Spanish architecture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Plaza de Espaa, Seville.

Spanish architecture refers to architecture carried out in any area in what is now Spain, and
by Spanish architectsworldwide. The term includes buildings within the current geographical
limits of Spain before this name was given to those territories (whether they were
called Iberia, Hispania, Al-Andalus or were formed of several Christian kingdoms). Due to its
historical and geographical diversity, Spanish architecture has drawn from a host of influences.
[1]
Iberian architecture started to take shape in parallel with other architectures around the
Mediterranean and others from Northern Europe.
A real development came with the arrival of the Romans, who left behind some of their most
outstanding monuments inHispania. The arrival of the Visigoths brought about a profound decline
in building techniques which was paralleled in the rest of the former Empire.
The Moorish conquest in 711 CE lead to a radical change and for the following eight centuries
there were great advances in culture, including architecture. For example, Crdoba was
established as the cultural Capital of its time under the Muslim Umayyad dynasty.
Simultaneously, the Christian kingdoms gradually emerged and developed their own styles, at
first mostly isolated from European architectural influences, and later integrated
into Romanesque and Gothicstreams, they reached an extraordinary peak with numerous
samples along the whole territory. The Mudjar style, from the 12th to 17th centuries, was
characterised by the blending of cultural European and Arabic influences.
Towards the end of the 15th century, and before influencing Latin America with its Colonial
architecture, Spain itself experimented with Renaissance architecture, developed mostly by local
architects. Spanish Baroque was distinguished by its exuberant Churrigueresque decoration and
the most sober Herrerian style, both developing separately from later international influences.
The Colonial style, which has lasted for centuries, still has a strong influence in Latin
America. Neoclassicism reached its peak in the work of Juan de Villanueva and his disciples.
The 19th century had two faces: the engineering efforts to achieve a new language and bring
about structural improvements using iron and glass as the main building materials, and the
academic focus, firstly on revivals and eclecticism, and later on regionalism. The arrival
of Modernism in the academic arena produced figures such as Gaud and much of the
architecture of the 20th century. The International style was led by groups like GATEPAC. Spain
is currently experiencing a revolution in contemporary architecture and Spanish architects
like Rafael Moneo, Santiago Calatrava, Ricardo Bofill as well as many others have gained
worldwide renown.
Because of their artistic relevance, many architectural sites in Spain, and even portions of cities,
have been designated World Heritage sites by UNESCO. Spain has the second highest number
of World Heritage Sites in the world; only Italy has more. These are listed at List of World
Heritage Sites in Europe: Spain.

Contents
[hide]

1Prehistory
o

1.1Megalithic architecture

1.2Iberian and Celtic architecture

2Roman period
o

2.1Urban development

2.2Constructions

3Pre-Romanesque period
o

3.1Visigothic architecture

3.2Asturian art

3.3Repopulation architecture

4The architecture of Al-Andalus

o

4.1The Caliphate of Crdoba

4.2The Taifas

4.3Almoravids and Almohads

4.4Nasrid architecture of the Kingdom of Granada

5Mudjar Style

6Romanesque period

7The Gothic period

8Renaissance

9Baroque period

10Spanish Colonial architecture

11Neoclassical Style

1219th century
o

12.1Eclecticism and Regionalism

12.2Neo-Mudjar Style

12.3Architecture of glass and iron

1320th century

13.1Catalan Modernisme

13.2Modernist architecture

13.3Famous Spanish architects of the 20th century

1421st century

15Vernacular architecture

16See also

17Bibliography

18References

19External links

Prehistory[edit]
Megalithic architecture[edit]

Naveta d'Es Tudons, in Menorca

In the Stone Age, the most expanded megalith in the Iberian Peninsula was the dolmen. The
plans of these funerary chambers used to bepseudocircles or trapezoids, formed by huge stones
stuck on the ground, and others over them, forming the roof. As the typology evolved, an
entrance corridor appeared, and gradually took prominence and became almost as wide as the
chamber. Roofed corridors and false domeswere common in the most advanced stage. The
complex of Antequera contains the largest dolmens in Europe. The best preserved, the Cueva de
Menga, is twenty-five metres deep and four metres high, and was built with thirty-two megaliths.
The best preserved examples of architecture from the Bronze Age are located in the Balearic
Islands, where three kinds of construction appeared: the T-shaped taula, the talayot and
the naveta. The talayots were troncoconical or troncopiramidal defensive towers. They used to
have a central pillar. The navetas, were constructions made of great stones and their shape was
similar to a ship hull.

Iberian and Celtic architecture[edit]

Celtic settlements in Galicia: Castro de Baroa.

The most characteristic constructions of the Celts were the Castros, walled villages usually on
the top of hills or mountains. They were developed at the areas occupied by the Celts in
the Duero valley and in Galicia. Examples include Las Cogotas, in vila and the Castro of Santa
Tecla, in Pontevedra.
The houses inside the Castros are about 3.5 to 5 meters long, mostly circular with some
rectangular, stone-made and with thatch roofs which rested on a wood column in the centre of
the building. Their streets are somewhat regular, suggesting some form of central organization.
The towns built by the Arvacos were related to Iberian culture, and some of them reached
notable urban development like Numantia. Others were more primitive and usually excavated
into the rock, like Termantia.

