megalithic architecture

During the Stone Age the most widespread megalith in the Iberian Peninsula was the dolmen. The plans of these funerary chambers used to be pseudocircles" or trapezoids, formed by enormous stones driven into the ground and others that covered them, forming a roof. As the typology evolved, an entrance appeared in the corridor called dromos, which gradually gained importance until it was as wide as the chamber. In the most advanced state, vaulted ceilings and false domes were common. The Antequera complex contains the largest dolmens in Europe. The best preserved, the Menga Cave, is 25m deep, four meters high and was built with 32 megaliths. Currently, a well has been discovered inside, the origin of which is unknown.

In the Bronze Age, the best preserved examples are in the Balearic Islands, where three types of constructions appear: the taula "Taula (talayotic construction)"), T-shaped, the talayot and the naveta. The talayots were truncated-conical or truncated-pyramidal defense towers. They used to have a central pillar. The ships were constructions made of large stones and their shape was similar to the hulls of ships.

Iberian and Celtic architecture

The fort culture, which arose in the north and center of the peninsula and was directly or indirectly related to the Celtic peoples, developed characteristic constructions called forts "Castro (fortification)"). They are walled towns, usually located at the top of a hill or mountain. There are fort settlements throughout the entire Cantabrian region and on the plateau. They are especially abundant in the Duero Valley and Galicia. Notable examples are Las Cogotas Y Ulaca in (Ávila) and the Castro de Santa Trega (Pontevedra).

The houses in the forts are about 3.5 to 5 m long and are generally circular, with some rectangular, made of stone and with thatched roofs, with a central column. Its streets were generally regular, suggesting some type of central organization.

The cities built by the Arévacos are related to the Iberian culture, whose cities had a notable urban development, such as Numancia. Others are more primitive and often carved into the rock, such as Termantia.

Urban development

The Roman conquest of Hispania, begun in 218 BC. C., meant an almost complete Romanization of the Iberian Peninsula. Roman culture was deeply assumed by the population: ancient military camps and Iberian, Phoenician and Greek settlements were transformed into large cities, such as Augusta Emerita in Lusitania, Corduba, Itálica, Hispalis, Gades in Bética, Tarraco, Carthago Nova, Caesar Augusta, Asturica Augusta, Legio Septima Gemina and Lucus Augusti in Tarraconensis, united by a complex road network. The construction development includes some monuments of comparable quality to those of the capital, Rome.[1]​.

Constructions

Civil engineering is represented by imposing constructions such as the Segovia Aqueduct or the Milagros Aqueduct of Mérida "Mérida (Spain)"), bridges such as those of Alcántara over the Tagus, that of Córdoba over the Guadalquivir or that of Mérida "Mérida (Spain)") over the Guadiana. Lighthouses were also built, such as the one still in use in La Coruña, the Tower of Hercules. Civil constructions were promoted especially under Emperor Trajan (98 AD – 117 AD).

Playful architecture is represented by buildings such as the theaters of Mérida, Cartagena, Sagunto, Tiermes or Cádiz, the amphitheaters of Mérida, Itálica, Tarraco and Segóbriga and the circuses of Mérida, Córdoba, Toledo, Sagunto and many others.

Religious architecture also spread throughout the peninsula as can be seen in the temples of Córdoba, Vich, Mérida (Diana and Marte) and Talavera la Vieja, among others. The main funerary monuments are the towers of the Scipios of Tarragona, the dystyle of Zalamea de la Serena and the mausoleums of the Atilii family in Sádaba and Fabara. Triumphal arches can be found in Cáparra, Bará and Medinaceli.

Contenido

El término prerrománico se refiere al arte cristiano tras la antigüedad clásica y antes del arte románico. Cubre realizaciones artísticas muy diversas, puesto que fueron realizadas en siglos distintos y por culturas diferentes. El territorio español tiene una gran variedad en arquitectura prerrománica: alguna de sus ramas, como el arte asturiano, llegaron a un gran nivel de refinamiento para su época y contexto cultural.

