Access profile

Given the multidisciplinary nature of the scientific field of the programme, there are a wide range of degrees that qualify applicants for admission.

In general, the programme is directed at those who are interested and who, in addition to meeting the standard credit requirements, are prepared and have interest in carrying out research with assistance from the professors in the programme. Thus, preference will be given to applicants that have previously completed a master’s programme in a related subject matter and are interested in the lines of research considered in the programme, and who are mature, able to express themselves clearly and have research experience.

Specific admission requirements
To give more detail, applicants’ academic backgrounds must meet the following requirements:
Candidates must have completed undergraduate and master’s studies in architecture, geography, history, history of art or the humanities (or less similar fields such as archaeology, journalism, tourism, etc.) and must be interested in carrying out doctoral-level research in an area related to the theory and history of architecture, art and cities. Compliance with these requirements will be assessed by weighting the measures that follow:
• The appropriateness of applicants’ undergraduate and master’s background in terms of contents and performance.
• Level of maturity, measured via candidates’ explanations of their academic backgrounds, research interests and motivations.
• Previous research experience via collaborations and publications in which the candidate has participated.
• Similarity of the proposal with programme research groups’ and professors’ lines of work.
It is important that applicants’ academic intentions and interests line up with the areas and lines of research that are followed by professors in this doctoral programme.
You can find information about said master’s programme at the following link: https://www.upc.edu/es/masteres/estudios-avanzados-en-arquitectura-barcelona-mbarch.

The following requirements have also been established:

• Applicants must have command of Spanish and English; knowledge of other languages will be considered positively, as it allows access to a wide range of bibliographic resources.
• In order to define what bridging courses will be necessary for students to be admitted to the programme, the applicant’s background and research experience will be considered.

Output profile

Doctoral candidates who complete a doctoral degree will have acquired the following competencies, which are needed to carry out quality research (Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates official doctoral studies):

a) A systematic understanding of the field of study and a mastery of the research skills and methods related to the field.
b) An ability to conceive, design or create, put into practice and adopt a substantial process of research or creation.
c) An ability to contribute to pushing back the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
d) A capacity for critical analysis and an ability to assess and summarise new and complex ideas.
e) An ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and with society in general as regards their fields of knowledge in the manner and languages that are typical of the international scientific community to which they belong.
f) An ability to foster scientific, technological, social, artistic and cultural progress in academic and professional contexts within a knowledge-based society.

The award of a doctoral degree must equip the graduate for work in a variety of settings, especially those requiring creativity and innovation. Doctoral graduates must have at least acquired the personal skills needed to:

a) Develop in contexts in which there is little specific information.
b) Find the key questions that must be answered to solve a complex problem.
c) Design, create, develop and undertake original, innovative projects in their field.
d) Work as part of a team and independently in an international or multidisciplinary context.
e) Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity and make judgements with limited information.
f) Offer criticism on and intellectually defend solutions.

Finally, with respect to competencies, doctoral students must:
a) have acquired advanced knowledge at the frontier of their discipline and demonstrated, in the context of internationally recognised scientific research, a deep, detailed and well-grounded understanding of theoretical and practical issues and scientific methodology in one or more research fields;
b) have made an original and significant contribution to scientific research in their field of expertise that has been recognised as such by the international scientific community;
c) have demonstrated that they are capable of designing a research project that serves as a framework for carrying out a critical analysis and assessment of imprecise situations, in which they are able to apply their contributions, expertise and working method to synthesise new and complex ideas that yield a deeper knowledge of the research context in which they work;
d) have developed sufficient autonomy to set up, manage and lead innovative research teams and projects and scientific collaborations (both national and international) within their subject area, in multidisciplinary contexts and, where appropriate, with a substantial element of knowledge transfer;
e) have demonstrated that they are able to carry out their research activity in a socially responsible manner and with scientific integrity;
f) have demonstrated, within their specific scientific context, that they are able to make cultural, social or technological advances and promote innovation in all areas within a knowledge-based society;
g) have demonstrated that they are able to participate in scientific discussions at the international level in their field of expertise and disseminate the results of their research activity to audiences of all kinds.