Roman period[edit]
Urban development[edit]

Roman theater in Mrida.

The Roman conquest of Hispania, started in 218 BC supposed the almost

complete romanization of the Iberian Peninsula. Roman culture was deeply assumed by local
population: Former military camps and Iberian, Phoenician and Greek settlements were
transformed in large cities where urbanization highly developed in the provinces: Emerita
Augusta in the Lusitania, Corduba, Italica,Hispalis, Gades in the Baetica, Tarraco, Caesar
Augusta, Asturica Augusta, Legio Septima Gemina and Lucus Augusti in theTarraconensis were
some of the most important cities, linked by a complex net of roads. The construction
development includes some monuments of comparable quality to those of the capital, Rome. [2]

Constructions[edit]

Alcntara bridge, of Trajan epoque.

Civil engineering represented in imposing constructions like the Aqueduct of

Segovia or Mrida (acueducto de los Milagros), in bridges likeAlcntara Bridge and Mrida
bridge, over Tagus River, or Crdoba bridge, over Guadalquivir River. Civil works were widely
developed in Hispania under Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD). Lighthouses like the one still in
use Hercules Tower, in La Corua, were also built.
Ludic architecture is represented by such buildings as the theaters
of Mrida, Sagunto or Tiermes, the amphitheaters like the ones inMrida, Italica, Tarragona or
Segobriga and circuses were built in Mrida, Crdoba, Toledo, Sagunto and many others.
Religious architecture also spread thougout the Peninsula: examples include the temples of
Crdoba, Vic, Mrida (Diana and Mars), andTalavera la Vieja, among others. The main funerary
monuments are the Escipiones tower of Tarragona, the distyle of Zalamea de la Serena in
Badajoz, and the Mausoleums of the Atilii family, in Sdaba and of Fabara, in Ampurias, both in
Zaragoza. Arches of the Triumph can be found in Cparra (four faced), Bar and Medinaceli.

Pre-Romanesque period[edit]
Main article: Spanish Pre-Romanesque art
The term Pre-Romanesque refers to the Christian art after the Classical Age and
before Romanesque art and architecture. It cover very heterogeneous artistic displays for they
were developed in different centuries and by different cultures. Spanish territory boasts a rich
variety of Pre-Romanesque architecture: some of its branches, like the Asturian artreached high
levels of refinement for their era and cultural context.

Visigothic architecture[edit]
Main article: Visigothic art

Asturian art[edit]
Main article: Asturian art

Santa Mara del Naranco

The kingdom of Asturias arose in 718, when the Astur tribes, rallied in assembly, decided to
appoint Pelayo as their leader. Pelayo joined the local tribes and the refuged Visigoths under his
command, with the intention of progressively restoring Gothic Order.
Asturian Pre-Romanesque is a singular feature in all Spain, which, while combining elements
from other styles as Visigothic and local traditions, created and developed its own personality
and characteristics, reaching a considerable level of refinement, not only as regards construction,
but also in terms of aesthetics.
As regards its evolution, from its appearance, Asturian Pre-Romanesque followed a "stylistic
sequence closely associated with the kingdom's political evolution, its stages clearly outlined". It
was mainly a court architecture, and five stages are distinguished; a first period (737-791) from
the reign of the kingFfila to Vermudo I. A second stage comprises the reign of Alfonso II (791842), entering a stage of stylistic definition. These two first stages receive the name of Pre-

Ramirense. Its most important church is San Julin de los Prados, in Oviedo, with an interesting
volumetry and a complex iconographical frescoes program, related narrowly to the Roman mural
paintings. The characteristic lattices and the triple window at the chevet appeared first at this
stage. The Holy Chamber of the Cathedral of Oviedo, San Pedro de Nora and Santa Mara de
Bendones also belong to it.

Interior of San Julin de los Prados

The third period comprises the reigns of Ramiro I (842-850) and Ordoo I (850-866). It is
called Ramirense and is considered the zenith of the style, due to the work of an unknown
architect who brought new structural and ornamental achievements like the barrel vault, and the
consistent use of transverse arches and buttresses, which made the style rather close to the
structural achievements of the Romanesque two centuries later. Some writers have pointed to an
unexplained Syrian influence of the rich ornamentation. In that period most of the masterpieces
of the style flourished: The palace pavilions of Naranco Mountain (Santa Maria del
Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo) and the church of Santa Cristina de Lena were built in that
period.
The fourth period belongs to the reign of Alfonso III (866-910), where a strong Mozarab influence
arrived to Asturian architecture, and the use of the horse-shoe arch expanded. A fifth and last
which coincides with the transfer of the court to Len, the disappearance of the kingdom of
Asturias, and simultaneously, of Asturian Pre-Romanesque.

