La cultura urbana como espectáculo: la experiencia de modernidad en la Exposición Internacional de Barcelona 1929

Abstract

This article looks anew at The 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, focusing on its material and visual culture, its commercial pavilions, its attractions, and its configuration of space in order to demonstrate how the design of this event connects with the dynamics of urban culture and the experience of modernity. Through it, we will see the centrality of sensory experience, the visual regime of the fair as related to the circulation of knowledge in the 19th century, and the participation of consumerism in the creation of new urban spaces, new forms of entertainment, and modern styles such as Art Deco. The objective will be to demonstrate the extent to which the 1929 event made urban culture and the emergence of consumer society more concrete, as first suggested in the Exposition of 1888.