Number of places

8

Duration of studies and dedication regime

Duration
The maximum period of study for full-time doctoral studies is three years, counted from the date of admission to the programme to the date of submission of the doctoral thesis. The academic committee of the doctoral programme may authorise a doctoral candidate to pursue doctoral studies on a part-time basis. In this case, the maximum period of study is five years, counting from the date of admission to the programme to the date of submission of the doctoral thesis. For calculating these periods, the date of admission is considered to be the date of the first enrolment for tutorials, and the date of submission the moment in which the Doctoral School officially deposits the doctoral thesis.

For full-time doctoral candidates, the minimum period of study is two years, counted from the date of an applicant's admission to the programme until the date on which the doctoral thesis is deposited; for part-time doctoral candidates it is four years. When there are justified grounds for doing so, and the thesis supervisor and academic tutor have given their authorisation, doctoral candidates may request that the academic committee of their doctoral programme exempt them from the minimum period of study requirement.

The calculation of periods of study will not include periods of absence due to illness, pregnancy or any other reason provided for in the regulations in force. Students who find themselves in any of these circumstances must notify the academic committee of the doctoral programme, which, where appropriate, must inform the Doctoral School. Doctoral candidates may also temporarily withdraw from the programme for up to one year, and this period may be extended for an additional year. Doctoral candidates who wish to interrupt their studies must submit a justified request to the academic committee of the doctoral programme, which will decide whether or not to approve the request. Each programme will establish conditions for readmission to doctoral studies.

Extension
If full-time doctoral candidates have not applied to deposit their thesis by the end of the three-year period of study, the academic committee of the programme may authorise an extension of up to one year. In exceptional circumstances, a further one-year extension may be granted, subject to the conditions established by the corresponding doctoral programme. In the case of part-time doctoral candidates, an extension of two years may be authorised. In both cases, in exceptional circumstances a further one-year extension may be granted by the Doctoral School's Standing Committee, upon the submission of a reasoned application by the academic committee of the doctoral programme.

Dismissal from the doctoral programme
A doctoral candidate may be dismissed from a doctoral programme for the following reasons:

• The doctoral candidate submitting a justified application to withdraw from the programme.
• The maximum period of study and of extensions thereof ending.
• The doctoral candidate not having enrolled every academic year (unless he or she has been authorised to temporarily withdraw).
• The doctoral candidate failing two consecutive assessments.
• The doctoral candidate having disciplinary proceedings filed against him or her that rule that he or she must be dismissed from the UPC.

Dismissal from the programme implies that doctoral candidates cannot continue studying at the UPC and the closing of their academic record. This notwithstanding, they may apply to the academic committee of the programme for readmission and the committee must reevaluate them in accordance with the criteria established in the regulations.

Organization

• Ramon Graells, Antoni

• Azara Nicolas, Pedro
• Montaner Martorell, Jose M.
• Pizza de Nanno, Antonio
• Rossello Nicolau, Maribel

• Department of History and Theory of Architecture and Communication Techniques (PROMOTORA)

Agreements with other institutions

On the international level, the programme has collaborated consistently over the last ten years, with professors from various doctoral programmes at the following institutions: Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, the Department of Architecture at the University of Ferrara, Università di Roma La Sapienza, the University of Bologna, Università di Venezia (IUAV), the University of Trieste, the University of L’Aquila, Instituto Superior Técnico, UTL Lisboa, the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto, École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris-Malaquais, HafenCity Universität Hamburg, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Professors from various Latin-American universities also participate in the programme, including: Universidad del Litoral (Santa Fe, Argentina), Mackenzie Presbyterian University (São Paulo, Brazil), Universidad Federal de Bahia (Salvador de Bahia, Brazil), Universidad de Palermo (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Universidad Nacional de la Plata, UNC (Córdoba, Argentina), the Faculty of Architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, etc.