Repopulation architecture[edit]
Main article: Repoblacin art and architecture
From the ending of the 9th to the beginning of the 11th century a number of churches were built
in the Northern Christian kingdoms. They are widely but incorrectly known as Mozarabic
architecture. This architecture is a summary of elements of diverse extraction irregularly
distributed, of a form that in occasions predominate those of paleo-Christian, Visigothic or
Asturian origin, while at other times emphasizes the Muslim impression.
The churches have usually basilica or centralized plans, sometimes with opposing apses.
Principal chapels are of rectangular plan on the exterior and ultra-semicircular in the interior. The
horseshoe arch of Muslim evocation is used, somewhat more closed and sloped than the
Visigothic as well as the alfiz. Geminated and tripled windows of Asturian tradition and grouped
columns forming composite pillars, with Corinthian capital decorated with stylized elements.
Decoration has resemblance to the Visigothic based in volutes, swastikas, and vegetable and
animal themes forming projected borders and sobriety of exterior decoration. Some innovations
are introduced, as great lobed corbels that support very pronounced eaves.
A great command of the technique in construction can be observed, employing ashlar, walls
reinforced by exterior buttresses and covering by means of segmented vaults, including by the
traditional barrel vaults.

The architecture of Al-Andalus[edit]

The Caliphate of Crdoba[edit]

Maqsura of the Great Mosque of Crdoba

The Moorish conquest of the former Hispania by the troops of Musa ibn Nusair and Tariq ibn
Ziyad, and the overthrowing of the Umayyaddynasty in Damascus, led to the creation of an
independent Emirate by Abd ar-Rahman I, the only surviving prince who escaped fromAbbasids,
and established his capital city in Crdoba. It was to become the cultural capital of Occident from
750 to 1009. The architecture built in Al-ndalus under the Umayyads evolved from the
architecture of Damascus with the addition of aesthetic achievements of local influence: the
horse-shoe arch, a distinctive of Spanish Arab architecture was taken from Visigoths. Architects,
artists and craftsmen came from the Orient to construct cities like Medina Azahara whose
splendour couldn't have been imagined by the European kingdoms of the era. [3]
The most outstanding construction of the Umayyad Crdoba is the Great Mosque, built in
consecutive stages by Abd ar-Rahman I, Abd ar-Rahman II, Al-Hakam II and Al-Mansur.

The Taifas[edit]

Aljafera, inZaragoza.

The Caliphate disappeared and was split into several small kingdoms called Taifas. Their political
weakness was accompanied by a cultural retreat, and together with a quick advance of the
Christian kingdoms, the taifas clung to the prestige of structures and forms of the style of
Crdoba. The recession was felt in the construction techniques and in the materials, though not
in the profusion of the ornamentation. The lobes of multifoil arches were multiplied and thinned,
transformed in lambrequins, and all the Caliphal elements were exaggerated. Some magnificent
examples of the Taifa architecture have reached our times, like the Palace of the Aljafera,
in Zaragoza, or the small mosque of Bab-Mardum, in Toledo, later transformed into one of the
first examples of Mudjar architecture (Cristo de la Luz hermitage).

Almoravids and Almohads[edit]

Almohad tower and Renaissance bell section merge into a harmonious whole in La Giralda,Seville.

The Almoravids invaded Al-Andalus from north Africa in 1086, and unified the taifas under their
power. They developed their own architecture, but very little of it remains because of the next
invasion, that of the Almohads, who imposed Islamic ultra-orthodoxy and destroyed almost every
significant Almoravid building, together with Medina Azahara and other Caliphate constructions.
Their art was extremely sober and bare, and they used brick as their main material. Virtually their
only superficial decoration, the sebka, is based in a grid ofrhombuses. The Almohads also used
palm decoration, but this was nothing more than a simplification of the much more decorated
Almoravid palm. As time passed, the art became slightly more decorative. The best known piece
of Almohad architecture is the Giralda, the former minaret of the Mosque of Seville. Classified as
Mudjar, but immersed in the Almohad aesthetic, the synagogue of Santa Mara la Blanca,
in Toledo, is a rare example of architectural collaboration between the three cultures of Medieval
Spain.

Nasrid architecture of the Kingdom of Granada[edit]

The Alhambra: Court of the Lions

After the dissolution of the Almohad empire, the scattered Moorish kingdoms of the south of the
Peninsula were reorganized, and in 1237, the Nasrid kings established their capital city
in Granada. The architecture they produced was to be one of the richest produced by Islam in
any period. This owed a great deal to the cultural heritage of the former Moorish styles of Alndalus, that the Nasrids eclectically combined, and to the close contact with the northern
Christian Kingdoms. The palaces of Alhambra and the Generalife are the most outstanding
constructions of the period. The structural and ornamental elements were taken from Cordobese
architecture (horse-shoe arches), from Almohads (sebka and palm decoration), but also created
by them, like the prism and cylindrical capitals and mocrabe arches, in a gay combination of
interior and exterior spaces, of gardening and architecture, that aimed to please all the senses.
Unlike the Umayyad architecture, which made use of expensive and imported materials, the
Nasrids used only humble materials: clay, plaster and wood. However, the aesthetic outcome is
full of complexity and is mystifying for the beholder: The multiplicity of decoration, the skillful use
of light and shadow and the incorporation of water into the architecture are some of the keys
features of the style.[4] Epigraphy was also used on the walls of the different rooms, with allusive
poems to the beauty of the spaces.[5]

Mudjar Style[edit]

