian trends. After only fourteen years of operation, the theatre was burnt down by a fire which left only the horseshoe-shaped layout and its arched proscenium largely untouched. This was the first of many fires that would consume the theatre, the last being on January the 31st, 1994. After this, the question of whether to reopen the theatre was posed. About the importance of rebuilding it, Aldo Rossi said the city should be understood as a recipient of its history: “[…] the city is the locus of collective memory”. The project, under Solà-Morales’s supervision, did not only improve the theater’s technical conditions, but was also an answer to its historical and social needs. With reconstruction, restoration, and modernization in mind, the new building kept the same basic concept as the original: a horseshoe-shaped plan with two distinct areas, one for the audience and one for the stage. While the new additions respect the original feeling of the theatre, they do not compete with its traditional decoration and establish a dialogue between past and present. This project was brought to light in order to pay homage to memory, both to the site and to the unaccountable efforts made throughout the century to save the building. The project shows continuity and resurgence, for it welcomes its visitors into the heart of Barcelona, a cosmopolitan city that breathes evolution without forgetting the past, and the Liceo is an important part of this process. El Teatro del Liceo, edificado a mediados del siglo XIX fue, por su aforo, el teatro de ópera más grande de Europa durante sus primeros cien años. Se caracteriza por un pasado accidentado, del que en repetidas ocasiones ha resurgido como ave Fénix. Este proceso, sumado a la trascendencia de los espectáculos que ahí se han presentado, lo consolida como un hito en la vida cultural de Barcelona. Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2011-05-16 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/bitacora/article/view/25173 10.22201/fa.14058901p.2010.20.25173 Bitacora Arquitectura; No. 20 (2010): Bitácora 20; 50-57 Bitácora Arquitectura; Núm. 20 (2010): Bitácora 20; 50-57 2594-0856 1405-8901 10.22201/fa.14058901p.2010.20 spa https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/bitacora/article/view/25173/23667 Derechos de autor 2011 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
institution Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
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author Loya Piñera, Vanessa
spellingShingle Loya Piñera, Vanessa
Reconstruction of memory: Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo
author_facet Loya Piñera, Vanessa
author_sort Loya Piñera, Vanessa
title Reconstruction of memory: Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo
title_short Reconstruction of memory: Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo
title_full Reconstruction of memory: Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo
title_fullStr Reconstruction of memory: Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo
title_full_unstemmed Reconstruction of memory: Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo
title_sort reconstruction of memory: barcelona’s gran teatro del liceo
description Like a phoenix, the Liceo Theatre, once the biggest opera venue in Europe, has overcome its turbulent past to become a historic site for Barcelona’s cultural scene. The Liceo was opened on April the 4th, 1847, after the Spanish Crown took many lands off the Church and sold them to businessmen in order to create private infrastructure. The theatre is found at the Rambla dels Caputxins —which at the time was walking away from its role as a marginalized side street to become a grand avenue— and its plan was designed, as customary, following Italian trends. After only fourteen years of operation, the theatre was burnt down by a fire which left only the horseshoe-shaped layout and its arched proscenium largely untouched. This was the first of many fires that would consume the theatre, the last being on January the 31st, 1994. After this, the question of whether to reopen the theatre was posed. About the importance of rebuilding it, Aldo Rossi said the city should be understood as a recipient of its history: “[…] the city is the locus of collective memory”. The project, under Solà-Morales’s supervision, did not only improve the theater’s technical conditions, but was also an answer to its historical and social needs. With reconstruction, restoration, and modernization in mind, the new building kept the same basic concept as the original: a horseshoe-shaped plan with two distinct areas, one for the audience and one for the stage. While the new additions respect the original feeling of the theatre, they do not compete with its traditional decoration and establish a dialogue between past and present. This project was brought to light in order to pay homage to memory, both to the site and to the unaccountable efforts made throughout the century to save the building. The project shows continuity and resurgence, for it welcomes its visitors into the heart of Barcelona, a cosmopolitan city that breathes evolution without forgetting the past, and the Liceo is an important part of this process.
publisher Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
publishDate 2011
url https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/bitacora/article/view/25173
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