Visigothic architecture

From the century it is worth mentioning the remains of the Basilica of Cabeza de Griego"), in Cuenca "Cuenca (Spain)") and the small church of San Cugat del Vallés, in Barcelona. This, although very deteriorated, clearly shows a single nave plan that ends in an apse. From the following century are those of San Pedro de la Nave, San Juan de Baños, Santa María de Quintanilla de las Viñas, whose trace will later be repeated in other later temples belonging to the "repopulation style" or "Mozarabic" style. Furthermore, in this period the early Christian tradition in religious architecture is basically followed:

Asturian architecture

The Kingdom of Asturias appears in 718, when the Asturian tribes, gathered in assembly, decided to name Don Pelayo their chief. Pelayo gathered local tribes and Visigoth refugees under his command with the intention of progressively restoring the Gothic order.

The Asturian pre-Romanesque is a unique style, which, combining elements of other styles, such as the Visigoth and local traditions, created and developed its own personality and characteristics, reaching a notable level of refinement, not only in terms of construction, but also in terms of aesthetics.

Regarding its evolution, the Asturian pre-Roman followed a "stylistic evolution clearly associated with the political evolution of the kingdom, its stages clearly marked." It was mainly a court architecture and five stages are distinguished: first period (737–791) from the kingdom of Favila to that of Bermudo I of Asturias. The second period includes the kingdoms of Alfonso II of Asturias (791–842), entering a stage of stylistic definition. These two periods are included within the so-called pre-Ramirense"). The most important church is that of San Julián de los Prados, in Oviedo, with an interesting system of volumes and a program of interesting iconographic frescoes, closely related to Roman wall paintings. The lattices and trifoliate windows in the apse appear for the first time in this stage. The Holy Chamber of the Cathedral of Oviedo, San Pedro de Nora "Church of San Pedro (Nora)") and Santa María de Bendones "Church of Santa María (Bendones)") also belong to the pre-Ramirense.

The third period includes the kingdoms of Ramiro I (842–850) and Ordoño I (850–866). It is the so-called Ramirense") and is considered the culmination of this style, due to the work of an unknown architect who brought new ornamental styles and structures, such as the barrel vault and the consistent use of transverse arches and buttresses, bringing the style closer to the achievements obtained by Romanesque architecture two centuries later. Some authors have pointed out an inexplicable Syrian influence on the ornamentation. In this period, most of the masterpieces of this style flourished: the pavilions of the Palacio del Monte Naranco (Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo) and the church of Santa Cristina de Lena").

A fourth period extends during the reign of Alfonso III (866–910), in which the arrival of a strong Mozarabic influence in Asturian architecture is detected, expanding the use of the horseshoe arch. A fifth and final stage coincides with the transfer of the court to León "León (Spain)"), which ceases to speak of the Kingdom of Asturias properly, preferring the term Kingdom of León. The pre-Romanesque enters the phase that can be called repopulation art.

Mozarabic architecture

Mozarabic architecture was carried out by the Mozarabs, Christians who lived in Muslim Spain from the Arab invasion (711) until the end of the century, and who maintained their differentiated personality also from the Christians of the northern kingdoms, to whom they emigrated in successive waves or were incorporated by the Reconquista. An example of this architecture is the church of Bobastro, a rock temple located in the place known as Mesas de Villaverde, in Ardales (Málaga), of which only some ruins remain. Another representative building of this architecture is the church of Santa María de Melque, located near La Puebla de Montalbán (Toledo). With respect to this temple, there is doubt about its stylistic affiliation, since it shares Visigothic features with other more properly Mozarabic ones, and its dating is also not clear. The hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga presents an unprecedented typology, including in its rectangular plan a tribune over a small hypostyle room, in the manner of mosques, and its roof being supported by a single central pillar in the shape of a palm tree. Both this pillar and the interior walls are profusely decorated with frescoes depicting hunting scenes and exotic animals. A certain typological connection can be established as an initiatory temple, already in the Romanesque period, with the church of Santa María de Eunate and the other Templar constructions with a centralized plan, such as that of Torres del Río or the Vera Cruz "Church of the Vera Cruz (Segovia)") of Segovia.

