Este artículo analiza la reacción de los agentes locales de La Grande Motte ante la propuesta del Ministerio de Cultura en 2010 de declararla Patrimonio del Siglo XX. Las estrategias implementadas, en particular la creación de la marca territorial LGM by La Grande Motte en 2013, han permitido que la localidad se consolide no solo como un balneario heredado del auge económico de la posguerra, sino como un destino turístico urbano de vanguardia, un referente en arquitectura y diseño. El estudio analiza, por lo tanto, cómo se ha aprovechado el patrimonio como un nuevo recurso turístico y de marketing para potenciar la imagen del destino y revitalizar su atractivo.
This article examines the response of local stakeholders to La Grande Motte’s 20th Century Heritage designation by the French Ministry of Culture in 2010. The strategies implemented, particularly the launch of the LGM by La Grande Motte territorial brand in 2013, have redefined the town’s identity, positioning it as a pioneering hub for architecture and design while moving beyond its image as a Trente Glorieuses-era seaside resort. The study examines how heritage has been mobilised as a tourism and marketing resource to drive the destination’s upscale repositioning and revitalise its image.
The aim of this article is to examine hotel architecture as a vehicle for the ‘experience of place’ and the quest for the ‘tópos’, using the Amalia hotel chain in Greece as a case study. The text examines the creation of the Amalia hotel chain, the first and only organized private hotel chain in Greece to operate as a network of cultural destinations. It begins by outlining the decisive role of the Greek state in the development of tourism, followed by a discussion of the contribution made by private initiative through CHAT Tours, which combined organized tours with hotel facilities. The study analyses the five hotels in the chain, designed by Nikos Valsamakis, a well-known Greek modernist architect and explores how their architecture expresses the concept of place/ tópos. Each hotel adapts to its unique natural and cultural environment, drawing on elements from local architecture, the landscape and history, whilst remaining true to the principles of modernism and critical regionalism. The text concludes that the architecture of the Amalia hotels served to enhance the guest experience, highlighting the diversity of Greece’s cultural landscapes and blending contemporary architecture with local identity. Particular emphasis is placed on conveying the way of life of the inhabitants of each region by translating the typology of traditional dwellings into hotel design, using Greek spatial archetypes (atrium, colonnades, etc.) as a reference. Ιn this way, it has contributed both to the development of Greek hotel architecture and to the creation of an authentic tourist experience.
Este artículo analiza la localidad balneario costero de Malo-les-Bains (Dunkerque, Alta Francia), desde sus inicios en el siglo XIX hasta las transformaciones actuales relacionadas con la mejora de la calidad turística y los retos de la gestión del litoral. El auge de los baños de mar, la llegada del ferrocarril, la especulación inmobiliaria y las inversiones privadas de las élites regionales desempeñaron un papel determinante en la construcción de esta localidad costera a principios del siglo XX. El objetivo es comprender por qué Malo-les-Bains es un laboratorio privilegiado de observación de las interacciones entre el patrimonio balneario, el urbanismo litoral, las políticas turísticas y las transformaciones socioeconómicas. Hoy en día, las “villas” de la Belle Époque contribuyen a la identidad patrimonial del lugar, mientras que una amplia remodelación del paseo marítimo y la creación de nuevos barrios costeros acompañan una ambiciosa estrategia turística de renovación. Malo-les-Bains muestra como un patrimonio arquitectónico pintoresco es afectado por un proyecto de modernización, revelando las tensiones entre el atractivo turístico, la “patrimonialización”, las presiones inmobiliarias y la adaptación a los riesgos costeros.