The Courtyard of the Dolls in the Alczar of Seville

Main article: Mudjar

The architecture of the Moors and native Andalusians who remained in Christian territory but
were not converted to Christianity is called Mudjar Style. It developed mainly from 12th to 16th
centuries and was strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship but constructed for the
use of Christian owners. Thus, it is not really a pure style: Mudjar architects frequently
combined their techniques and artistic language with other styles, depending of the historical
moment. Thus we can refer to Mudjar, but also to Mudjar-Romanesque, Mudjar-Gothic or
Mudjar-Renaissance.
The Mudjar style, a symbiosis of techniques and ways of understanding architecture resulting
from Jewish, Muslim and Christian cultures living side by side, emerged as an architectural style
in the 12th century. It is characterised by the use of brick as the main building material. Mudjar
did not involve the creation of new structures (unlike Gothic or Romanesque), but
reinterpreting Western cultural styles through Islamicinfluences. The dominant geometrical
character, distinctly Islamic, emerged conspicuously in the accessory crafts using cheap
materials elaborately workedtilework, brickwork, wood carving, plaster carving, and ornamental
metals. Even after the Muslims were no longer employed, many of their contributions remained
an integral part of Spanish architecture.

Mudjar church ofSahagn, Len

It is accepted that the Mudjar style was born in Sahagn.[6] Mudjar extended to the rest of
the Kingdom of Len,Toledo, vila, Segovia, and later to Andalusia, especially Seville and
Granada. The Mudjar Rooms of the Alczar of Seville, although classified as Mudjar, are more
closely related to the Nasrid Alhambra than to other buildings of the style as they were created
by Pedro of Castile, who brought architects from Granada who experienced very little Christian
influence. Centers of Mudjar art are found in other cities, like Toro,Cullar, Arvalo and Madrigal
de las Altas Torres. It became highly developed in Aragon, with 3 main

focuses: Zaragoza, Calatayud, and Teruel, during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. In Teruel a
wide group of imposing churches and towers were built. Other fine examples of Mudjar can be
found inCasa Pilatos (Seville), Santa Clara Monastery, in Tordesillas, or the churches of Toledo,
one of the oldest and most outstanding Mudjar centers. In Toledo, the synagogues of Santa
Mara la Blanca and El Trnsito (both Mudjar though not Christian) deserve special mention. [7]

Romanesque period[edit]

Inner view of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Main article: Romanesque architecture

See also: Characteristics of Romanesque churches in Spain, Portugal and
Andorra and Romanesque architecture in Spain
Romanesque first developed in Spain in the 10th and 11th centuries,
before Cluny`s influence, in Lrida, Barcelona, Tarragona and Huesca and in the Pyrenees,
simultaneously with the north of Italy, as what is called "First Romanesque" or "Lombard
Romanesque". It is a very primitive style, whose characteristics are thick walls, lack of
sculpture and the presence of rhythmic ornamental arches, typified by the churches in
the Valle de Boh.
The full Romanesque architecture arrived with the influence of Cluny through the Way of
Saint James, that ends in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The model of the
Spanish Romanesque in the 12th century was the Cathedral of Jaca, with its characteristic
plan and apse, and its "chessboard" decoration in stripes, called taqueado jaqus. As the
Christian Kingdoms advanced southwards, this model spread throughout the reconquered
areas with some variations. Spanish Romanesque also shows the influence of Spanish preRomanesque styles, mainly Asturian andMozarabic. But there is also a strong Moorish
influence, especially the vaults of Crdoba's Mosque, and the multifoil arches. In the 13th
century, some churches alternated in style between Romanesque and
Gothic. Aragn, Navarra and Castile-Leon are some of the best areas for Spanish
Romanesque architecture.

The Gothic period[edit]

Main article: Spanish Gothic architecture
See also: Isabelline Gothic and Valencian Gothic

San Pablo Church, Valladolid.

Burgos Cathedral

The gothic style arrived in Spain as a result of European influence in the 12th century when
late Romanesque alternated with a few expressions of pure Gothic architecture like
the Cathedral of vila. The High Gothic arrived in all its strength through the Way of Saint
James in the 13th century, with some of the purest Gothic cathedrals, with German and
French influence: the cathedrals of Burgos, Len andToledo.
The most important post-13th century Gothic styles in Spain are the Levantino and Isabelline
Gothic. Levantino Gothic is characterised by its structural achievements and their unification
of space, with masterpieces as La Seu (cathedral) in Palma de Mallorca, Valencia's silk
market, (Lonja de Valencia), and Santa Maria del Mar (Barcelona).
Isabelline Gothic, created during the times of the Catholic Monarchs, was part of the
transition to Renaissance architecture, but also a strong resistance to Italian Renaissance
style. Highlights of the style include Saint John of The Kings in Toledo and the Royal Chapel
of Granada.

