OUTPUTS

Jaume Valentines-Álvarez
Technology and Culture
Johns Hopkins University Press
Volume 66, Number 2, April 2025
pp. 321-355
10.1353/tech.2025.a956847
https://ddd.uab.cat/record/320263 (Open access)

This article examines air-raid shelters in Barcelona and London during the late 1930s as architectural embodiments of political ideologies and social dynamics. During the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona became a huge laboratory to test not only new means of destruction but also of protection for the coming World War: a city of shelters emerged underground, mobilizing nature, knowledge, expertise, and community networks. In London, the heated debate on civil defense was informed by the experiments held in Barcelona. Focusing on three types of shelters and the politics that they reflected, the study reveals how wartime protection technologies mirrored the conflicts and hierarchies of the societies they served. By situating these shelters within broader wartime technopolitics, the article highlights the interplay between technological landscapes, social networks, gender constructs, and political ideologies during moments of crisis.

Cycling cities: The Lisbon experience 
M. Luísa Sousa, Bernardo Campos Pereira, Jaume Valentines-Álvarez, João Machado, Diego Cavalcanti, Patrícia Melo, and David Vale
Eindhoven: Foundation for the History of Technology, 2025
Open Access (PDF)

Since the late 1890s, Lisbon’s cyclists have been part of a global movement, pushing
for better roads, improvements to safety, and freedom of mobility. Cyclists of all
backgrounds —from workers to professionals— embraced cycling as a practical and accessible mode of transportation, challenging social norms and urban barriers. Despite the city’s hills, rising car culture, and neglect of cycling’s history beyond sport, cycling persists as a vital force. This book explores the efforts of advocates, users, and policymakers to negotiate cycling’s role in shaping Lisbon’s identity and its future, proving that cycling is not just a relic but a movement for change.