Tourism architecture — from grand hotels and seaside resorts to themed villages and adaptively reused settlements — constitutes a key arena in which authenticity is spatially produced. This article examines this process in the Greek context, where the built environment of travel and leisure has been shaped by sustained interaction between state planning, architectural codification, and the tourist gaze. It introduces the concept of pseudaisthesis (illusion) not as deception, but as a spatial and material condition in which constructed environments are experienced as authentic when they correspond to culturally mediated expectations. Central to this process is Greekness (ellinikótita), through which antiquity, landscape, and vernacular tradition are codified into a reproducible architectural vocabulary. Drawing on historical analysis of tourism policy and theoretical perspectives from the sociology of tourism and architectural theory, the article argues that tourism architecture operates as a scenographic system that produces coherent and recognisable images of place while selectively reframing the social realities from which they emerge. Authenticity is thus understood not as an inherent property of place, but as a constructed effect shaped through spatial, material, and representational practices.
This article analyses the seaside resort of Malo-les-Bains (Dunkerque, Hauts-de-France), from its emergence in the 19th century to the contemporary recompositions related to the rise of tourism and coastal management issues. The rise of sea bathing, the arrival of the railway, land speculation and private investment by the regional elites played a decisive role in the construction of this seaside resort at the turn of the 20th century. The objective is to understand how Malo-les-Bains is a privileged observation laboratory of interactions between seaside heritage, coastal urbanism, tourism policies and socio-economic transformations. Today, the villas of the Belle Époque participate in the heritage identity of the place, while a major requalification of the waterfront and the creation of new coastal areas accompany an ambitious tourism strategy. Malo-les-Bains thus illustrates how a picturesque architectural heritage is mobilized in a modernization project, revealing the tensions between attractiveness, patrimonialization, real estate pressures and adaptation to coastal risks.
This article analyses the seaside resort of Malo-les-Bains (Dunkerque, Hauts-de-France), from its emergence in the 19th century to the contemporary reconfigurations related to the rise of tourism and coastal management issues. The rise of sea bathing, the arrival of the railway, land speculation and private investment by the regional elites played a decisive role in the construction of this seaside resort at the turn of the 20th century. The objective is to understand how Malo-les-Bains is a privileged observation laboratory of interactions between seaside heritage, coastal urbanism, tourism policies and socio-economic transformations. Today, the villas of the Belle Époque participate in the heritage identity of the place, while a major requalification of the waterfront and the creation of new coastal areas accompany an ambitious tourism strategy. Malo-les-Bains thus illustrates how a picturesque architectural heritage is mobilized in a modernization project, revealing the tensions between attractiveness, patrimonialization, real estate pressures and adaptation to coastal risks.
Η αρχιτεκτονική του τουρισμού στην Ελλάδα, από τα μεγάλα ξενοδοχειακά συγκροτήματα και τα παραθαλάσσια θέρετρα έως τους θεματικούς οικισμούς και τις επεμβάσεις αποκατάστασης και επανάχρησης ιστορικών συνόλων, διαδραματίζει καθοριστικό ρόλο στη διαμόρφωση των αντιλήψεων περί αυθεντικότητας. Ο τουριστικός χώρος δεν αποτελεί απλώς το χωρικό υπόβαθρο της τουριστικής δραστηριότητας, αλλά μηχανισμό παραγωγής και προβολής συγκεκριμένων αναπαραστάσεων του ελληνικού τόπου, στο σημείο τομής της κρατικής τουριστικής πολιτικής, του αρχιτεκτονικού σχεδιασμού και των κυρίαρχων πολιτισμικών αφηγήσεων.