Renaissance[edit]
Main article: Architecture of the Spanish Renaissance

Colonnade in the Palace of Charles V in Granada

Palace of the conquest, Trujillo

In Spain, Renaissance began to be grafted to Gothic forms in the last decades of the 15th
century. The style started to spread made mainly by local architects: that is the cause of the
creation of a specifically Spanish Renaissance, that brought the influence of South Italian
architecture, sometimes from illuminated books and paintings, mixed with gothic tradition and
local idiosyncrasy. The new style was called Plateresque, because of the extremely
decorated faades, that brought to the mind the decorative motifs of the intricately detailed
work of silversmiths, the "Plateros". Classical orders and candelabra motifs (a candelieri)
were combined freely into symmetrical wholes.
In that scenery, the Palace of Charles V by Pedro Machuca, in Granada, supposed an
unexpected achievement in the most advanced Renaissance of the moment. The palace can
be defined as an anticipation of the Mannerism, due to its command of the classical
language and its rupturist aesthetical achievements. It was constructed before the main
works of Michelangeloand Palladio . Its influence was very limited, and, misunderstood,
Plateresque forms imposed in the general panorama.
As decades passed, the gothic influence disappeared and the research of an orthodox
classicism reached high levels. Although Plateresco is a commonly used term to define most
of the architectural production of the late XV and first half of XVI, some architects acquired a
more sober personal style, like Diego Siloe and Rodrigo Gil de Hontan.

El Escorial

Examples include the faades of the University of Salamanca and of the Convent of San
Marcos in Len.
The highlight of Spanish Renaissance is represented by the Royal Monastery of El Escorial,
made by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera where a much closer adherence to
the art of ancient Rome was overpassed by an extremely sober style. The influence
from Flandersroofs, the symbolism of the scarce decoration and the precise granite cut were
established as the basis of a new style that would influence Spanish architecture for a
century: Herrerian. A disciple of Herrera, Juan Bautista Villalpando was influential for
interpreting the recently revived text ofVitruvius to suggest the origin of the classical
orders in Solomon's Temple.[8]

Baroque period[edit]
Main article: Spanish Baroque
As Italian Baroque influences penetrated across the Pyrenees, they gradually superseded in
popularity the restrained classicizing approach of Juan de Herrera, which had been in vogue
since the late sixteenth century. As early as 1667, the faades of Granada
Cathedral (by Alonso Cano) and Jan Cathedral (by Eufrasio Lpez de Rojas) suggest the
artists' fluency in interpreting traditional motifs of Spanish cathedral architecture in the
Baroque aesthetic idiom.
Vernacular Baroque with its roots still in Herrera and in traditional brick construction was
developed in Madrid throughout the 17th century. Examples include Plaza Mayor and the
Major House.

Obradoiro faade of theCathedral of Santiago de Compostela

In contrast to the art of Northern Europe, the Spanish art of the period appealed to the
emotions rather than seeking to please the intellect. TheChurriguera family, which
specialized in designing altars and retables, revolted against the sobriety of the Herreresque
classicism and promoted an intricate, exaggerated, almost capricious style of surface
decoration known as the Churrigueresque. Within half a century, they
transformedSalamanca into an exemplary Churrigueresque city.

The evolution of the style passed through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, the
Churriguera popularized Guarini's blend of Solomonic columns and composite order, known
as the "supreme order". Between 1720 and 1760, the Churrigueresque column, or estipite, in
the shape of an inverted cone or obelisk, was established as a central element of ornamental
decoration. The years from 1760 to 1780 saw a gradual shift of interest away from twisted
movement and excessive ornamentation toward a neoclassical balance and sobriety.
Two of the most eye-catching creations of Spanish Baroque are the energetic faades of
the University of Valladolid (Diego Tom, 1719) andHospicio de San Fernando in Madrid
(Pedro de Ribera, 1722), whose curvilinear extravagance seems to herald Antonio
Gaud and Art Nouveau. In this case as in many others, the design involves a play of tectonic
and decorative elements with little relation to structure and function.
However,Churrigueresque baroque offered some of the most impressive combinations of
space and light with buildings like Granada Charterhouse, considered to be the apotheosis of
Churrigueresque styles applied to interior spaces, or the Transparente of the Cathedral of
Toledo, by Narciso Tom, where sculpture and architecture are integrated to achieve notable
light dramatic effects.

Royal Palace of Madrid

The Royal Palace of Madrid and the interventions of Paseo del Prado (Saln del
Prado and Alcal Doorgate) in the same city, deserve special mention. They were
constructed in a sober Baroque international style, often mistaken for neoclassical, by the
Bourbon kings Philip V and Charles III. The Royal Palaces of La Granja de San Ildefonso,
in Segovia, and Aranjuez, in Madrid, are good examples of baroque integration of
architecture and gardening, with noticeable French influence (La Granja is known as
the Spanish Versailles), but with local spatial conceptions which in some ways display the
heritage of the Moorish occupation.
Rococo was first introduced to Spain in the (Cathedral of Murcia, west faade, 1733). The
greatest practitioner of the Spanish Rococo style was a native master, Ventura Rodrguez,
responsible for the dazzling interior of the Basilica of Our Lady of the
Pillar in Zaragoza (1750).