As has already been said, the identification with Mozarabic constructions in the Christian kingdoms of the northern peninsula is problematic.

Repopulation or Leonese architecture

Between the end of the century and the beginning of the century, an evolution of the pre-Romanesque developed in the northern Christian kingdoms, which has traditionally been attributed to Mozarabic influence,[2] although currently this has been discussed and it is preferred to consider it as a third phase of the pre-Romanesque, after the Visigoth and the Asturian. Historically it coincides with the repopulation of the Duero Plateau and the headwaters of the Ebro. Examples of these temples are those of the church of Santiago de Peñalba of Peñalba de Santiago (León), the church "Church of San Cipriano (San Cebrián de Mazote)") of San Cebrián de Mazote (Valladolid), the monastery of San Miguel de Escalada (León), the church of San Vicente del Valle (Burgos), the Church of Santa María "Church of Santa María (Lebeña)") of Lebeña (Cantabria), the Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga of Caltojar (Soria), the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña of Jaca (Huesca), the pre-Romanesque church of the Monastery of Leyre (Navarra), the Monastery of San Millán de Suso (La Rioja) and some other Zamoran or Asturian examples. A similar argument could be made to include some small Catalan churches considered "Mozarabic", such as those of San Julián de Boada or the church of Santa María de Matadars.

The Caliphate of Córdoba

The Muslim conquest of Hispania by the troops of Musa ibn Nusair and Tariq ibn Ziyad and the fall of the Umayyad dynasty of Damascus, led to the creation by Abd al-Rahman I, the only surviving prince who escaped from the Abbasids, of an independent Emirate with capital in Córdoba "Córdoba (Spain)"). The city would become the cultural capital of the West from 750 to 1009.

The architecture built in al-Andalus under the Umayyads evolved from that of Damascus, with local aesthetic additions: the horseshoe arch, distinctive of Hispano-Arabic architecture, was taken from the Visigoths. Architects, artists and craftsmen came from the east to build cities like Medina Azahara, whose splendor could not even be imagined in contemporary European kingdoms.[3]​.

The most important construction of the Umayyads in Córdoba was the Mosque of Córdoba, built in consecutive stages by Abderramán I, Abderramán II, Alhakén II and Almanzor.

The Taifa kingdoms

With the disappearance of the Caliphate, the territory was divided into small kingdoms called taifas. Their political weakness was accompanied by a cultural conservatism, which, together with the advance of the Christian kingdoms, led the taifas to cling to the prestige of the structures and forms of the Córdoba style.

The recession manifested itself in the construction techniques and materials used, although not in the profusion of ornamentation. The multi-lobed arches were multiplied and thinned and all the caliphal elements were exaggerated.

Some magnificent examples of Taifal architecture have survived to this day, such as the Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza or the small mosque of Bab-Mardum in Toledo, later converted into one of the first examples of Mudejar architecture such as the Church of Cristo de la Luz.

Almoravids and Almohads

The Almoravids burst into Al-Andalus from North Africa in 1086 and unified the Taifa kingdoms under their power. They developed their own architecture, but very little has survived, since the next invasion, that of the Almohads, imposed ultra-orthodox Islam and destroyed practically all the important Almoravid buildings, along with Medina Azahara and other caliphal constructions.

Almohad architecture is extremely sober and naked. They used brick as the main construction material. Practically the only decoration used, the sebka, were grids of rhombuses made of brick. They also used the palm as decoration, but it was nothing more than a simplification of the more ornate Almoravid palm. As time went by, Almohad art became slightly more decorative.