Because of the lines of research associated with the programme, we have kept a close relationship with various institutions, such as the Historical Archives at the Architects’ Association of Catalonia (COAC), the Barcelona History Museum (MUHBA), the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), Arts Santa Mònica and the Queen Sofia National Art Museum in Madrid. As per the stipulations in the new Decree, agreements have been set up with these institutions to incorporate them as external partners of the programme. The top two institutions, due to their regular collaboration with programme and because they have similar strategic research missions, are the Historical Archives at the COAC and the MUHBA.

Access profile

Given the multidisciplinary nature of the scientific field of the programme, there are a wide range of degrees that qualify applicants for admission.

In general, the programme is directed at those who are interested and who, in addition to meeting the standard credit requirements, are prepared and have interest in carrying out research with assistance from the professors in the programme. Thus, preference will be given to applicants that have previously completed a master’s programme in a related subject matter and are interested in the lines of research considered in the programme, and who are mature, able to express themselves clearly and have research experience.

Specific admission requirements
To give more detail, applicants’ academic backgrounds must meet the following requirements:
Candidates must have completed undergraduate and master’s studies in architecture, geography, history, history of art or the humanities (or less similar fields such as archaeology, journalism, tourism, etc.) and must be interested in carrying out doctoral-level research in an area related to the theory and history of architecture, art and cities. Compliance with these requirements will be assessed by weighting the measures that follow:
• The appropriateness of applicants’ undergraduate and master’s background in terms of contents and performance.
• Level of maturity, measured via candidates’ explanations of their academic backgrounds, research interests and motivations.
• Previous research experience via collaborations and publications in which the candidate has participated.
• Similarity of the proposal with programme research groups’ and professors’ lines of work.
It is important that applicants’ academic intentions and interests line up with the areas and lines of research that are followed by professors in this doctoral programme.
You can find information about said master’s programme at the following link: https://www.upc.edu/es/masteres/estudios-avanzados-en-arquitectura-barcelona-mbarch.

The following requirements have also been established:

• Applicants must have command of Spanish and English; knowledge of other languages will be considered positively, as it allows access to a wide range of bibliographic resources.
• In order to define what bridging courses will be necessary for students to be admitted to the programme, the applicant’s background and research experience will be considered.

Access requirements

Applicants must hold a Spanish bachelor’s degree or equivalent and a Spanish master’s degree or equivalent, provided they have completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits on the two degrees (Royal Decree 43/2015, of 2 February)

In addition, the following may apply:

• Holders of an official degree awarded by a university in Spain or any other country in the European Higher Education Area, pursuant to the provisions of Article 16 of Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, which establishes official university course regulations, who have completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits on official university degrees, of which at least 60 must be at the master's degree level.
• Holders of an official Spanish bachelor’s degree comprising at least 300 credits, as provided for by EU regulations. Holder of degrees of this kind must complete bridging courses unless the curriculum of the bachelor’s degree in question included research training credits equivalent in value to those which would be earned on a master's degree.
• Holders of an official university qualification who, having passed the entrance examination for specialised medical training, have completed at least two years of a training course leading to an official degree in a health-sciences specialisation.
• Holders of a degree issued under a foreign education system. In these cases, homologation is not required, but the UPC must verify that the degree certifies a level of training equivalent to an official Spanish master's degree and qualifies the holder for admission to doctoral studies in the country where it was issued. Admission on this basis does not imply homologation of the foreign degree or its recognition for any purpose other than admission to doctoral studies.
• Holders of a Spanish doctoral qualification issued under previous university regulations.

Note 1: Doctoral studies entrance regulations for holders of an undergraduate degree awarded before the introduction of the EHEA (CG 47/02 2014)

Note 2: Governing Council Decision 64/2014, which approves the procedure and criteria for assessing the fulfilment of academic admission requirements for doctoral studies by holders of non-homologated foreign degrees (CG 25/03 2014)

Admission criteria and merits assessment

Candidates must have a high level of knowledge to be admitted to the programme and to successfully complete the required research for their theses on time.
• Academic transcript (weighting: 15%).
• Personal contact via e-mail and telephone interviews (weighting: 30%).
• Motivation letter (weighting: 30%).
• Knowledge of languages (weighting: 15%). Value that could be changed depending on the kind of research that the applicant wishes to carry out.
• Research experience (weighting: 10%).