Spanish Colonial architecture[edit]

The Santa Prisca Church inTaxco is an example of New Spanish Churrigueresque

The combination of the Native American and Moorish decorative influences with an
extremely expressive interpretation of the Churrigueresque idiom may account for the fullbodied and varied character of the Baroque in the American colonies of Spain. Even more
than its Spanish counterpart, American Baroque developed as a style of stucco decoration.
Twin-towered faades of many American cathedrals of the seventeenth century had
medieval roots and the full-fledged Baroque did not appear until 1664, when the Jesuit shrine
on Plaza des Armas inCusco was built.
The Peruvian Baroque was particularly lush, as evidenced by the monastery of San
Francisco in Lima (1673), which has a dark intricate faade sandwiched between the twin
towers of local yellow stone. While the rural Baroque of the Jesuite missions (estancias)
in Crdoba, Argentina, followed the model of Il Ges, provincial "mestizo" (crossbred) styles
emerged in Arequipa, Potos and La Paz. In the eighteenth century, the architects of the
region turned for inspiration to the Mudjar art of medieval Spain. The late Baroque type of
Peruvian faade first appears in the Church of Our Lady of La Merced, Lima (16971704).
Similarly, the Church of La Compaia, Quito (172265) suggests a carved altarpiece with its
richly sculpted faade and a surfeit of spiral salomnica.
To the north, the richest province of 18th-century New Spain Mexico produced some
fantastically extravagant and visually frenetic architecture known as New Spanish
Churrigueresque. This ultra-Baroque approach culminates in the works of Lorenzo
Rodrguez, whose masterpiece is the Sagrario Metropolitano in Mexico City (174969).
Other fine examples of the style may be found in the remote silver-mining towns. For
instance, the Sanctuary at Ocotln (begun in 1745) is a top-notch Baroque cathedral
surfaced in bright red tiles, which contrast delightfully with a plethora of compressed
ornament lavishly applied to the main entrance and the slender flanking towers.
The true capital of New Spanish Baroque is Puebla, Puebla, where a ready supply of handpainted glazed tiles (talavera) and vernacular gray stone led to its evolving further into a
personalised and highly localised art form with a pronounced Indian flavour.

Neoclassical Style[edit]

Prado Museum, by Villanueva

The extremely intellectual postulates of Neoclassicism succeeded in Spain less than the
much more expressive of Baroque. Spanish Neoclassicism was spread by the Royal
Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, founded in 1752. The main figure was Juan de
Villanueva, who adapted Burke's achievements about the sublime and the beauty to the
requirements of Spanish clime and history. He built the Prado Museum, that combined three
programs- an academy, an auditorium and a museum- in one building with three separated
entrances. This was part of the ambitious program of Charles III, who intended to make
Madrid the Capital of Art and Science. Very close to the museum, Villanueva built the
Astronomical Observatory. He also designed several summer houses for the kings in El
Escorial and Aranjuez and reconstructed the Major Square of Madrid, among other important
works. Villanuevas pupils Antonio Lpez Aguado and Isidro Gonzlez Velzquez spread the
Neoclassical style through the center of the country.

19th century[edit]
Eclecticism and Regionalism[edit]
During the second half of the 19th century, the architectural revivals dominated the scene in
Europe, and so happened in Spain. Architects focused in choosing which was the most
appropriated historical style for each use or occasion. Neoclassicism opened the gates to
Neo-Gothic, Neo-Egyptian, Neo-Byzantine, Neo-Romanesque, and so on. This all led to a
particular new style made of the mixture of several old styles in the same construction: the
Eclecticism. It is difficult to trace a clear line to separate styles as Modernisme, Industrial iron
architecture and Eclecticism, as very often architects took some features of several of them
for their works. This is the case of Antonio Palacios, co-designer with Joaqun Otamendi of
the Communications Palace of Madrid (Palacio de Comunicaciones de Madrid), inaugurated
in 1909.

Communications Palace of Madrid.

Other works of Palacios include the Circle of Fine Arts, the Ro de la Plata Bank, the Hospital
of Laborers, all of them in Madrid.
In the first half of the 20th century, another wave of revivals emerged, mainly after the
Iberoamerican Exhibition of Seville in 1929: the Regionalisms. Features of the different
regional vernacular architectures took then the protagonism.

Neo-Mudjar Style[edit]
Main article: Neo-Mudjar
In the late 19th century a new architectural movement emerged in Madrid as a revival of
the Mudjar architecture. The Neo-Mudjar soon spread to other regions of the country.
Such architects as Emilio Rodrguez Ayuso perceived the Mudjar art as characteristical and
exclusive Spanish style. They started to construct buildings using some of the features of the
ancient style, as horse-shoe arches and the use of the abstract shaped brick ornamentations
for the faades. It became a popular style for bull rings and for other public constructions, but
also for housing, due to its cheap materials, mainly brick for exteriors. The Neo-Mudjar was
often combined with Neo-Gothic features.

Architecture of glass and iron[edit]

During the Industrial Revolution, the new use of iron and glass as the main materials for
building construction was, as in the rest of Europe, applied specially in train stations,
winterhouses. industrial buildings and pavilions for exhibitions. The architects who most
developed this style were Ricardo Velzquez Bosco and Alberto del Palacio, although glass
for faades and iron for structures were used to some extent by other architects, as Antonio
Palacios, Enrique Mara Repulls y Vargas or Narciso Pascual y Colomer.

20th century[edit]
Catalan Modernisme[edit]
Main article: Modernisme

Modernisme - Hospital de Sant Pau

When the city of Barcelona was allowed to expand beyond its historic limits in the late 19th
century, the resulting Eixample ("extension": larger than the old city; by Ildefons Cerd),
became the site of a burst of architectural energy known as the Modernisme movement.
Modernisme broke with past styles and used organic forms for its inspiration in the same way
as the concurrent Art-Nouveau and Jugendstil movements in the rest of Europe. Most
famous among the architects represented there is Antoni Gaud, whose works in Barcelona
and spread in other parts of Catalonia, Len and Cantabria mixing traditional architectural
styles with the new, were a precursor to modern architecture. Perhaps the most famous
example of his work is the still-unfinished La Sagrada Famlia, the largest building in
the Eixample.
Other notable Catalan architects of that period include Llus Domnech i
Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, although their approachal to Modernisme was largely
more linked to Neo-Gothic shapes.

