Abstract
The firm Compañía del Ferrocarril Central de Aragón built 21 stations and halts along the 120 kilometres separating Caminreal and Zaragoza. The construction of this line in the 1930s marked a turning point in Spain’s railway history as it was an example of adapting technological solutions to the circumstances of the environment. Its most important novelty, however, was that great architects provided minor architectures, which served as an experimental laboratory of design mechanisms that would end up being identified with modernity in our country. The stations designed for this line by Secundino Zuazo (1887–1971) represented an opportunity for him to reflect on a modern language combining rationalist elements with local traditional ones but without ever losing sight of the appropriateness to the surroundings. The rational use of new materials, whose qualities differ greatly from traditional ones, determined a new architecture.
Highlights
Construction of the railway began in Spain throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, primarily by private companies as it was impossible for the State to assume the financial burden.[3]
Its most important novelty was that great architects provided minor architectures, which served as an experimental laboratory of design mechanisms that would end up being identified with modernity in our country
The stations designed for this line by Secundino Zuazo (1887-1971) represented an opportunity for him to reflect on a modern language combining rationalist elements with local traditional ones but without ever losing sight of the appropriateness to the surroundings
Summary
Construction of the railway began in Spain throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, primarily by private companies as it was impossible for the State to assume the financial burden.[3]. They even sought a local flavour for their stations to contrast with the markedly industrial style of the ones that had been the benchmarks up until that point One of these firms was the Compañía del Ferrocarril Central de Aragón, formed in 1894 by a group of Belgian capitalists, nationalised in 1941 and the developer of one of the main lines for the province of Teruel, the Caminreal-Zaragoza line (Figure 1), which would mark a before and after in Spanish rail history as it was a groundbreaker in adapting technological solutions to the particular circumstances.[4] this line only featured originally as secondary in the State’s plans, Central de Aragón wanted to make its stations stand out from what had been the norm in second-class rail constructions before . For Zuazo, this commission represented an opportunity to reflect on modern language while ensuring it was appropriate for the location, inserting in the landscape an almost intuitive architecture that can be considered a first trial of new architectural currents, even though it was the result of old compositional patterns and briefs
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