Madrid, Best Architecture Guide. 20 emblematic buildings of the city of Madrid (I)

Fernando Higueras, was born in Madrid on November 26, 1930 (Madrid, 1930-2008). Architect by the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, finishing in 1959. This year, he gets an honorable mention in the National Architecture Awards for the Children's Theatre. In 1960 he gets again an honorable mention in the National Architecture Awards with the 10 artist residencies in Monte del Pardo.

In 1961 he gets the first prize in the same Awards for the Center for Restoration of Madrid. In 1965 he was commissioned the project along with Antonio Miró. In 1967, he was commissioned the military housing in Madrid. In 1969, Fernando was invited to a Restricted International Competition for 11 architects from around the world for the multipurpose building in Monte Carlo. In 1973, he was commissioned the Las Salinas Hotel in Lanzarote. Fernando Higueras was National Prize of Watercolor and a great guitarist, Andres Segovia gave him the Siena Fellowship in 1954. In 1962 he projected both the Lucio Muñoz House and the Estudio school in Aravaca.

Part of Higuera's work is exhibited at the MoMA in NYC, being the first Spanish architect exhibited in this museum. Fernando Higueras died in Madrid on January 30, 2008.

Miguel Fisac ​​Serna, born in 1913 in Daimiel, Ciudad Real and died in 2006 in Madrid. He was an essential figure in Spanish architecture in the second half of the twentieth century. He enrolled at the School of Architecture in Madrid, and after hectic studies interrupted by the civil war, in 1942 he graduated with the end of his career award from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.

He was always interested in vernacular architecture. In addition, he was inspired by the Nordic organicism of Gunnar Asplund's work that together with Frank Lloyd Wright will influence his concept of architecture.

His first project was commissioned by the CSIC; He transformed the old auditorium of the "Colina de los Chopos" in Madrid in the Capilla del Espíritu Santo.

Miguel Fisac ​​in his career projected numerous religious works. Its ecclesial production stands out for the personal interpretation of religious aesthetics, the use of light and the spatial dynamism and poetics in its forms, with curved walls, converging and tensioned surfaces.
The Parroquia de Santa Ana in Madrid (1965) is considered one of the most important projects. Built in exposed concrete, it manifests an atmosphere of humble simplicity.

His architectural style evolved in relation to the new materials of the time. From abstract classicism, to brick, to the exclusive use of concrete. Fisac ​​researched a lot about this material and patented his “bone beams”. Prefabricated pieces of prestressed concrete that allowed to obtain large lights and control lighting. In 1960 they were used for the first time, in the construction of the Centro de Estudios Hidrográficos in Madrid.

Later, he experimented with various techniques to give texture to concrete, including in his work a more emotional character. His dissatisfaction with the limits of traditional wooden formwork, led him to patent, in 1973, an innovative solution for the time: the "flexible formwork" that could be implemented in the Mupag Rehabilitation Center (Madrid) and in many others later works.

His activity was not reduced only to the field of construction, but his creative ability led him to write articles, books, and design furniture. He made exhibitions, also of art presenting 60 of his paintings in Madrid.

Miguel Fisac ​​built more than 350 projects, including the emblematic "Pagoda" in Madrid, which unfortunately was demolished in 1999. On the contrary, many of his works are protected and cataloged. Some examples are the Church of Pumarejo de Tera (Zamora), the Church of the Apostolic College of the Dominican Fathers (Valladolid), and in Madrid works such as the Parish Center of Santa María Magdalena (1966) or the IBM Building (1967).

All these activities culminate with the obtaining in 1994 of the Gold Medal of Architecture, and three years after the Antonio Camuñas Prize. In 2002 he received the National Architecture Award. Since 2006, the College of Architects of Ciudad Real manages the Fisac ​​Foundation that is responsible for cataloging all documentation, as well as promoting and safeguarding the work of the Spanish architect, urban planner and painter.

