Abstract

This chap­ter approa­ches urban space through the notion of para­trans­la­tion, unders­tood as a tool for analy­sing the para­tex­tual ele­ments that shape the city beyond the tra­di­tio­nal limits of trans­la­tion. From this pers­pec­ti­ve, it exa­mi­nes how cer­tain urban devi­ces, usually regar­ded as merely fun­ctio­nal, can beco­me spa­ces of sym­bo­lic and cul­tu­ral pro­duc­tion.

The roun­da­bout is pre­sen­ted as a para­dig­ma­tic case of para­trans­la­ta­ble space in the con­tem­po­rary city. Far from being solely a traf­fic-mana­ge­ment infras­truc­tu­re, the roun­da­bout emer­ges as an anth­ro­po­lo­gi­cal place, capa­ble of acqui­ring collec­ti­ve mea­nings and of acting as a sup­port for urban iden­tity. The incor­po­ra­tion of scul­ptu­res, monu­ments or artis­tic ins­ta­lla­tions at its cen­tre acti­va­tes pro­ces­ses of sym­bo­lic appro­pria­tion of public space, gene­rally dri­ven by ins­ti­tu­tio­nal bodies, which trans­form these encla­ves into sites of memory, heri­ta­ge and civic narra­ti­ve.

From a for­mal and fun­ctio­nal point of view, the roun­da­bout ope­ra­tes as a sym­bo­lic island: a cen­tral, visi­ble and deli­mi­ted space that con­cen­tra­tes added cul­tu­ral value amid the city’s cir­cu­la­ting flow. Its con­fi­gu­ra­tion rein­for­ces its con­di­tion as a ritua­li­sed cen­tre, com­pa­ra­ble to notions of sacred space or of a place of elec­tion and peace within the con­ti­nuous move­ment of the urban envi­ron­ment.

The study of the case of the Coia neigh­bourhood in Vigo shows that these inter­ven­tions are not free from con­flicts of inter­pre­ta­tion and legi­ti­ma­tion, revea­ling ten­sions bet­ween the ins­ti­tu­tio­na­li­sa­tion of mea­ning and citi­zens’ readings of space. The para­trans­la­tion of the urban lands­ca­pe thus appears as a dyna­mic pro­cess, tra­ver­sed by nego­tia­tions of iden­tity, memory and power. The para­tex­tual ele­ments of urban space — and in par­ti­cu­lar inter­ve­ned roun­da­bouts — gene­ra­te micro­cosms of mea­ning that trans­la­te local iden­tity into visi­ble and legi­ble forms. Para­trans­la­tion is the­reby con­so­li­da­ted as a way of reading, inter­pre­ting and rew­ri­ting the city, offe­ring new cri­ti­cal tools for unders­tan­ding the con­tem­po­rary urban lands­ca­pe.