Barcelona under construction: The democratic potential of touch and vision in city cinema as depicted in En construccin (2001)

This article examines the unique depiction of el barrio chino in Jos Luis Guerin's 2001 work, En construccin. It analyses the ways in which this documentary creates a uniquely democratic aesthetic that offers an alternative to the exclusionary politics of gentrification and re-development taking place in Barcelona and which are the apparent subject of cinematic scrutiny. Investigation of the relationship between the somatic experience of city life and current theories of film's haptic qualities, reveal how touch and sight are involved in a complementary relationship in this piece. En construccin immerses the viewer in the cinematic city by means of a variety of formal techniques and in doing so reinforces the inclusive nature of this director's project.