Historia Crítica

Hist. Crit. | eISSN 1900-6152 | ISSN 0121-1617

Redefining National Memory: Debates About Architectural Conservation in Bogotá, 1930-1946

No. 40 (2010-01-01)
  • Catalina Muñoz Rojas
https://doi.org/10.7440/histcrit40.2010.03

Abstract

This article examines the debates prompted by the planned-demolition of colonial buildings between 1930 and 1946 in order to modernize the Colombian capital. It shows how these debates not only reflected the political polarization of the period, but also, through the strategic use of memory, became a means by which political identities were reconfigured. Liberals used these discussions to consolidate their image as the country’s modernizers, while Conservatives, who had initiated the urban-modernization project before 1930, emphasized the anti-modern discourse of tradition and Hispanic identity.

Keywords: cultural patrimony, memory, modernization, urban development, conservation of monuments, Colombia