Cerdà and the First Barcelona Metropolis, 1853

THE PÒSITS COLLECTION The second half of the 19th century was a crucial stage in the modernisation of the city of Barcelona, from the demolition of the walls to the incorporation of the villages and towns of the surroundings. 1 Decidir la ciutat futura. Barcelona 1859 Glòria Santa-Maria Batlló The launching of this process was inseparably linked to the figure of Ildefons Cerdà, who has often (Catalan edition) been hailed as a genius, but isolated from and even in open confrontation with the Barcelona milieu. However, if things had really been like that, his work would never have had such a coherent continuity 2 Cerdà and the First Barcelona Metropolis, 1853-1897 (also published in Catalan and Spanish) as the kind ensured in the next period by someone of a quite different character, the mayor Rius i Taulet. The basic idea of this book is the link between Cerdà and Barcelona from the point of view of the shaping of the metropolis. The aim is to show the complex web underlying Cerdà’s idea of the extension, the new Eixample district, the energy of a society shaken by the industrial revolution and moulded by the liberal regime and, naturally, the obstacles that had to be overcome along the way. Cerdà and the First Barcelona Metropolis, 1853 - 1897 Cerdà and the First Barcelona Barcelona and the First Cerdà 1853-1897 Metropolis, Cerdà and the First Barcelona Metropolis, 1853 - 1897 Cerdà and the First Barcelona Metropolis, 1853 - 1897 Edited by Marina López Guallar The inseparable link between Ildefons Cerdà and Barcelona is well known, but little documented. It has taken more than a century for Cerdà’s life’s work to become the subject of serious research and detailed studies. Cerdà and the First Barcelona Metropolis, 1853-1897 sets out to illustrate a period in which the city was completely transformed by a man whose legacy can still be traced in the intricate layout of modern metropolitan Barcelona. The second half of the 19th century was one of the most important periods in the modernisation of Barcelona, resulting in the demolition of its city walls, the addition of numerous outlying towns, and the wholesale renovation and extension of the city. This exhibition, organised by Barcelona History Museum, shows us the complexity underlying Cerdà’s pioneering master plan and the bristling energy of an urban society undergoing massive social and economic change. The industrial revolution sped up these processes, which would ultimately lead to the breaking down of the barriers that had thus far constricted the city’s growth and development. Cerdà wanted a more modern city, bigger in the broadest sense of the word; a Barcelona where people could lead a better, fuller life. And it is because of Cerdà’s unyielding ambition to plan for Barcelona’s fu- ture that he will be forever associated with the city. His achievements enabled Barcelona to seize the reins of progress and become part of a more human model. With all the inevitable flaws of the evolution of a city – partly con- ceived by him –, the most conclusive proof of its modernity is that, 150 years on, Barcelona remains a truly unique city, a living example of transformation throughout its history. Jordi Hereu Mayor of Barcelona The exhibitionCerdà and the First Barcelona Metropolis, 1853-1897 is a faith- ful treatment of the leading figure in a movement that went far beyond the sphere of town planning to transform our city in a way that has endured in time. The main catalyst of this transformation was the plan to renovate and extend the city, a deep-rooted aspiration of the Barcelona society of the time. There is no doubt that the complexity of the project and the competing interests of a number of different institutions did not make decision making any easier; in fact, quite the opposite. The exhibition allows the viewer to glimpse a less well-known aspect of Cerdà’s career, namely, that of the pragmatic manager of the first stages of the Barcelona extension, who undertook all the technical work required to put the approved project into action. The process of growth of Barcelona and the need to control the metropolitan expansion are also key elements of the exhibition, and another key figure who led the project to make the city a great European capital emerges: Rius i Taulet, four times mayor of the city. The University, Ciutadella Park and the 1888 Universal Exhibition are clear examples of that ambition. For a whole year and until June 2010, Barcelona will host a number of cul- tural activities to commemorate a key moment in its transformation as a city. This exhibition at Barcelona History Museum is a living testament to the importance of Ildefons Cerdà’s Extension Plan, approved a century and a half ago. It is fascinating to see how, throughout its history, the city has had the courage to be an engine