Modern urban form renewal at Cheste Workers University

Abstract

Franco's Workers Universities intended for vocational training with the State covering all student costs. Cheste Workers Universuty, designed by Moreno Barberá in 1967 for a population of 5000 people, was planned on a hill following the Athens Charter. Grouped by functions, the pieces are placed adapting to the topography, segregating road and pedestrian circulations. The urban complex is a synthesis of modern experiences. The change of political regime suppressed this educational model, emptying the Cheste’s complex of its function. Economic development led to the transformation of the surrounding landscape, with the expansion of new industrial and service areas or infrastructures that generated environmental impact on the urban area. The lack of heritage protection is a determining factor in the degradation of the urban fabric which, together with the complexity of the administrative-legislative management, has repercussions on the deficiencies accumulated in this paradigmatic example of modern urban planning. The main objective of the text is to define criteria for intervention that reconcile the new expansion areas with the heritage urban fabric. The research proposes the incorporation of heritage considerations for the readaptation of the urban fabric through a Master Plan that includes criteria to eliminate inappropriate interventions and guarantee future actions.