The architect Rafael de La-Hoz, born in Córdoba (Spain), directs his own architecture studio and participates in urban planning projects and the construction of architectural complexes in Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Rumania, Hungary, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, many of which are the fruit of international architecture competitions.

His most emblematic projects include: the Repsol Campus in Méndez Álvaro (recently in receipt of LEED Platinum Certification, awarded to very few buildings in the world); the Rey Juan Carlos Hospital in Móstoles; Distrito C of Telefónica in Las Tablas; the Headquarters of Endesa; the ‘Pórtico’ building (award-winner as one of the best buildings in the world); the Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce; the Rafael del Pino Auditorium –alongside the Paseo de la Castellana- and the Retiro Municipal Assembly building, included in the Daoíz y Verlarde complex of former barracks and an award-winner for its ‘technological innovation’.

José Antonio Corrales and Ramón Vázquez Molezún worked together since 1952 in numerous projects such as the Spanish Pavilion at the Universal Exhibition in Brussels in 1958. They were one of the most important and fruitful Architecture teams in Spain during the second half of the 20th century thanks to their powerful, rigorous and very expressive architecture. They received 1st Prize for the Spanish Pavilion at the Universal Exhibition in Brussels in 1958, with which they achieved international success, and the Architecture Gold Medal (CSCAE) in 1992, among other many prizes.

Their work was extensive and included projects such as the Public Library for the city of Tehran, Iran's capital, which was never built due to the fall of the Shah Reza Pahlavi in ​​1979. The Spanish Pavilion at the International Exhibition of Brussels in 1958, a proposal based on attached hexagons which was later rebuilt in the grounds of Casa de Campo in Madrid. Another of their main works was the Elviña urbanization in La Coruña. This urbanization was very avant-garde at the time, but is now deteriorated after several actions that have disintegrated some of its tectonic components. The colonization town Llanos del Sotillo in Andujar (Jaen). House in Miraflores de la Sierra and Casa Huarte (Madrid). House for writer Camilo José Cela (Palma de Mallorca). Hotel in Sotogrande (Cadiz).

José Antonio Corrales Gutiérrez was born in Madrid in 1921. At age 27, in 1948, he graduated in Architecture from the School of Architecture of Madrid. That same year he won the National Architecture Prize. In 1961 he became professor at the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid. Later on, after some time away from teaching, he went back in 1981 to the School of Architecture of Madrid. He was Academic by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, and received the Antonio Camuñas Award in 2004. In 2001 he received the National Architecture Award for his life achievements. He died in Madrid in 2010.

Ramón Vázquez Molezún was born in A Coruña in 1922. He graduated as an Architect from the School of Madrid in 1948. Between 1949 and 1952 he studied in Rome with a grant from the Academy of Spain. Over the next two years he received several awards, including the National Architecture Prize in 1954. In 1952 he started a fruitful working relationship with architect José Antonio Corrales, which would last until his death in 1993 in Madrid.

Richard Rogers. (Florencia, July 23, 1933 - London, December 18, 2021) Since founding the practice in 1977, Richard Rogers has gained international reknown as an architect and urbanist. He is the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, recipient of the 1985 RIBA Gold Medal and the 2006 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (La Biennale di Venezia). He was knighted in 1991, made a life peer in 1996 and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2008.

Alejandro de la Sota (Pontevedra, 1913; Madrid 1996) is one of the greatest masters of  the Spanish Architecture of the 20th Century. He was a professor at the School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM),  serving its trail as a reference for several  generations of Spanish architects.

During the thirties, he moved from his home town Pontevedra to Madrid where he started his studies in the Faculty of Mathematics, which was a necessary condition to enter in the School of Architecture. Once he got his degree in Architecture in 1941, he spent the first years of his professional life working for the National Institute of Colonization; a stage that ended up with the construction of the village of Esquivel (Sevilla, 1952-1963) and Arvesú House(Madrid, 1953-1955, demolished). Since then, he participated in different competitions, following the same idea as he did in his previous work, the Civil Government of Tarragona (1957-1964). This building has been considered by many people his first masterpiece. During this prolific period he did several projects of modern industrial architecture, such as Clesa Dairy Plant (Madrid, 1958-1961) and CENIM premises in the Campus of the University(Madrid, 1963-1965) and he also built his most recognized and admired work, the Gymnasium of Maravillas School (Madrid, 1960-1962); which is considered by the British critic William Curtis, the most significant work of Contemporary Spanish Architecture.

