Company Towns: arquitectura y paternalismo. De la Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines a Cristalería Española

Abstract

Company Towns, based on the idea that housing welfare for workers is vital for the sake of improving labour efficiency, are exceptionally interesting because they help us understand not only the relation between dwelling and environment, but also the social policies adscribed to industrial paternalism. Different perks, from dwelling to education, to the provision of basic consumer goods, as well as healthcare and leisure, were aimed at creating a new kind of man, a model worker, submissive, rooted, loyal and emotionally attached to his family-like company. For the Spanish case, we can identify two periods: a first, expansive phase, which spanned throughout the 19th century, culminating at the end of World War I; and a second phase which coincided with the industrial development and demographic growth –with the resulting increase of the number of workers– that took place in Spain after the Spanish Civil War. Parting from the Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines and finishing with Cristalería Española, in this paper we analyse several architectural complexes of outstanding interest, which were carefully planned according to the aforementioned principles.