Training complements

The academic committee for the programme may require that doctoral students pass specific bridging courses. In this case, the Committee will monitor the bridging courses and set up appropriate criteria to limit their length.

The courses shall involve training in research, but in no case will candidates be required to enrol in 60 or more ECTS credits.

Upon admission, the Academic Committee will assign a supervisor to each new candidate, and for those who did not take the master’s programme in Theory and History of Architecture or the MBArch master’s programme in Advanced Architecture Studies-Barcelona specialisation in Theory, History and Culture, bridging courses will be assigned from these programmes.

The number and type of subjects ideal for complementing applicants’ training will depend on their academic backgrounds and the expectations expressed in their motivation letters.

Enrolment period for new doctoral students

First enrolment will take place after the admission decision, if it is issued after the general enrolment period.

More information at the registration section for new doctoral students

Enrolment period

Enrolment, generally, takes place during the month of October.

More information at the general registration section

Procedure for the preparation and defense of the research plan

Doctoral candidates must submit a research plan, which will be included in their doctoral student activity report, before the end of the first year. The plan may be improved over the course of the doctoral degree. It must be endorsed by the tutor and the supervisor, and it must include the method that is to be followed and the aims of the research.

At least one of these annual assessments will include a public presentation and defence of the research plan and work done before a committee composed of three doctoral degree holders, which will be conducted in the manner determined by each academic committee. The examination committee awards a Pass or Fail mark. A Pass mark is a prerequisite for continuing on the doctoral programme. Doctoral candidates awarded a Fail mark must submit a new research plan for assessment by the academic committee of the doctoral programme within six months.

The committee assesses the research plan every year, in addition to all of the other activities in the doctoral student activity report. Doctoral candidates who are awarded two consecutive Fail marks for the research plan will be obliged to definitely withdraw from the programme.

If they change the subject of their thesis, they must submit a new research plan.

Formation activities

Activity: Tutorial.
Hours: 288.
Compulsory.

Activity: Publications.
Hours: 200.
To be completed during the stage of drafting the thesis.
Optional.

Activity: Participation in research projects associated with the doctoral programme.
Hours: 120.
Dedication will depend on the similarity between research topics, but as a guide, will require a minimum of 10 hours per week during at least three months.
Optional.

Activity: Mobility.
Hours: 480.
Optional.

Activity: Assessment based on doctoral student activity report (DAD) and research plan.
Hours: 4.
Compulsory.

Activity: Training in information skills.
Hours: 1.5.
Compulsory.

Activity: Research methodology.
Hours: 12.
Optional.

Activity: Innovation and creativity.
Hours: 8.
Optional.

Activity: Language and communication skills.
Hours: 18.
Optional.

Activity: Courses and seminars.
Hours: 50.
To be completed at the beginning of training.
Optional.

Activity: Workshops.
Hours: 15.
Optional.

Procedure for assignment of tutor and thesis director

The academic committee of the doctoral programme assigns a thesis supervisor to each doctoral candidate when they are admitted or enrol for the first time, taking account of the thesis supervision commitment referred to in the admission decision.

The thesis supervisor will ensure that training activities carried out by the doctoral candidate are coherent and suitable, and that the topic of the candidate’s doctoral thesis will have an impact and make a novel contribution to knowledge in the relevant field. The thesis supervisor will also guide the doctoral candidate in planning the thesis and, if necessary, tailoring it to any other projects or activities undertaken. The thesis supervisor will generally be a UPC professor or researcher who holds a doctoral degree and has documented research experience. This includes PhD-holding staff at associated schools (as determined by the Governing Council) and UPC-affiliated research institutes (in accordance with corresponding collaboration and affiliation agreements). When thesis supervisors are UPC staff members, they also act as the doctoral candidate’s tutor.