In 1960 he obtained a job as a Government officer at the Post Office, and throughout this decade, he researched  the possibilities that new materials provide and developed several projects based on a constructive approach consisting of the use of prefabricated concrete panels for walls and floors. This idea is shown in Varela’s House in Villalba (Madrid, 1964-1968).

In 1971 he leaves the university education as a professor, coming back to his public service position at the Post Office. During these years he built César Carlos Residence Hall in the Campus of the University (Madrid, 1968-1971), the building for class and lecture rooms of the University of Sevilla (1972-1973) and Guzmán’s House in Santo Domingo ‘s urbanization (Madrid, 1972-1974), in which he tried out issues to be applied afterwards in Domínguez’s House in A Caeira (Pontevedra, 1973-1978).  The Computer Center for the PO Box in La Vaguada (Madrid, 1972-1977) and years later, the Post and Telecommunications Building in León (1981-1984) belongs to a stage where he was completely involved  in light prefabricated techniques.

In 1992 Emilio Tuñón Álvarez (1958) and Luis M. Mansilla (1959) founded the firm MANSILLA + TUÑÓN ARQUITECTOS, awarded with the MIES VAN DER ROHE PRIZE 2007 (Prize for Contemporary Architecture of the European Union), National Prize for Spanish Architecture 2003, FAD Prize 2001.

Emilio Tuñón and Luis M. Mansilla are titular professors of the Department of Architectural Projects in Madrid. They have been professors in a number of universities, among which are the Graduate School of Design in Harvard, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, the New School of Architecture in Puerto Rico and the Städelschule in Frankfurt. They are currently giving clases in the School of Architecture of Princeton University.

In 1993 they founded the cooperative of thought CIRCO, coming out with a publication under the same title, and which has been awarded with the FAD Special Prize 2007, the prize for the III Iberoamerican Bienal for Architecture and Engineering 2002 and the C.O.A.M. Prize 2005.

Mansilla + Tuñón were awarded the following commissions: Institucional Building for the City of the Environment in Soria (2008), Madrid Internacional Convention Center (2007), Helga de Alvear Foundation Art Center in Cáceres (2005), Lalín Town Hall (2004), Master Plan of the area of Valbuena in Logroño (2003), Library on Artists Street in Madrid (2003), Cantabria Museum (2002). Royal Collections Museum (2002), Sanfermines Museum (200l), Brescia Contemporary Cultural Center of (2000), Castellón Fine Arts Museum (1998), City of León Auditorium (1996), Cultural Center of Madrid in the old El Águila warehouse (1995).

Herzog & de Meuron Architekten is a Swiss architecture firm, founded and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland in 1978. The careers of founders and senior partners Jacques Herzog (born 1950), and Pierre de Meuron (born 1950), closely paralleled one another, with both attending the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich. They are perhaps best known for their conversion of the giant Bankside Power Station in London to the new home of the Tate Museum of Modern Art (2000). Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have been visiting professors at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 1994 (and in 1989) and professors at ETH Zürich since 1999. They are co-founders of the ETH Studio Basel – Contemporary City Institute, which started a research programme on processes of transformation in the urban domain.

Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by five Senior Partners – Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach. An international team of 38 Associates and about 362 collaborators.

