El paisaje de Cabanelas. La huella del conde en Laxedo
Abstract
Laxedo, situado a los pies de la Sierra del Cando, no es un simple espacio geográfico con características morfológicas y funcionales propias de una zona rural de media montaña gallega, sino un asentamiento conformado por pequeños núcleos que, en realidad, forman una única y gran “aldea” polinuclear. Hablar de Laxedo, es hablar de la figura de D. Manuel Barreiro Cabanelas, vecino ilustre emigrado a Brasil, cuyo privilegiado estatus social y sus grandes negocios inmobiliarios le permitieron estar en contacto directo con la realidad urbanística de Río de Janeiro durante décadas, nutriéndose del pensamiento intelectual y técnico más moderno de la época. Cabanelas aplicó, en un periodo comprendido entre 1900 a 1936, una serie de principios urbanísticos de influencia europea y americana presentes en los planes de la ciudad carioca–Beaurepaire, Comissão de Melhoramentos, Pereira Passos y Agache– que cambiaron para siempre su Laxedo natal. El estudio realizado suma en el entendimiento del metabolismo urbano del núcleo de Laxedo, a partir de su historia y sus dinámicas sociales como el efecto de la emigración. Se aborda, en particular, el equilibrio entre las dinámicas rurales tradicionales, la emigración, la arquitectura vernácula, la influencia urbanística y el simbolismo masónico de la escultura, ligado a la traza urbana dando sentido al lugar. Laxedo, located at the foot of the Sierra del Cando, is not simply a geographical space with morphological and functional characteristic -typical of this area at the Galician rural mid-mountain range- but we are also facing a settlement made up of small nuclei that form a single and large polynuclear “village”. To speak of Laxedo is to talk about the figure of Mr. Manuel Barreiro Cabanelas, an illustrious neighbor who emigrated to Brazil. His privileged social status and his large real estate businesses will allow him to be in direct contact with the urban reality of Rio de Janeiro for decades, nourishing himself from the most modern intellectual and technical thinking of the time. Cabanelas, by means of his knowledge, applied between 1900 and 1936, a series of urban planning principles of European and American influence used in the city planning of the Rio de Janeiro -Beaurepaire, Comissão de Melhoramentos, Pereira Passos and Agache. This will change forever his native Laxedo. The study carried out combines an understanding of the urban metabolism of the nucleus through its history and its social dynamics as the effect of emigration. What really gives meaning to the place itself is the balance between traditional rural dynamics, emigration, vernacular architecture, urban influence, and the Masonic symbolism of sculpture linked to the urban layout.