EXPRESSIONIST URBAN RENEWAL INTERVENTIONS: AVENIDA DEL OESTE IN VALENCIA AMONG OTHER VALUABLE CASES

Abstract

The last great urban renewal interventions in a Haussmannian way were developed along the 20th century deeply related to modern avant-gardes’ architecture. The success of those urban interventions is largely due to the construction of modern, iconic buildings widely recognisable by the public. Rationalist expressionist buildings became the optimal picture of modernity in cities’ refurbishment. Some cases show a sort of gate to modernity by the construction of twin, modern buildings at both sides of a new urban street. Avenida del Oeste in Valencia was one of the latest examples to be implemented, it is also one of the best examples on the matter.