PhD holders who do not meet these criteria (as a result of their contractual relationship or the nature of the institution to which they are attached) must be approved by the UPC Doctoral School's Standing Committee in order to participate in a doctoral programme as researchers with documented research experience.

The academic committee of the doctoral programme may approve the appointment of a PhD-holding expert who is not a UPC staff member as a candidate’s thesis supervisor. In such cases, the prior authorisation of the UPC Doctoral School's Standing Committee is required. A UPC staff member who holds a doctoral degree and has documented research experience must also be proposed to act as a co-supervisor, or as the doctoral candidate’s tutor if one has not been assigned.

A thesis supervisor may step down from this role if there are justified reasons (recognised as valid by the committee) for doing so. If this occurs, the academic committee of the doctoral programme will assign the doctoral candidate a new thesis supervisor.

Provided there are justified reasons for doing so, and after hearing any relevant input from the doctoral candidate, the academic committee of the doctoral programme may assign a new thesis supervisor at any time during the period of doctoral study.

If there are academic reasons for doing so (an interdisciplinary topic, joint or international programmes, etc.) and the academic committee of the programme gives its approval, an additional thesis supervisor may be assigned. Supervisors and co-supervisors have the same responsibilities and academic recognition.

The maximum number of supervisors of a doctoral thesis is two: a supervisor and a co-supervisor.

For theses carried out under a cotutelle agreement or as part of an Industrial Doctorate, if necessary and if the agreement foresees it this maximum number of supervisors may not apply. This notwithstanding, the maximum number of supervisors belonging to the UPC is two.

More information at the PhD theses section

Permanence

The academic committee of the programme may authorise an extension of up to one year for full-time doctoral candidates who have not applied to deposit their thesis by the end of the three-year period of study, in the terms outlined in the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. In the case of part-time candidates, an extension of two years may be authorised. In both cases, in exceptional circumstances a further one-year extension may be granted by the Doctoral School's Standing Committee, upon the submission of a reasoned application by the academic committee of the doctoral programme.

A doctoral candidate may be dismissed from a doctoral programme for the following reasons:

• The doctoral candidate submitting a justified application to withdraw from the programme.
• The maximum period of study and of extensions thereof ending.
• The doctoral candidate not having enrolled every academic year (unless he or she has been authorised to temporarily withdraw).
• The doctoral candidate failing two consecutive assessments.
• The doctoral candidate having disciplinary proceedings filed against him or her that rule that he or she must be dismissed from the UPC.

Dismissal from the programme implies that doctoral candidates cannot continue studying at the UPC and the closing of their academic record. This notwithstanding, they may apply to the academic committee of the programme for readmission and the committee must reevaluate them in accordance with the criteria established in the regulations.

International Mention

The doctoral degree certificate may include International Doctorate mention. In this case, the doctoral candidate must meet the following requirements:

a) During the period of study leading to the award of the doctoral degree, the doctoral candidate must have spent at least three months at a respected higher education institution or research centre outside Spain to complete courses or do research work. The stays and activities carried out must be endorsed by the thesis supervisor and authorised by the academic committee of the programme. The candidate must provide a certifying document issued by the person responsible for the research group of the body or bodies where the stay or activity was completed. This information will be added to the doctoral student’s activity report.
b) Part of the thesis (at least the summary and conclusions) must be written and presented in one of the languages commonly used for science communication in the relevant field of knowledge, which must not be an official language of Spain. This rule does not apply to stays and reports in Spanish or to experts from Spanish-speaking countries.
c) At least two PhD-holding experts belonging to a higher education institution or research centre outside Spain must have issued officially certified reports on the thesis.
d) The thesis examination committee must have included at least one PhD-holding expert from a higher education or research institution outside Spain who was not responsible for the candidate’s stay abroad (point a) above).
e) The thesis defence must have taken place on UPC premises or, in the case of joint programmes, at the location specified in the collaboration agreement.

List of authorized thesis for defense

Last update: 04/10/2023 04:45:29.

List of lodged theses

Last update: 04/10/2023 04:30:30.

