Evolution and development of the elevation of a main street over the last century. Application to a section of Carmen Street in Cartagena

Abstract

Carmen Street in the city of Cartagena has progressively developed since the 16th century, when it began to be urbanized; however, its greatest architectural boom began at the end of the 19th century. Cantonal war bombings (1873) and the great prosperity mainly promoted by the mining industry in 19th and 20th centuries made a great variety of new buildings proliferate in the city of Cartagena, in general, and in Carmen Street, in particular. It became a major street of the city at the beginning of the 20th century, due to its commercial strength and its architectural beauty. The evolution over time of this street, the aging of the poorest buildings and the Spanish civil war caused buildings from the late 19th century and the early 20th century to be demolished or ruined, and the street lost some of the aspect of the eclectic and modernist age. In order to recreate the elevation of a section of this street in the early 20th century and to compare it to its current state, we have carried out a graphic documentation, which details all the façades by means of digital photogrammetry of the demolished buildings, and a graphic survey by means of a laser scanner of the currently existing façades. This analysis and the graphical comparison show the evolution of the general elevation of a Carmen Street section.

Keywords

• evolución
• patrimonio cultural
• documentación gráfica
• fotogrametrá