Modernist architecture[edit]
The creation in 1928 of the GATCPAC group in Barcelona, followed by the foundation
of GATEPAC (1930) by architects, mainly from Zaragoza, Madrid, San Sebastin and Bilbao,
established two groups of young architects practicing the Modern Movement in Spain. Josep
Lluis Sert, Fernando Garca Mercadal, Jose Mara de Aizpura and Joaqun Labayenamong
others were organised in three regional groups.[9] Other architects explored the Modern Style
with their personal views: Casto Fernndez Shaw with his visionary work, most of it on
paper, Josep Antoni Coderch, with his integration of the Mediterranean housing and the new
style concepts or Luis Gutirrez Soto, mostly influenced by the Expressionist tendencies.

Barcelona Pavilion, 1929

In 1929 World's Fair was held in Barcelona and the German pavilion designed by Ludwig
Mies van der Rohe became an instant icon; amalgamating Rohe's minimalism and notions
of truth to materials with a De Stijl influenced treatment of planes in space. The
large overhanging roof famously 'hovers' apparently unsupported.
During and after the Spanish Civil War and World War II, Spain found herself both politically
and economically isolated. The consequent effect of which, in tandem with Franco's
preference for "a deadening, nationalistic sort of classical kitsch", was to largely suppress
progressive modern architecture in Spain.[10] Nevertheless, some architects were able to
reconcile advances in construction with official approval, notably in the prolific output of
Gutirrez Soto whose interest in topology and rational distribution of space effectively
alternated historical revivals and rationalist imagery with ease. Luis Moya Blanco's
achievements in the construction with brick vaults deserve also a mention. His interest in
traditional brick construction lead him to a deep investigation into the modern formal
possibilities of that material.
In the last decades of the Franco's life, a new generation of architects rescued the legacy of
the GATEPAC with strength: Alejandro de la Sota was the pioneer in that new way, and
young architects as Francisco Javier Senz de Oiza, Fernando Higueras and Miguel Fisac,
often with modest budgets, investigated in prefabrication and collective housing typos.

Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, by Frank Gehry

The Auditorio de Tenerife, bySantiago Calatrava

Ciutat de les Arts i les Cincies inValencia

The death of Franco and the return of democracy brought a new architectural optimism to
Spain in the late 1970s and 1980s. Critical regionalism became the dominant school of
thought for serious architecture.[11] The influx of money from EU funding, tourism and a
flowering economy strengthened and stabilised Spain's economic base, providing fertile
conditions for Spanish architecture. A new generation of architects emerged, amongst whom
were Enric Miralles, Carme Pins, and the architect/engineer Santiago Calatrava. The
1992Barcelona Olympics and the World's Fair in Seville, further bolstered Spain's reputation
on the international stage, to the extent that many architects from countries suffering from
recessions, moved to Spain to assist in the boom. In recognition of Barcelona's patronage of

architecture, the Royal Institute of British Architects awarded the Royal Gold Medal to
Barcelona in 1999, the first time in its history the award was made to a city.[12] Bilbao attracted
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to construct a new gallery which opened in 1997.
Designed by Frank Gehry in a deconstructivistmanner, the Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao became world famous and single-handedly raised the profile of Bilbao on the world
stage. Such was the success of the museum that the construction of iconic architecture in
towns aspiring to raise their international profile has become a recognised town planning
strategy known as the "Bilbao effect".[13]
In 2003, the Prince of Asturias, Felipe de Borbn opened in the city of Santa Cruz de
Tenerife (Canary Islands), the modern building of theAuditorio de Tenerife, designed by
Santiago Calatrava between 1997-2003. For this event was attended by various
correspondents and newspapers around the world. [14]

Famous Spanish architects of the 20th century[edit]

Enric Miralles' St. Caterina Market

The MUSAC by Mansilla+Tun inLen

Antoni Gaud (18521926)

Lluis Domenech i Montaner (18501923)

Secundino Zuazo (18871971)

Antonio Palacios (18741945)

Casto Fernndez-Shaw (18961978)

Josep Lluis Sert (19021983)

Josep Antoni Coderch (19131984)

Luis Gutirrez Soto (18901977)

Alejandro de la Sota (19131996)

Miguel Fisac (19132006)

Francisco Javier Senz de Oiza (19182000)

Julio Cano Lasso (19201996)

Fernando Higueras (19292008)

Rafael Moneo (1937), Pritzker Prize in 1996

Ricardo Bofill (1939)

Alberto Campo Baeza (1946)

Santiago Calatrava (1951)

Adolfo Moran (1953)

Enric Miralles (19552000)

Mansilla+Tun

Alejandro Zaera (1963)

21st century[edit]

Torre Agbar

In 2006, the exhibition "On-Site: New architecture in Spain" was held in the MoMA. It defined
Spain as a country that has lately become known as an international center for design
innovation and excellence,[15] as it is shown in the fact that seven Pritzker awarded architects
were selected for the exhibition. As Terence Riley, then in charge of the Architectural
Department of the MoMA said: "There is not a "Spanish" architectural style. But there is an
increasingly level of quality and beauty within the new projects, probably more than other
part of the world". The curator also stated that in Spain there is a lot of construction as there
is even more in China. "However, while in China you cannot find hardly any interesting
proposal, there are a lot in Spain. Their variety and open-minded lines are surprising.".