List of defended theses by year

• CELIENTO, ILIA: Spazi e corpi architettonici di Enric Miralles. Pensieri e costruzioni guardando a progetti italiani
  
  Author: CELIENTO, ILIA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN THEORY AND HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
  Department: (THATC)
  Mode: Change of supervisor
  Reading date: 07/07/2023
  Thesis director: MONTANER MARTORELL, JOSE M. | MOLINARI, LUCA
  

  Committee:
       PRESIDENT: GARCIA ESTEVEZ, CAROLINA BEATRIZ
       SECRETARI: FORINO, IMMACOLATA CONCEZIONE
       VOCAL: MARINI, SARA
  Thesis abstract: This thesis is the result of the intuitions, the same ones, but in a different form, that have guided the Spanish architect Enric Miralles throughout his short but prolific career. Intuitions that give rise to reflections on a conventional way of "doing architecture". The subject is not only the one who writes, studies, elaborates, thinks, draws. In this case, the subject is also Enric Miralles, the Catalan architect who died prematurely at the age of 45. Moreover, the subject is the architectural body in tension with its space: the body that fuses the building and the landscape without pouring into them another (over)reiterated dichotomy. In this relationship, it is common to define the time of an architecture: when it begins, when it ends, what life it has. Architecture does not die. Or rather, it should not die unless intuition ends. The relationship between subject and object is what then overflows in architecture in a description of facts, in an analysis of a project, in a definition of an idea and, not always, in the construction of a work.For Enric Miralles, space and the architectural body are in continuous tension, and, in this way, architecture is exciting. Intuition must be visible in his "making architecture". That architecture that is never finished, even if it is built. That architecture that still manages to thrill because the subject is visible in the object. It is probably still too early to say with certainty what his true legacy is, but his "making architecture" can be an example to remind us of the origin of a lost originality (cf. chapter 5).The world of Enric Miralles is vast and complex and, as Rafael Moneo states (cf. Preface), difficult to study in a few specific projects. However, to get started, research always needs a place on which to focus a narrative. In this case, it is Italy, the meeting and return point on this research journey, the place of formation and inspiration for Miralles. In the first part of the thesis work, we meet a passionate, but also non-conformist Miralles. In the seventies and eighties, the Barcelona School was fascinated by Milanese architecture, but Miralles' pendulum swung the other way to define his own methodology and language: his own path when, in fact, at that time the need to conform was vital to forget the long period of totalitarianism. Had these attentions to the ordinary not existed - the Rossi studies, the most ordinary, the participation in ILAUD - the dialogue between thought and construction (part two) would not have been created: a conversation that then generates the communication between space, body, and time. Finally, the continuity of the unfinished, the originality of remembering and recalling the origin of the idea (third part) would not have been derived.The background to the research is Italy as the place of inspiration for Miralles, so that, through large, unbuilt Italian case studies, the work of Miralles is remembered, memorised and given a useful lesson to formulate new theories and related projects, as well as to reflect on a possible crisis of the architectural language. Today, fortunately, the work begun by Miralles continues. Benedetta Tagliabue is at the helm of a ship that two decades ago was thought to be sinking. The changes arouse perplexity and even fear, but they can be lived in, as if they were normal refurbished houses. Thus, the unfinished, which for Miralles persisted even in the finished construction, persists. It is present to turn towards an unknown future. In a certain way, the origins in an idea - that is, the way of authenticating the birth of a form, the importance of a geometry, the existence of time - continue, albeit in a different form, adapting to change and revealing a present originality.
  

