Albert Crispi, lecturer on the Bachelor of Design and the University Master's Degree in Design of Spaces (MUDE), has obtained a doctorate in the Technology of Architecture, Building and Urban Planning programme at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) with the thesis La innovació tecnològica en l'arquitectura per a la indústria durant els anys 40, 50 i 60 del segle XX a l'àrea de Barcelona (Technological innovation in architecture for industry during the 1940s, 50s and 60s of the 20th century in the Barcelona area).
The construction of architecture for industry between 1939 and 1969 in the Barcelona area was a challenge for all those involved, since, in a post-war environment with serious economic, technical and cultural limitations, the need arose to construct new industrial buildings in Barcelona with new programmes such as chemistry, food, electronics or the motor industry and with new needs for large, diaphanous, luminous and well-ventilated spaces.
Barcelona became a strategic production centre for local industrial recovery, but international economic and cultural isolation, as well as the deficient construction industry that had been disrupted by the civil war, especially affected the production of the most basic products for construction, and therefore limited the technological possibilities for the construction of these new spaces for work, which required skill, professionalism and above all an innovative spirit from its architects to face the new challenges.
Albert Crispi's thesis includes research into some of the relevant technical contributions in the construction of these buildings, which took place in an exceptional situation, in which the aim is to analyse the protagonists, the circumstances, the driving forces behind the innovation, the material context and the regulatory limitations.
The study, directed by Joan Lluís Zamora i Mestre, was presented on 17 November at the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB).