The best-known element of Almohad architecture is La Giralda, the former minaret of the Seville mosque, although the upper part is Renaissance. Classified as Mudejar, but immersed in Almohad aesthetics, the synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, in Toledo, is a rare example of architectural collaboration of the three medieval Spanish cultures.

Nasrid architecture of the kingdom of Granada

After the dissolution of the Almohad empire, the Muslim kingdoms in the south of the Peninsula were reorganized and in 1237 the Nasrid kingdom was established with its capital in Granada.

The architecture produced by the Nasrids was to be some of the richest in Islam. It was heir to the other Muslim styles of Al-Andalus, which the Nasrids combined, and to the close contact with the Christian kingdoms of the north. The ornamentation and structural elements were taken from Cordoban architecture (horseshoe arches), from the Almohads (sebka and palm), but also from their own creation, such as the prismatic and cylindrical capitals and muqarnas arches, in a joyful combination of interior and exterior spaces, gardens and architecture, designed to please all the senses. Unlike Umayyad architecture, which used expensive and imported materials for construction, the Nasrids used only humble materials: mud, plaster and wood. However, the aesthetic result is full of complexity and is disconcerting for the viewer: the multiplication of the decoration, the wise use of light and shadows and the incorporation of water into the architecture, are some of the keys to the style.[4] Epigraphy was also integrated into the walls of the different rooms, with poems alluding to the beauty of the spaces.[5] The palaces of the Alhambra and the Generalife are the most important constructions of the period.

The architecture carried out by Muslims who remained in Christian territory and who did not convert is called the Mudejar style. It developed mainly from the 19th century with strong influences of Arab taste and art, but adapted to the taste of Christian lords. For this reason, Mudejar is just a pure style: techniques and artistic language are frequently combined with other styles depending on the historical moment. Thus, we can refer to the Mudejar, but also to the Mudejar Romanesque, the Mudejar Gothic or the Renaissance Mudejar.

The Mudejar style is a symbiosis of techniques and ways of understanding architecture, the result of the coexistence of Muslim, Jewish and Christian cultures. It emerged as an architectural style in the 19th century. It is usually accepted that the style was born in Sahagún "Sahagún (León)").[6] It spread to the rest of the Kingdom of León, Toledo, one of the oldest and most important centers, Ávila, Segovia, and later to Granada and Seville. In Toledo we must highlight the synagogues of Santa María la Blanca and El Tránsito, both Mudejar but not Christian. In Seville, the rooms of the Alcázar,[7]​ despite being classified as Mudejar, are more related to the Nasrid art of the Alhambra than to the rest of the Mudejar, since they were created by architects from Granada with little Christian influence brought by Peter I of Castile. Also in Seville we must highlight the Casa de Pilatos "Casa de Pilatos (Sevilla)").

Other important Mudejar centers are found in cities such as Toro "Toro (Zamora)"), Cuéllar, Arévalo "Arévalo (Ávila)") and Madrigal de las Altas Torres, highlighting the Monastery of Las Claras, in Tordesillas and the Convent of San Pablo "Convento de San Pablo (Peñafiel)") in Peñafiel. The Aragonese Mudejar had a special development, especially in Zaragoza and Teruel during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, highlighting the Mudejar towers of Teruel.

It is characterized by the use of brick as the main material. He did not create his own structures, unlike the Gothic or Romanesque, but rather reinterpreted Western styles through a Muslim perspective. The geometric character, distinctive of Islam, appears in the accessory arts, using cheap materials - tile, brick, wood, plaster, metals - worked in an elaborate way, highlighting the coffered ceiling. Even after Muslims were no longer employed in construction, their contributions remained an integral part of Spanish architecture.

The Gothic style began in Spain due to the growing communication from central and northern Europe during the 2nd century, when the late Romanesque alternated with a transitional style such as Cistercian architecture and with some expressions of pure Gothic, such as the Cathedral of Ávila; This and that of Cuenca "Cathedral of Cuenca (Spain)") are the earliest of the style. Full Gothic arrived in full force through the Camino de Santiago in the 19th century, with the creation of some of the purest Gothic cathedrals, of French influence: the cathedrals of Burgos, León and Toledo.