• MARTIN NIEVA, HELENA: Around and about the arts in Barcelona (1939-1960): Supporting roles, select circles and small venues
  
  Author: MARTIN NIEVA, HELENA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN THEORY AND HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
  Department: (THATC)
  Mode: Normal
  Reading date: 15/06/2023
  Thesis director: LAHUERTA ALSINA, JUAN JOSE | GAN QUESADA, GERMAN
  

  Committee:
       PRESIDENT: FREIXA SERRA, MIREIA DEL RIPOLL
       SECRETARI: GARCIA ESTEVEZ, CAROLINA BEATRIZ
       VOCAL: PEREZ ZALDUONDO, MARIA GEMMA
  Thesis abstract: "Around and about the Arts in Barcelona" explores the slow, difficult introduction of music and visual arts of the avant-garde into the city between the years 1939 and 1960. It looks at the formation of a small audience with an affinity for these forms of art expression, at a time when not even artists such as Miró, and even less the music of Schoenberg, had a place in the cultural life of Barcelona.A first hypothesis of this dissertation is that an alliance existed between some supporting roles who formed select circles to cultivate modernity in small alternative venues, faced with the bleak environment of Early Francoism. In turn, these same select circles, which were enthusiastic about the visual arts of the avant-garde, were equally interested in the latest music, both by composers of the Second Viennese School and the most ground-breaking proposals of the Darmstadt Summer Courses.These supporting roles gained considerable autonomy beyond the artists they promoted and were essential actors to understand the artistic and musical life of Barcelona in the period 1939-1960. Thus, Joan Prats and photographer Joaquim Gomis promoted an account that would lead to an understanding of Miró's work and, in turn, supported various projects to recover Gaudí based on this avant-garde approach. Prats maintained the same approach when he organised the listening sessions of records by Bartók for Club 49.In addition, this dissertation indicates that only in some small venues (Sala Gaspar, Institut Français or Bartomeu House) was it possible to find the combination of calm and curiosity required for active education in the new art. These spaces for socialising housed the select circles that are addressed in this study: the sophisticated Club 49, the specialised Manuel de Falla Circle and the active Juventudes Musicales Españolas.To prioritise the clarity of the presentation, the first part of the dissertation is on the visual arts, with a focus on the experience of the "fotoscop", and the second part is on art music. However, in reality, the sociocultural and political framework is the same in both parts. Hence, the events and the people involved often coincide in time and space, to create a rich network of relationships that it is almost impossible to unpick but has been woven throughout the text.The accounts outlined in each of the two parts use different strategies. In the first part, Gomis and Prats wonder how to photograph a work of art. In this account, two creators are intertwined: Miró, their close friend with whom they shared desires, confidences and projects, and Gaudí, a hero who had already died, who only left behind his architectural works in the city's streets. The "fotoscop" transmits these questions and provides interpretations of considerable impact on previous studies. In contrast, in the second part, it was necessary to start from zero. To explain the singularity of the music cycles of "Música oberta", promoted by Juan Hidalgo and Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny, the paths of the musicians, patrons and platforms of dissemination of the music in Barcelona from the end of the Spanish Civil War had to be reconstructed archaeologically. Previous analyses had only established a few aspects of a topic that this dissertation has addressed from a perspective of greater complexity: that of the vital constitution of a rich network between the agents.The two objects of study, the "fotoscop" and "Música oberta", continued until the death of Joan Prats in 1970. However, the dissertation has tried to show that in 1960, they were already sufficiently defined as a concept and a form in the process of institutionalisation of the avant-garde. Thus, this study is based on an analysis of the artistic situation of the avant-garde in Barcelona in the decade of the 1960s, considering the development in the modes of cultural intervention that had been forged in previous years.
  

• SALDAÑA PUERTO, CÉSAR: Para una sociología de la intelectualidad outsider. Manierismo (1964), de Arnold Hauser, y los marxismos heterodoxos
  
  Author: SALDAÑA PUERTO, CÉSAR
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN THEORY AND HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
  Department: (THATC)
  Mode: Normal
  Reading date: 15/09/2023
  Thesis director: AZARA NICOLAS, PEDRO
  

