Emili Blanch Roig, arquitectura d'un exili

Emili Blanch Roig, architecture of an exile

Researcher
Gemma Domènech i Casadevall

Project duration
Six months (June - November 2010)

Description:

Emili Blanch Roig (1897-1996) is part of a generation of architects fully identified with the ideals of the Republic, who work intensely to improve the living conditions of citizens, building schools and other facilities. In 1939, after the Civil War, the winning side, with the desire to erase the immediate democratic past and find adherents to the new ideology, carried out the purge of professionals who had worked for the Republic. Blanch's political commitment led him to leave Catalonia and settle first in Montpellier and later in Mexico. The magnificent welcome that the American country gives to the Catalan exiles, allows Blanch to continue practicing his profession in a series of projects whose plans are preserved in the Municipal Archives of Girona. When in 1948, the Blanch family returns to Catalonia, he faces the difficult situation of having all his assets confiscated and having been suspended from the public and private exercise of his profession. When he recovers his title of architect, he builds small houses and some tourist facilities, especially for his family and friends. The society that receives him prevents him from enjoying the social and architectural prestige that he had had before the war.