After the 19th century, the style spread with creative local variants such as Levantine Gothic and Elizabethan Gothic. Levantine Gothic, which flourished in the 19th century, is characterized by its structural achievements and the unification of space, its masterpieces being the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca, the Lonja de la Seda in Valencia and the Church of Santa María del Mar "Iglesia de Santa María del Mar (Barcelona)") in Barcelona. Guillermo Bofill carried out an extraordinary daring act in the cathedral of Gerona by unifying the three naves of the apse into a single nave of extraordinary amplitude.

In the Castile of the century, the close commercial and political relationship with northern Europe brought together architects such as Juan and Simón from Colonia, Hanequín from Brussels, Juan Guas and Enrique Egas who created a school adapting to local sensitivity. Work continues on the last great Gothic cathedrals (Seville, new Salamanca and Segovia). Elizabethan Gothic, so called because it coincides with the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, represents a transition to the Renaissance, but at the same time a strong resistance to leaving traditional Gothic principles. His masterpieces are San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo, the Royal Chapel of Granada and the Cartuja de Miraflores in Burgos. The chronological and formal boundaries with the simultaneous Plateresque are imprecise.

In Spain, the Renaissance began together with Gothic forms in the last decades of the century. The style began to spread mainly at the hands of local architects: it is the reason for a specifically Spanish Renaissance style, which brought together the influence of southern Italian architecture, sometimes coming from illustrated books and paintings, with Gothic tradition and local idiosyncrasy. The new style is called plateresque, due to the excessively decorated facades, which are reminiscent of the intricate work of silversmiths. Classical orders and candlestick motifs (candelieri) are freely combined in symmetrical ensembles.

In this context, the Palace of Charles V, designed by Pedro Machuca, in Granada, was an unexpected achievement within the most advanced Renaissance of the time. The palace can be defined as an anticipation of mannerism, due to its mastery of classical language and its groundbreaking aesthetic achievements. It was built before the main works of Michelangelo and Palladio. Its influence was very limited and poorly understood, the Plateresque forms imposed themselves on the general panorama.

As the decades passed, the Gothic influence declined and the search for an orthodox classicism reached very high levels. Although plateresque is a term commonly used to define the majority of architectural production at the end of the century and first half of the century, some architects acquired a more sober taste, such as Diego de Siloé, Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón and Gaspar de Vega. Examples of plateresque are the facades of the University of Salamanca and the Hostal San Marcos de León.

The summit of the Spanish Renaissance is represented by the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, built by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, in which an initial excessive adherence to the art of ancient Rome was overcome by an extremely sober style. The influence of Flemish and North European roofs and spiers, the symbolism of the scarce decoration and the precise cut of the granite established the basis for a new style, the Herrerian style, which formed a school for many years.

With a style closer to Mannerism, the century closed with architects such as Andrés de Vandelvira (Jaén Cathedral).

When Italian baroque influences reached Spain, they gradually replaced in popular taste the sober classicist taste that had been in fashion since the 19th century. As early as 1667, the facades of the Granada Cathedral by Alonso Cano and that of Jaén by Eufrasio López de Rojas indicate the ease of their interpretation in the baroque manner of the traditional motifs of Spanish cathedrals.

The local baroque maintains its roots in Herrera and in the traditional brick construction, developed in Madrid throughout the century (Plaza Mayor and Madrid City Hall).

In contrast to the baroque of northern Europe, Spanish art of the time sought to please the senses rather than the intellect. The Churriguera family, who specialized in altars and altarpieces, rebelled against the sobriety of Herrerian classicism and promoted an intricate, exaggerated, and almost whimsical style of superficial decoration, known as churrigueresque. In half a century, they turned Salamanca into an exemplary churrigueresque city.

