Building Paradise
Gender, Tourism and Architecture on the Coasts of Spain in the 20th Century
Nadia Fava (Editor), Antoni Vives-Riera (Editor),
Category: Anthropology, Architecture and Urban Planning, Diversity and Equity Studies, Gender Studies, History, History 1800-present, Social Science, Urban Studies
Language: English
ISBN: 9789462705548
Publication date: April 15, 2027
€35.00 (including 6% VAT)
COMING SOON
Available to pre-order two weeks before date of publication.
Number of pages: 350
Size: 234 x 156 x mm
Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated b/w
Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
University of Barcelona
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Category: Anthropology, Architecture and Urban Planning, Diversity and Equity Studies, Gender Studies, History, History 1800-present, Social Science, Urban Studies
Language: English
ISBN: 9789461668219
Publication date: April 15, 2027
COMING SOON
Number of pages: 350
Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated b/w
Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
University of Barcelona
Category: Anthropology, Architecture and Urban Planning, Diversity and Equity Studies, Gender Studies, History, History 1800-present, Social Science, Urban Studies
Language: English
ISBN: 9789461668202
Publication date: April 15, 2027
COMING SOON
Number of pages: 350
Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated b/w
Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
University of Barcelona
The making of Spain’s coastal paradises through tourism, people, power, and design.
Spain’s celebrated tourist coastlines were not simply discovered or developed; they were socially and culturally constructed. Building Paradise examines how these landscapes were produced through architecture, planning, cultural representations, and everyday practices. Rather than treating coastal destinations as mere sites of leisure, this volume explores them as gendered spaces where social roles, family life, work, and personal freedom were continually negotiated.
Focusing on popular destinations such as Mallorca, the Costa Brava, Benidorm and the Costa Blanca, this book reveals how Spain’s Mediterranean coast was transformed throughout the twentieth century. Through studies of tourist architecture, urban planning, films, literary imaginaries, and leisure practices, it demonstrates how the making of these coastal paradises was inseparable from the construction of gender relations.
Bringing together perspectives from history, architecture, cultural studies, and gender analysis, Building Paradise highlights the often overlooked contributions of women entrepreneurs, hospitality workers, peasant women, local residents, and female architects in shaping Mediterranean tourist spaces. By placing gender, power, and agency at the centre of tourism history, the volume offers a fresh understanding of the transformation of coastal landscapes and everyday life, and its lasting impact on modern Spain.
Nadia Fava
Nadia Fava is Associate Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Girona, specialising in urban planning theory, tourism and Mediterranean landscapes.
Antoni Vives-Riera
Antoni Vives-Riera is Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Barcelona and a specialist in tourism, gender and cultural history.
Eugenia Afinoguénova
Adelina Stefan
José Ramón Valero Escandell
Ester Gisbert Alemany
Marisa García Vergara
María Sebastián
Carla Zollinger
Eva Álvarez
Carlos Gómez
Eduard Moyà
Pisana Posocco
Lola Fernández
Antoni Vives-Riera
Paula Leu Fernández
Nadia Fava
This volume provides critical insights into how Spain’s tourism spaces developed in ways that gender identities were disciplined, negotiated and/or negated. Its chapters offer a critical examination of gender and spatial issues in Spain’s twentieth-century coastal developments, providing a refreshing departure from mainstream geography and economics analyses. - Hazel Tucker, University of Otago
Building Paradise offers an original and compelling reinterpretation of Spain's tourist coast through the intertwined lenses of gender, architecture and spatial production. Combining rich historical research with an ambitious interdisciplinary framework, the volume demonstrates how tourism landscapes are simultaneously sites of discipline, negotiation and emancipation. Its nuanced analyses make it an important contribution to tourism studies, feminist geography, architectural history and the broader scholarship on the social production of space. - Maria Gravari-Barbas, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Building Paradise" about?
The making of Spain’s coastal paradises through tourism, people, power, and design.
Spain’s celebrated tourist coastlines were not simply discovered or developed; they were socially and culturally constructed. Building Paradise examines how these landscapes were produced through architecture, planning, cultural representations, and everyday practices. Rather than treating coastal destinations as mere sites of leisure, this volume explores them as gendered spaces where social roles, family life, work, and personal freedom were continually negotiated.
Focusing on popular destinations such as Mallorca, the Costa Brava, Benidorm and the Costa Blanca, this book reveals how Spain’s Mediterranean coast was transformed throughout the twentieth century. Through studies of tourist architecture, urban planning, films, literary imaginaries, and leisure practices, it demonstrates how the making of these coastal paradises was inseparable from the construction of gender relations.
Bringing together perspectives from history, architecture, cultural studies, and gender analysis, Building Paradise highlights the often overlooked contributions of women entrepreneurs, hospitality workers, peasant women, local residents, and female architects in shaping Mediterranean tourist spaces. By placing gender, power, and agency at the centre of tourism history, the volume offers a fresh understanding of the transformation of coastal landscapes and everyday life, and its lasting impact on modern Spain.
Who wrote "Building Paradise"?
"Building Paradise" was written by Eugenia Afinoguénova, Adelina Stefan, José Ramón Valero Escandell, Ester Gisbert Alemany, Marisa García Vergara, María Sebastián, Carla Zollinger, Eva Álvarez, Carlos Gómez, Eduard Moyà, Pisana Posocco, Lola Fernández, Antoni Vives-Riera and Paula Leu Fernández.
Who edited "Building Paradise"?
"Building Paradise" was edited by Nadia Fava and Antoni Vives-Riera.
Nadia Fava is Associate Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Girona, specialising in urban planning theory, tourism and Mediterranean landscapes.
Antoni Vives-Riera is Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Barcelona and a specialist in tourism, gender and cultural history.
Is "Building Paradise" available Open Access?
Yes, "Building Paradise" is published Open Access. It is available under a BY-NC-ND license.
Who funded the publication of "Building Paradise"?
Publication of "Building Paradise" was funded by KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
University of Barcelona
.
What is the DOI for "Building Paradise"?
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for "Building Paradise" is 10.11116/9789461668219.
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