Metropol Parasol

In 2006, Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport by Richard Rogers and Antonio Lamela won the
British Stirling Prize. The BarcelonaTorre Agbar or Agbar Tower, by French architect Jean
Nouvel combines different architectural concepts, resulting in a striking structure built with
reinforced concrete, covered with a faade of glass, with its window openings cut out of the
structural concrete. There are also other minor projects in cities such as acting in Niemeyer
Avils estuary or the "City of Culture" of Eisenman in Santiago de Compostela, both without
a complete but opened in 2010. From 2008, Spain experienced the late-2000s recession in a
particularly severe way and especially in construction, which suffered a sharp drop. Many of
the public and private architectural developments were cancelled of indefinitely delayed. [16]
In 2011 the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre was inaugurated
in Avils, Asturias. This is the only work of the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in Spain. It
has five elements: an open square, a dome, a tower, an auditorium and a multi-purpose
building.

Centro Niemeyer in Asturias

Vernacular architecture[edit]
Due to the strong climatic and topographic differences throughout the country, the vernacular
architecture shows a plentiful variety. Limestone, slate, granite, clay (cooked or
not),wood, grass are used in the different regions, and also structure and distribution differ
largely depending of the regional customs. Some of this constructions are houses
(likecortijo, carmen, barraca, casona, casero, pazo, alquera), as well as the next pictured
ones:

The Hrreo is an elevated granary from Galicia andAsturias.

The Casona montaesa, stone house typical of Cantabria.

A Spanish house in the Chilean countryside built during the colonialperiod

A Masa, in Castelln. Masas evolved from Roman houses.

Windmills of Campo de Criptana, La Mancha.

See also[edit]

Architecture of Madrid

Architecture of Cantabria

Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid

Spanish art

List of missing monuments in Spain

Bibliography[edit]

New Architecture in Spain (PB) - Edited and with essay by Terence Riley. ISBN 0-87070499-0

Carver, Norman F. Jr. (1982) Iberian Villages Portugal & Spain. Document Press
Ltd. ISBN 0-932076-03-3

Chueca Goitia, Fernando: Historia de la arquitectura espaola, two volumes. Diputacin

de vila, 2001. ISBN 84-923918-7-1

Newcomb, Rexford (1937). Spanish-Colonial Architecture in the United States. J.J.

Augustin, New York. Dover Publications; Reprint edition (April 1, 1990). ISBN 0-48626263-4

Zabalbeascoa, Anatxu (1996). Igualada Cemetery: Barcelona, 1986-90 - Enric Miralles

and Carme Pinos (Architecture in Detail S.) (Paperback). Phaidon Press. p. 60
pages.ISBN 0-7148-3281-2.

References[edit]
1.

Jump up^ A picture of a Celtiberian house in Numantia

2.

Jump up^ Chueca Goitia, Fernando. De Grecia al Islam. Seminarios y Ediciones,

1974. ISBN 84-299-0054-3 Pages 172-174, 179 DOSSAT, 2000, ISBN 84-95312-32-8

3.

Jump up^ Descriptions of Ibn Arabi, Ibn Bashkuwal, Al-Maqqari and contemporary
chronists.[1](Spanish)

4.

Jump up^ Chueca Goitia, Fernando: Invariantes castizos de la Arquitectura Espaola.

Manifiesto de la Alhambra ISBN 84-237-0459-9

5.

Jump up^ Garcia Gomez, Emilio: Poemas rabes en los muros y fuentes de la
Alhambra ISBN 84-600-4134-4 / 8460041344 Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Islmicos en
Madrid

6.

Jump up^ Arquitectura Mudejar (ARTEGUIAS)

7.

Jump up^ Lpez Guzmn, Rafael. Arquitectura mudjar. Manuales Arte Ctedra. ISBN
84-376-1801-0

8.

Jump up^ Alberto Prez-Gmez. Juan Bautista Villalpando's Divine Model in

Architectural Theory. In Alberto Prez-Gmez, Stephen Parcell. Chora 3: Intervals in the
Philosophy of Architecture. McGill-Queen's Press. 1999. ISBN 0-7735-1712-X

9.
10.

Jump up^ http://bibliotecnica.upc.es/bib210/consultesib/GATCPAC_GATEPAC.pdf

Jump up^ Gains in Spain: Once-Staid Architecture Soars Ahead of the Curve Washington Post

11.

Jump up^ Zabalbeascoa

12.

Jump up^ list of medal winners (PDF)

13.

Jump up^ Bacharach, Jacob (2002) The Bilbao Effect

14.

Jump up^ De Nueva York a Sidney

15.

Jump up^ http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/audios/25/561

16.

Jump up^ http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/06/24/suvivienda/1277362962.html

External links[edit]
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