ABSTRACT
Valdelaguna’s descent has been arrested by Victor Lopez Cotelo and Carlos Puente Fernandez’s new town hall. It has breathed new life into the town, building on existing spaces, routes and patterns of development, to recreate a sense of civitas and provide a new heart for the town. In the 1980s, Spain was emerging from decades of Franco’s rule into something of an economic and cultural renaissance, which led to a major nationwide programme of public building development, urban repair and infrastructure renewal, culminating in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. There was a desire to both celebrate and consolidate the new democracy, which led to funding being made available for the provision of a new town hall in little Valdelaguna. Their tiny town hall in Valdelaguna has provided the town with a civic realm for the first time in its long history. Despite its size and the restraint of its architecture, it is rich in ideas and symbolism.