Στο επίκεντρο της ανάλυσης βρίσκεται η τουριστική ψευδαίσθηση, η οποία δεν προσεγγίζεται ως μορφή εξαπάτησης, αλλά ως χωρική και πολιτισμική διαδικασία μέσω της οποίας η αρχιτεκτονική οργανώνει συγκεκριμένους τρόπους πρόσληψης του αυθεντικού, ανταποκρινόμενη στις πολιτισμικά διαμορφωμένες προσδοκίες των επισκεπτών. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, η ελληνικότητα εξετάζεται ως ο βασικός μηχανισμός διαμόρφωσης της τουριστικής εικόνας της χώρας, καθώς η αρχαιότητα, το φυσικό τοπίο και η λαϊκή παράδοση επιλέγονται, ανασυντίθενται και μετασχηματίζονται σε ένα αναγνωρίσιμο αρχιτεκτονικό και χωρικό ιδίωμα.Η μελέτη βασίζεται στη διαχρονική διερεύνηση της ελληνικής τουριστικής πολιτικής, σε συνδυασμό με θεωρητικές προσεγγίσεις από την κοινωνιολογία του τουρισμού και την ιστορία και θεωρία της αρχιτεκτονικής. Μέσα από τη σύνθεση αυτών των παραμέτρων αναδεικνύεται ο ενεργός ρόλος της αρχιτεκτονικής στη νοηματοδότηση της αυθεντικότητας, καθώς επιλεκτικές αναγνώσεις της ιστορίας, της παράδοσης και του πολιτισμικού τοπίου διαμορφώνουν συγκεκριμένες αντιλήψεις για τον τόπο, επηρεάζοντας τόσο την εμπειρία των επισκεπτών όσο και τις διαδικασίες επαναπροσδιορισμού της πολιτισμικής ταυτότητας των ίδιων των τόπων.Υπό το πρίσμα αυτό, η αυθεντικότητα δεν αντιμετωπίζεται ως εγγενής ιδιότητα του χώρου, αλλά ως αποτέλεσμα μιας δυναμικής διαδικασίας, κατά την οποία η αρχιτεκτονική, οι πολιτισμικές αφηγήσεις και οι κοινωνικές πρακτικές αλληλεπιδρούν, διαμορφώνοντας τον τρόπο με τον οποίο ο τόπος προσλαμβάνεται, ερμηνεύεται και βιώνεται.
Aquest article examina la reacció dels actors locals de La Grande Motte a la designació de Patrimoni del Segle XX proposada pel Ministeri de Cultura el 2010. Les estratègies implementades, en particular la creació de la marca territorial LGM by La Grande Motte el 2013, han permès a la ciutat establir-se no només com una ciutat balneària heretada dels anys de boom de la postguerra, sinó també com una ciutat-ressort de moda, un centre d'arquitectura i disseny. L'estudi analitza, doncs, com el patrimoni s'ha aprofitat com a nou recurs turístic i de màrqueting per millorar la imatge de la destinació i revitalitzar el seu atractiu.
Mayan culture spans southeastern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador—a region of immense cultural and environmental diversity whose global visibility is hampered by structural issues such as violence, inequality, and the loss of cultural identity, as well as poor connectivity that limits visits to its archaeological sites. The Maya Train was proposed as a driver of tourism modernization in Mexico, connecting Cancún—the second-busiest airport—with prominent Maya sites such as Chichén Itzá, Tulum, and Palenque. Given the controversial construction and implementation of the Maya Train, this article addresses the most relevant aspects of Mexican tourism and tourism on the Yucatán Peninsula, the characteristics of the Maya Train, and its associated impacts. The article analyzes the Maya Train’s potential to redistribute visitors across the region and to offer comprehensive mobility solutions, promoting a more balanced and environmentally respectful form of tourism development.
This article examines tourist architecture in the Alpine region between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By combining the multifaceted history of a particular category of accommodation—the high-altitude “grand hotel”—with the work of a French architect who contributed to its development—Henry Jacques Le Même, based in Megève—, it seeks to enhance our understanding of the early stages of tourism architecture by analyzing the evolution of spatial types and systems associated with this program. It shows that these hotel architectures are increasingly influenced by other categories of facilities with a more explicitly therapeutic or medical purposes as modern construction processes developed and as the authorities of architectural modernity establish themselves. Moreover, by examining these architectural transformations through the lens of the exploitation of high-altitude climates, the article demonstrates that the multiple connections between the leisure and health sectors shape both the tourism industry and the tourists gaze, imaginaries, and behaviors.