  Committee:
       PRESIDENT: HERNANDEZ SANCHEZ, DOMINGO
       SECRETARI: LAHUERTA ALSINA, JUAN JOSE
       VOCAL: SANTAMARIA FERNANDEZ, ALBERTO
  Thesis abstract: Mannerism is one of the most contentious concepts in the history of Western art, and it is significant that an author as controversial as Arnold Hauser (1892-1978) devoted a good part of his efforts to it. The controversies around mannerism and around Hauser are particular cases of a general problem: the establishment of a common framework of scientific rigor for the social sciences. The thesis explores their alignment with epistemological debates, while trying to contextualize them in the fierce struggle for survival of its protagonists: exiled intellectuals, seeking a place in the institutions of the host countries, in an environment marked by the Cold War, and by a rigid process of disciplinaryization that had lost the utopian thrust from which it was projected at the beginning of the century. With this, we try to contribute to recent efforts to reassess the figure of Hauser. Perhaps we may find, in his supposed dilettantism, his resistance to specialization and his institutional orphanhood, traits that suggest a possible model in times in which the omnipresence of terms such as 'interdisciplinary' or 'multidisciplinary' are the correlate of their effective absence. Block I tries to understand Hauser's motivations, outlining the keys to the thesis: Mannerism (1964) as a manifesto of heterodox Marxism, understood as a worldview. We qualify those analyzes that emphasize his romantic anti-capitalism. Building bridges with Benjamin, Marcuse and Adorno, we insist on those Marxisms related to the post-utopian moment in which revolution is no longer possible, from which the importance of an apparently solipsistic struggle is derived, similar to the apparent post-utopian solipsism of mannerist art. The chaps. 2 and 3 reconstruct Hauser's life and the gestation of the book drawing on archival research and documenting his condition as an outsider, his precariousness and exiles, as well as clarifying the link between the issue of the education of the masses and the problem of cinema, and mannerism. Block II deals with the controversies in the institutions that legitimize science: we outline some ideological and political correlates of the epistemological, methodological and stylistic disputes. The chaps. 4, 5 and 6 articulate the same historical journey, examined from different angles; the totality becomes elusive due to the reification of knowledge (Lukács, Adorno), but it continues to exercise its spell; the return to a relativism and pluralism similar to that of the early 20th century is confirmed. This explains, in part, the current relevance of heterodox Marxisms, which renounce systems, but not the search for truth in the struggle with form, in the configuration of discourse. Block III weighs the validity of Mannerism in dialogue with its reception. On the one hand, the methodological and theoretical problems surrounding the book; on the other, the praxis that emerges from the various readings that we find in historiography. The plot threads ¿the need for the heterodox and the outsider; of denying an optimistic vision of progress; of verifying that any pretense of a system has something dishonest, being more rigorous the renunciation of certain types of rigor¿ are deployed here in its most general thematization: the utopias and myths of the modern, correlate of the desire for systematization and formal rigor, naturalize capitalism, referring to an archaic drive: denying historicity. The type of redemptive alienation (chaps. 1, 6 and 8) is a reification that allows one to take control of the heavy burden of culture, without naturalizing it. If utopias and systems make it easier to deal with an elusive legacy, they do so by simplifying and dehistoricizing us. The seed of redemption that heterodox Marxisms find in the modern goes through pastiche and montage because, as in the paradoxical art of some mannerists, they preserve and make visible the contradictoriness of being.
  

Last update: 04/10/2023 05:01:11.

Research groups

• ACC-Architecture, City and Culture
• ACM-Critical Analysis of Modernity: Architecture and the City

Teachers

• Azara Nicolas, Pedro
• Garcia Estevez, Carolina Beatriz
• Garcia Fuentes, Jose Maria
• Giner Olcina, Josep
• Granell Trias, Enrique
• Graus Rovira, Ramon
• Hernandez Falagan, David
• Lahuerta Alsina, Juan Jose
• Llorente Diaz, Marta
• Martinez Martinez, Raul
• Montaner Martorell, Jose M.
• Muxi Martinez, Zaida
• Oliveras Samitier, Jordi
• Oyon Bañales, Jose Luis
• Pizza de Nanno, Antonio
• Ramon Graells, Antoni
• Rosell Colomina, Jaume
• Rossello Nicolau, Maribel
• Sanz Esquide, Jose Angel
• Serra Permanyer, Marta
• Usandizaga Calparsoro, Miguel

• Guardia Bassols, Manel
• Rovira Gimeno, Jose Maria