The evolution of the style went through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, the Churrigueras popularized Guarini's mixture of the Solomonic column and the composite order, known as the "supreme order." Between 1720 and 1760, the churrigueresque column or stipe "Estípite (architecture)"), in the shape of a cone or inverted obelisk, was established as the main element of the ornamental decoration. The years 1760 to 1780 saw a gradual shift of interest from the twisted and excessive movement of ornamentation towards the balance and sobriety of the neoclassical.

Two of the most spectacular creations of the Spanish Baroque are the facades of the University of Valladolid (Diego Tomé, 1719) and the Hospicio de San Fernando in Madrid (Pedro de Ribera, 1722), whose curvilinear extravagance seems to announce Antonio Gaudí and modernism "Modernism (art)"). In this case and in many others, the design includes the interplay of ceilings and decorative elements with little relation to structure and function. However, the Churrigueresque baroque offers some of the most spectacular combinations of light and space, such as in the Cartuja de Granada, considered the apotheosis of Churrigueresque applied to interior spaces, and the "transparent" one of the Toledo Cathedral by Narciso Tomé, where sculpture and architecture are integrated to achieve a dramatic effect of light.

The Royal Palace of Madrid and the constructions of the Paseo del Prado (Salón del Prado and Puerta de Alcalá) also in Madrid, deserve to be mentioned. They were built in the sober international baroque, often confused with neoclassical, by the Bourbon kings Philip V and Charles III. The royal palaces of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in Segovia, and that of Aranjuez, in Madrid, are good examples of the integration of Baroque architecture and gardens, with notable French influence (La Granja is known as the "Spanish Versailles"), but with a local spatial conception, which in some way shows heritage from the Muslim occupation.

Rococo was introduced in Spain for the first time in the Cathedral of Murcia, in 1733, on its western façade. Also in the Levantine area, the exuberant decoration of the door of the palace of the Marquis of Dos Aguas in Valencia, designed by the painter and engraver Hipólito Rovira (1740–1744), stands out. The best representative of the style was the Spanish master Ventura Rodríguez, responsible for the Santa Capilla de la Virgen del Pilar (1750) inside the temple of Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza.

The Spanish colonial style of architecture dominated in the early Spanish territories of the Americas and also in the Philippines. It is distinguished by the contrast between the simple and solid construction that the new place demands and the baroque ornamentation that comes from Spain. The colonial area of ​​Santo Domingo, founded in 1498, is the oldest western city in the New World and is a good example of this style.

The combination of Native American and Arab decorative influences, with an expressive interpretation of Churrigueresque, could explain the variety and intensity of the Baroque in the American colonies of Spain. Even more so than its Spanish counterpart, American Baroque developed as a style of stucco decoration. Twin-towered facades of several century American cathedrals have medieval roots. The full baroque did not appear until 1664, when the Jesuits built their sanctuary in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco.

Peruvian Baroque is especially exuberant, as evidenced by the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco de Lima in Lima (1673), which displays a dark and very intricate façade between two twin towers. While the rural baroque of the Jesuit missions (estancias) in Córdoba "Córdoba (Argentina)") (Argentina) followed the model of Il Gesù, "mestizo" provincial styles appeared in Arequipa, Potosí and La Paz. In the 19th century, the region's architects were inspired by the Mudejar art of medieval Spain. The late Baroque façade style first emerged in the Church of Our Lady of La Merced in Lima (1697–1704). Similarly, in the Company's church "Iglesia de la Compañía (Quito)") in Quito (1722–1765), the façade resembles a richly sculpted altarpiece with an excess of Solomonic columns.