This paper examines how young Mandarin-speaking visitors encounter and interpret less touristy spaces in Florence, by looking at Piazza Ciompi, a small square on the edge of the Sant’Ambrogio neighbourhood, just beyond the city’s tourist core. Drawing on twelve semi-structured interviews conducted in situ, the study explores how participants discovered the square and how they experienced its atmosphere and social life. The findings show that Piazza Ciompi was discovered largely by chance, as it was not recommended through Mandarin-language digital platforms and was generally appreciated for its calm and local atmosphere and its position outside the heavily congested areas. In light of this, municipal tourism decentralisation efforts might need to focus less on actively promoting alternative spaces online, and more on maintaining liveable urban environments with a strong local presence that encourage exploratory walking and allow for spontaneous spatial encounters beyond the tourist core.
This article examines tourist architecture in the Alpine region between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By combining the multifaceted history of a particular category of accommodation—the high-altitude “grand hotel”—with the work of a French architect who contributed to its development—Henry Jacques Le Même, based in Megève—, it seeks to enhance our understanding of the early stages of tourism architecture by analyzing the evolution of spatial types and systems associated with this program. It shows that these hotel architectures are increasingly influenced by other categories of facilities with a more explicitly therapeutic or medical purposes as modern construction processes developed and as the authorities of architectural modernity establish themselves. Moreover, by examining these architectural transformations through the lens of the exploitation of high-altitude climates, the article demonstrates that the multiple connections between the leisure and health sectors shape both the tourism industry and the tourists gaze, imaginaries, and behaviors.
This essay examines the picturesque as a cultural technique that has shaped architecture and tourism in the transatlantic world since the late eighteenth century. Tracing a genealogy from Repton’s Red Books and architectural pattern books through American resort towns to Disney’s simulated environments, it argues that the picturesque operates as an ‘encyclopedic-emotional practice’: a double operation that catalogues cultural references and charges them affectively through repetition, producing rather than representing spatial experience. The picturesque thus emerges as a concrete historical site of the process Baudrillard describes as simulation, one at which the model comes to precede the places it once depicted. Four American resort developments (Tuxedo Park, Palos Verdes, Coral Gables, and Disney’s Golden Oak) demonstrate how the resort town became a paradigmatic space of modernity. Contemporary social media phenomena serve as a diagnostic lens: they reveal how deeply the perceptual patterns produced by two centuries of architectural mediation continue to shape the encounter with actual geography.
This article examines the response of local stakeholders to La Grande Motte’s 20th Century Heritage designation by the French Ministry of Culture in 2010. The strategies implemented, particularly the launch of the LGM by La Grande Motte territorial brand in 2013, have redefined the town’s identity, positioning it as a pioneering hub for architecture and design while moving beyond its image as a Trente Glorieuses-era seaside resort. The study examines how heritage has been mobilised as a tourism and marketing resource to drive the destination’s upscale repositioning and revitalise its image
Baulich unverwirklichte Pläne offenbaren oft mehr über architektonischen Ehrgeiz und staatliche Ideologie als fertiggestellte Bauwerke. Dieser Beitrag untersucht den Masterplan von 1972 von Kalligas-Papageorgiou-Romanos für die touristische und regionale Entwicklung von Mykonos, Delos und Rhenia als ein Gespenst im Archiv und als kritisches Instrument des Placemaking in der Nachkriegszeit. Als staatlich geführtes Projekt konzipiert, hatte der Plan zum Ziel, den kykladischen Archipel durch eine hochmodernistische Zonierung neu zu organisieren, die das Sakrale, das Wohnliche und das Kommerzielle innerhalb eines Regimes umwelt- und ästhetikbezogener Kontrolle voneinander trennen sollte. Ausgehend von Dean MacCannells Konzept der inszenierten Authentizität argumentiert der Beitrag, dass die Bedeutung des Plans eher in seinem Nachleben als in seiner Umsetzung liegt. Indem sie Delos als unberührtes archäologisches Heiligtum inszenieren, während sie die touristischen Unterkünfte in eine kontrollierte Hinterbühne verlagern, offenbaren die empfohlenen Maßnahmen das strukturelle Paradox der Authentizität im Massentourismus. Letztlich dient der Masterplan als eine intellektuelle Ruine, die erhellt, wie Architektur staatliche Macht, kulturelle Bedeutung und touristische Imaginationen jenseits der gebauten Form vermittelt.