for change, just as it continues to be today. Jordi Martí Culture Delegate Ildefons Cerdà’s contribution to town planning in general and the urban development of Barcelona in particular is undeniable. Now that a century and a half has passed since the Barcelona Extension Plan was approved, the Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales (SECC), an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture, has decided to honour the work of the Catalan engineer. And so, in 2009 we published the facsimile of this Plan of the surroundings of the city of Barcelona and project for its renovation and extension, and in 2010 we have jointly organized with Barcelona History Museum the exhibition Cerdà and the First Barcelona Metropolis, 1853-1897, the subject of this catalogue, and the congress Cerdà Postmetropolis. The government of metropolitan regions in the 21st century. A century and a half after the Extension Plan was approved, in 1859, few people would venture to question the great work of Ildefons Cerdà and its contribution to the transformation of a city. Barcelona ceased to be a mediae- val fortified town and became a modern industrial city. The project was the natural response to a long-held aspiration to address the overriding need to reorder and extend the Catalan capital. Although he was the object of criticism from some of his contemporaries, today all voices, including those of architects, sociologists, town planners and art historians, as well as the man in the street, unanimously recognise Cerdà’s achievement in conceiving a truly innovative approach to urban planning. Moreover, he laid the foundations for Barcelona to move towards modernity, and successfully meet the challenges that would arise over the ensuing 150 years. This exhibition traces the processes that culminated in the Cerdà Plan. It begins with a treatment of the preliminary debates about the challenges in- volved in the demolition of the walls which still hemmed in the city in 1854. The exhibition then moves on to show the intense competition that ensued for ideas on how best to carry out the extension of Barcelona. Next it presents the consequences of that competition: the tensions that arose between the local and central administrations when it came to deciding on the most suitable project; the struggle between the public and private interests to gain com- mand of the execution of the plan designed by Ildefons Cerdà; and, lastly, the influence of the Barcelona experience on other cities’ extension plans, based on research done in recent years. The exhibition closes with a look at the process of municipal unification undertaken by Mayor Rius i Taulet. Foreword The transformation of Barcelona in the mid 1800s had until quite recently Integrating the whole area encompassed by the Cerdà Plan into Barcelona was passed relatively unnoticed by scholars of European urban history: for many indispensable for its success, despite the many tensions it aroused. it was difficult to imagine that a city so far from the centres of modernisation on the continent could offer such remarkable potential. Cerdà and the solutions he offered for Barcelona open the way to continuing with the necessary urban renovation programmes, as vital today as they were The city had managed to keep its position in the European urban network back then. The special care which the exhibition’s curator, Marina López, has during the modern age and showed enough cohesion to overcome in 1714 taken can be appreciated in the selection and arrangement of each of the pieces the adverse results of the Spanish War of Succession, and had now placed in the show. I offer my sincerest congratulations to everyone on the work they itself at the forefront of the manufacturing cities throughout the 1700s. have done and on the end result. I would also like to thank the City Council Moreover, in the middle of the 19th century the city enjoyed a blossoming and the Barcelona History Museum for their efficiency and professionalism, like few others on the continent. It would culminate in the 1888 Universal which have once again enabled us to bring a joint project to a successful con- Exhibition, when the city was officially unveiled as a modern metropolis clusion. And, finally, I would like to thank all the people who have helped to and the capital of a Catalonia which, itself, was being reborn. make this exhibition a reality. The title of this project links the names of Cerdà and Barcelona. However, it is worth remembering that the original conception of the extension and renova- Soledad López tion plan was not the sole work of a brilliant engineer, nor was its adoption as President a model for the growth of the city the mere result of an act of external imposi- Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales tion.

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