Ashes and Granite

In this book, author Olivia Munoz-Rojas looks at the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, critically examining the wartime destruction and post-war rebuilding of three prominent sites: Madrid, Bilbao, and Barcelona. Each case highlights different dimensions of the material impact of the conflict, the practical challenges of reconstruction, and the symbolic uses of the two processes by the winning side. From an original and fruitful angle, the book reveals new aspects of the Spanish Civil War and the evolution of the Franco regime, as well as more general insights into the topic of wartime destruction and post-war reconstruction of cities. The title - Ashes and Granite - both visually and texturally captures the damage caused by the war, as well as the Franco regime's concept of the ideal Hispanic construction material. Written from an interdisciplinary perspective at the intersections of urban/political history and theory, planning, and architecture, the book draws largely on unpublish