Indian School Architecture in the Compostela region: the Case of Ames’ Council

Abstract

From the mid-nineteenth century to the 1930s, Galicia became an exporter of migrant labor to America. When they return to Galicia, these migrants introduced into the Galician countryside novelties that they acquired in America. In this way, come to Galicia cultural, social, political, and, especially, architectural innovations. Novelties that transformed the countryside’s aesthetics, giving it an image of eclectic modernity and heterogeneity, related to the aesthetic styles of the cities. Homes, asylums, hospitals or schools were constructions that proliferated for the emigrant money, and they are an interesting mix between vernacular architecture and contemporary styles. This article aims to observe the presence of schools financed by the Indians in the Compostela region –focusing on the Ames’ council–, looking for their characteristics and styles, their socio-cultural motivations and their aesthetic implications.