Developmentalism and Territory: Three Transport Infrastructures in Santa Fe (Argentina, 1957-1971) as Case Studies

Abstract

This study aims to recognize the elements that make up the notion of technological determinism and the power (in a political sense) of technologies in the transformation of a given area. Three major infrastructure projects are addressed, understood as technological artifacts, built in the 1960s, that consolidated the physiognomy of the corridor of National Route 168 —Santa Fe city, Argentina—. The hypothesis that guides the study assumes that infrastructures and their materiality have influenced the transformation of the territory that contains them, specifically in the Santa Fe-Paraná metropolitan area. The cases addressed —two bridges and a subfluvial tunnel— were analyzed through the recognition of their construction systems, architectural aspects —if any— and production conditions. Concrete as the predominant material turns out to be, not only the condition of possibility to experience the territory, but also, a constituent part of it. It is considered that the context of production of the works —developmental model— and the level of appropriation and assessment achieved, are fundamental aspects to understand the notion of technological determinism in these infrastructures.