1980s
Spain’s Transition, Seen Through Its Leisure Time
An oral-history teaching project examines everyday life and leisure in Spain from 1968 to 1986, showing how recollections can complement—but not replace—institutional records.
Contemporary retro and the past in new forms
Latest additions
1990s
The administrative life of the machine
Explores how archives transform obsolete devices into historical documents, analyzing the tension between their original function and heritage value in museums and libraries.
1980s
What the schedule didn't record: the archive as incomplete memory
Analyzes how television archives function as cultural documents that reveal both what was broadcast and what was lost, highlighting the role of audiovisual preservation in building collective memory.
1990s
What the engine keeps when it stops rolling
Analyzes how motor museums transform vehicles into cultural archives, distinguishing between inherited reputation and verifiable characteristics through technical and contextual documentation.
Contemporary
Beyond the Archive: Preservation as an Act of Reinterpretation
Analyzes how the contemporary preservation of retro objects transcends mere digital custody to become an active documentation process that redefines the relationship between past and present.
Contemporary
Preserving a game is not the same as preserving a playthrough
Doom offers a way to frame a present-day preservation question: retaining information, keeping software legible and recreating an experience are related aims, but not identical ones. The available evidence points to technical challenges as well as limits on what can be claimed.
Contemporary
A Museum Archive Also Records How Memory Is Made
Museum archives do more than accompany collections: documentation can support research, explain the history of objects and make visible the decisions that shape public narratives.
Contemporary
The Past as Design Material, Not a Destination
A cautious look at contemporary retro: between evocation, design and the commercial use of signals from the past. The available evidence points to several interpretations but does not support a universal definition.
Contemporary
The past returns to the shop window, but not unchanged
A look at commercial nostalgia as both strategy and design language: what the sources say about bringing back products from the past, and what they do not establish.
Contemporary
When Video Games Enter the Story of Contemporary Art
A study of video games’ shift from everyday objects to contemporary art raises a retro-contemporary question: what does it take to preserve not only a work, but also the evidence and context needed to interpret it?
Contemporary
The past as design material, not a replica
Contemporary retro does more than reproduce old forms: it can use them to distinguish and give meaning to present-day objects. A critical reading separates historical reference from automatic nostalgia.
Contemporary
Retro Doesn’t Return Unchanged: It Adapts to the Present
Commercial nostalgia rarely means bringing an object back exactly as it was. The available sources point to a more contemporary process: recovering familiar forms and references and connecting them to present-day needs, functions and desires.
