Architecture and Tourism in Madeira, Historical (Dis)Continuities

Abstract

In a period that extends from the beginning of the 19^th century to the outbreak of the First World War, there was, in Madeira, an architecture dedicated to the cure of airs closely related to the origins of the tourism phenomenon, that is, with the temporary presence of the pulmonary patients on the island. This can be called the architecture of therapeutic tourism: rental quintas, hotels and the first sanatorium built on the island. The advent of mass tourism – which, in Madeira, began in the second half of the 20^th century – gave rise to a profound rupture with the programs and forms of this architecture, resulting not only from the mutations suffered by the tourism phenomenon itself, but also from the doctrine of the Modern Movement. Based on research work on the history of architecture in Madeira, this article characterizes this irreversible rupture and the consequences it had on its landscapes and cities.

Keywords: Tourism Architecture; Madeira; Therapeutic Tourism; Mass Tourism.