Herzog & de Meuron received international attention very early in their career with the Blue House in Oberwil, Switzerland (1980); the Stone House in Tavole, Italy (1988); and the Apartment Building along a Party Wall in Basel (1988).  The firm’s breakthrough project was the Ricola Storage Building in Laufen, Switzerland (1987).  Renown in the United States came with Dominus Winery in Yountville, California (1998). The Goetz Collection, a Gallery for a Private Collection of Modern Art in Munich (1992), stands at the beginning of a series of internationally acclaimed museum buildings such as the Küppersmühle Museum for the Grothe Collection in Duisburg, Germany (1999). Their most recognized buildings include Prada Aoyama in Tokyo, Japan (2003); Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany (2005); the new Cottbus Library for the BTU Cottbus, Germany (2005); the National Stadium Beijing, the Main Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China; VitraHaus, a building to present Vitra’s “Home Collection“, Weil am Rhein, Germany (2010); and 1111 Lincoln Road, a multi-storey mixed-use structure for parking, retail, a restaurant and a private residence in Miami Beach, Florida, USA (2010), the Actelion Business Center in Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland (2010). In recent years, Herzog & de Meuron have also completed projects such as the New Hall for Messe Basel Switzerland (2013), the Ricola Kräuterzentrum in Laufen (2014), which is the seventh building in a series of collaborations with Ricola, with whom Herzog & de Meuron began to work in the 1980s; and the Naturbad Riehen (2014), a public natural swimming pool. In April 2014, the practice completed its first project in Brazil: the Arena do Morro in the neighbourhood of Mãe Luiza, Natal, is the pioneering project within the wider urban proposal “A Vision for Mãe Luiza”.

Herzog & de Meuron have completed 6 projects since the beginning of 2015: a new mountain station including a restaurant on top of the Chäserrugg (2262 metres above sea level) in Toggenburg, Switzerland; Helsinki Dreispitz, a residential development and archive in Münchenstein/Basel, Switzerland; Asklepios 8 – an office building on the Novartis Campus in Basel, Switzerland; the Slow Food Pavilion for Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy; the new Bordeaux stadium, a 42’000 seat multifunctional stadium for Bordeaux, France; Miu Miu Aoyama, a 720 m² boutique for the Prada-owned brand located on Miyuki Street, across the road from Prada Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan.

In many projects the architects have worked together with artists, an eminent example of that practice being the collaboration with Rémy Zaugg, Thomas Ruff and with Michael Craig-Martin.

Professionally, the Herzog & de Meuron partnership has grown to become an office with over 120 people worldwide. In addition to their headquarters in Basel, they have offices in London, Munich and San Francisco. Herzog has explained, “We work in teams, but the teams are not permanent. We rearrange them as new projects begin. All of the work results from discussions between Pierre and me, as well as our other partners, Harry Gugger and Christine Binswanger. The work by various teams may involve many different talents to achieve the best results which is a final product called architecture by Herzog & de Meuron.”

Fuensanta Nieto (Madrid 1957) and Enrique Sobejano (Madrid 1957), are graduated architects by the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM) and Master of Science in Building Design por la Graduate School of Architecture and Planning (GSAPP), Columbia University, New York (USA). Are partners of the office Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, with headquarters in Madrid and Berlín.

Enrique Sobejano is Design Professor at the Universität der Künste Berlin (Germany) and Fuensanta Nieto Fuensanta is an Design Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the Universidad Europea de Madrid. Both have been guest professors and lecturers at various universities and institutions within and outside Spain. From 1986 to 1991 was Director of ARQUITECTURA magazine, of Official College of Architects of Madrid.

Sobejano Nieto's work has been published in numerous magazines and books in Spanish and international, such as Casabella, METALOCUS, The Sketch, Architectural Review, Domus, Architectural Record, Detail, A + U, etc, and has been exhibited, among other places, Venice Biennale (2000, 2002, 2006) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York (2006). They have received the National Award for Restoration of the Ministry of Culture (2008), the Nike Prize BDA (Bund Deutscher Architekten) (2010) and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2010).

Among his recent works include Madinat al Zahra Museum (Córdoba), Moritzburg (Germany), Colegio de San Gregorio (Valladolid) and the Conference Centres of Mérida and Zaragoza.

NIETO SOBEJANO ARQUITECTOS: http://www.nietosobejano.com