ABSTRACT
During a long four decade period, from the 1970s until 2008, Spain went through a dramatic economic growth, in which the construction sector played a crucial role. Following the success of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, several City Halls embarked on enterprises investing in culture with projects designed by renowned architects, hoping it would attract visitors and promote the local economy. The 2008 global financial crisis was felt deeply by Spain, where years of austerity measures plunged the country into recession, causing stagnation in the construction sector. The purpose of this study is analyzing examples of failed public buildings in recent years, relating the motivations that encouraged ambitious programs with the causes of its incompleteness, for better understanding the underlying issues that caused high public debt. The political concern with popularity along with the dazzling effect of world-famous architects turned out to be a source of public expense in many cases. The expected result is a contribution for a greater social awareness, so that conclusions can be drawn and a lesson learned for the future. This study highlights the successful example of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the years of the property bubble as a source of indebtedness, the consequences of the Great Recession and, last but not least, three cases that demonstrate the problem: the City of Culture of Galicia (in Santiago de Compostela) by Peter Eisenman (Eisenman Architects), the Alcorcón Centre for Creation of the Arts by Javier Camacho and Pedro Bustamante (cmA Arquitectos (Madrid metropolitan area), and Córdoba Congress Centre (for Córdoba, Andalusia) by Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon (OMA).