To the north, the richest province of the century, New Spain, present-day Mexico, Central America, and the US states of Texas, New Mexico, California, and Arizona produced the fantastically extravagant and visually frenetic architecture that is Mexican churrigueresque. This ultra-baroque style culminates in the works of Lorenzo Rodríguez, whose masterpiece is the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Mexico City (1749–1769). Other notable examples are found in remote mining towns. For example, the sanctuary of Ocotlán (begun in 1745) is a first-rate Baroque cathedral, whose surface is covered in bright red tiles, which contrast with a plethora of compressed ornaments generously applied to the doorway and flanks of the towers. The true capital of Mexican Baroque is Puebla, where the abundance of hand-painted tiles and local gray stone led to a very personal and localized evolution of the style, with a pronounced Indian flavor.

The extremely intellectual postulates of neoclassicism were less successful in Spain than the much more expressive Baroque. Spanish neoclassicism expanded from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, founded in 1752. Its main figure was Juan de Villanueva, who adapted Edmund Burke's ideas about beauty and the sublime to the requirements of the local climate and history. He built the Prado Museum (which was originally going to serve as a Science Office), combining three elements: an academy, an auditorium and a museum, in a building with three separate entrances. The Prado was part of Charles III's ambitious program that sought to turn Madrid into the capital of Arts and Sciences. Very close to the museum, Villanueva built the El Retiro astronomical observatory and the Botanical Garden, all within the Paseo del Prado axis, with its emblematic fountains of Neptune "Fuente de Neptuno (Madrid)") and Cibeles (designed by Ventura Rodríguez) and closed by the Hospital and Royal College of Surgery of San Carlos. He also designed some of the kings' summer residences in El Escorial and Aranjuez and rebuilt the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, among other important works. Villanueva's disciples Antonio López Aguado and Isidro González Velázquez spread the style throughout the center of the country.

Eclecticism

Eclectic architecture is that which combines several styles in one building, without following a single architectural order. This current arrived in Spain in the last years of the century. One of the most important eclecticist buildings is the Communications Palace in Madrid, designed by Antonio Palacios and Joaquín Otamendi. It was inaugurated in 1909.

Historicism

Historicism arrived from Europe in the century, whose most notable styles are neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque. Of the neo-Gothic we must highlight the Episcopal Palace of Astorga and the Sobrellano Palace in Comillas "Comillas (Cantabria)"), the façade of the Barcelona Cathedral, the Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in Tenerife and the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit of Terrassa. Of the neo-Romanesque, less important than the previous one, we must mention the crypt of the Madrid Cathedral "Catedral de la Almudena (Madrid)") and the Basilica of Our Lady of Covadonga, in Asturias.

At the end of the century a new architectural movement emerged in Madrid: a resurgence of Mudejar architecture, the neo-Mudejar, which immediately spread to other regions. Architects such as Emilio Rodríguez Ayuso saw Mudejar art as an exclusive and characteristic style of Spain. Buildings began to be constructed using some of the characteristics of the old style, such as horseshoe arches and the use of abstract brick ornamentation for the facades. It became popular especially in the construction of bullrings and other public buildings, but also for the construction of homes, due to the use of cheap materials, mainly brick for the exteriors. Highlights include the cover of the Teruel Cathedral and La Escalinata in the same city, the work of Aniceto Marinas, and the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid.

It was mainly developed in Asturias and inland Catalonia.

Barcelona would embrace the style with ambition in the search for a new identity and would become the main focus, as part of a romantic restoration of the city's old town, financed by an increasingly wealthy bourgeoisie due to the benefits of the industrial revolution. The Barcelona Cathedral built in the Gothic style between 1298 and 1420, however the façade and the dome correspond to a remodeling in the neo-Gothic style carried out between 1882 and 1913, when the dome was completed. Nearby is the famous Pont del Bisbe, from 1928.

As an architect, Enric Sagnier would stand out, some of his most notable works are the Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart (1902-1961), the Church of Pompeii "Church of Our Lady of Pompeii (Barcelona)") (1907-1910), the Doctor Genové House (1911) or the Barcelona Pension Fund (1914-1917).

