Article
Company Towns: arquitectura y paternalismo. De la Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines a Cristalería Española
Fecha
2018-01Registro en:
1390-7263
10.18537/est.v007.n012.a11
1390-9274
Autor
Tielve García, Natalia
Institución
Resumen
Company Towns, based on the idea that housing welfare for workers is vital
for the sake of improving labour efficiency, are exceptionally interesting
because they help us understand not only the relation between dwelling and
environment, but also the social policies adscribed to industrial paternalism.
Different perks, from dwelling to education, to the provision of basic
consumer goods, as well as healthcare and leisure, were aimed at creating a
new kind of man, a model worker, submissive, rooted, loyal and emotionally
attached to his family-like company. For the Spanish case, we can identify two
periods: a first, expansive phase, which spanned throughout the 19th
century, culminating at the end of World War I; and a second phase which
coincided with the industrial development and demographic growth –with
the resulting increase of the number of workers– that took place in Spain
after the Spanish Civil War. Parting from the Compagnie Royale Asturienne
des Mines and finishing with Cristalería Española, in this paper we analyse
several architectural complexes of outstanding interest, which were carefully
planned according to the aforementioned principles.