Arquitectura e imaginarios en la percepción y configuración del espacio turístico. México como paradigma

Laburpena

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the imaginaries (the mental constructions derived from the interpretation that we make about objects) have been a very important subject in general and especially in Social Sciences. Their importance and influence as a tool for understanding social phenomena have been rising to the point that in the last decades other areas of knowledge have begun using it. This research is to be seen in this context, offering an architectonic approach to the study of imaginaries, especially the touristic ones. Tourism has been developed until the present day as one of the principal sources of production of social imaginaries, and architecture is playing a major role in it, from the formal aspects, urban manifestations to the most subjective forms of expression. Through all of these imaginaries, which at the same time are constantly offering us clues of architectonic value, architecture has a substantial influence on the perception, configuration and management of touristic places. Mexico, one of the countries with the highest touristic potential and diversity in the world, is used here as a case study. The research was carried out by paying attention to several aspects that eventually became the five chapters of the thesis. As this is an interdisciplinary study, this research provides the opportunity to see architecture and tourist territory from two unusual perspectives: a) a more diverse and complex one, which aims at highlighting the subjective aspect in architectonic design and urban planning, and b) another one that considers the architecture of “little or no” architectonic value but that is still attractive to society. Aspects which have been studied in this research determine socioeconomic and socio-cultural behaviors and the use of touristic sites. Finally, the thesis aims at providing tools for the study of other tourist destinations, since the criteria of analysis followed for Mexico can be used to study any other destination.