La fábrica Pegaso de Barcelona (1949-4974). De la arquitectura de la autarquía a la automoción de los tiempos modernos

Abstract

ENASA was created by Instituto Nacional de Industria in October 1946. Franco’s government saw the automotive industry as a key element for the economical recovery after the war period. The old Hispano Suiza factory in Barcelona was adapted for massive cars production requirements of. Led by a foreign team directed by W. Ricart, ENASA built the first Pegaso trucks. They left Sagrera’s plant at the end of 1947. In July 1949, Ing. Carles M. Carreras Rius, head of production, signed the architectural project for new factory buildings. Two months later, Franco opened the refurbishment. They were built as an architectural scenario to show the government’s economic plan. In 1950, new buildings were erected inside the industrial plant. Magazine STA and the cabriolet Z. 102 were launched as part of propaganda diffusion. However, these steps lead to a future triple collapse: the production system —whose international shift was unsustainable—; an autistic architecture with its owns contradictions, and finally a working class struggle, silenced and muted.