Glass and iron architecture

The mass production of iron and glass during the century gave architects new ideas for developing buildings. In 1851, the inauguration of "The Crystal Palace" laid the foundations for a new form of construction, faster, lighter, and suitable for new uses, such as greenhouses. Decades later, the Barcelona Universal Exposition (1888) "Barcelona Universal Exhibition (1888)") would be held, promoting this movement with works in the city of Barcelona such as the Columbus Monument (Barcelona) "Columbus Monument (Barcelona)"), the Umbraculo, the Hivernacle, or the Barceloneta Iron Bridge, the latter now missing.

Some of the most notable examples of this new form of construction are the Mercado del Borne (1876) or the Mercado de San Antonio (1882) in Barcelona, ​​or the Palacio de Cristal del Retiro (1887) and the Palacio de Cristal de la Arganzuela (1924) in Madrid.

Modernism

In Spain, modernism "Modernism (art)") had its center in Barcelona. When the city of Barcelona expanded beyond its historical limits, resulting in Ildefonso Cerdá's Ensanche, in which the so-called Catalan modernism or modernisme would develop. Modernisme broke with previous styles and used organic forms for inspiration, as did Art Nouveau "Modernism (art)") in France and Jugendstil in Germany. The most famous architect is Antoni Gaudí, whose work in Barcelona (the best known La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Milà and Casa Batlló) and in other places in Spain (Capricho de Gaudí, Casa Botines and Palacio Episcopal de Astorga) mixes traditional architecture with other new styles, being a precursor of modern architecture. Other notable Catalan architects of the time were Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch.

Modernism also had development in other cities in Catalonia, such as Tarrasa (Masía Freixa and Fábrica Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover) and Reus (Casa Navàs), and the rest of Spain, such as Teruel (Casa El Torico or Casa La Madrileña), Zaragoza (Casino Mercantil "Centro Mercantil Industrial y Agrícola (Zaragoza)") or Kiosco de la Música) or Comillas "Comillas (Cantabria)"), where, apart from Gaudí's Capricho, you can admire the Comillas Pontifical University, in Melilla, a city on the other side of the strait, by the hand of Enrique Nieto and with countless buildings of great value, becoming the second city in Spain with the largest number of modernist and art-deco buildings.

Modern movement between 1920-1939

The creation in 1928 of the GATCPAC group in Barcelona, ​​followed by the creation of GATEPAC (1930) by architects mainly from Zaragoza, Madrid, San Sebastián and Bilbao, established two groups of young architects who followed the dictates of modern architecture in Spain. Josep Lluís Sert, Fernando García Mercadal, José Manuel Aizpurúa and Joaquín Labayen among others, were organized into three regional groups.[14] Other architects explored the modern style from particular points of view: Casto Fernández Shaw with his visionary work, almost all on paper, José Antonio Coderch, with his integration of Mediterranean housing and the concepts of the new style or Luis Gutiérrez Soto, highly influenced by trends expressionists.

At the 1929 International Exhibition "Barcelona International Exhibition (1929)") in Barcelona the German Pavilion "German Pavilion (Barcelona)") designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich became an instant icon; amalgamating minimalism and notions of fidelity to materials with influences from De Stijl in the treatment of planes in space.[15]​ The famous ceiling looms over the viewer apparently without supports.

Architecture of Francoism 1939-1975

Francoist architecture was developed mainly in the first stage of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1959), during the autarky, hence it is known as architecture of the Autarky. It is characterized by a general rejection of rationalism "Rationalism (architecture)") (frequent during the Second Republic) and by reinterpreting in an eclectic way the historical styles of the Spanish Empire. It is especially based on Herrerianism, with the Neo-Herrerian style being the main current of this period, and, to a lesser extent, Villanovian neoclassicism. It was originally known as imperial style. There are also certain rationalist touches through the reproduction of the architecture of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The architecture of autarky is conditioned by the serious economic problems of post-war Spain and the need to rebuild the country. Likewise, it presents a great ideological load.[16][17]​.

The Moncloa complex in Madrid, the Valley of the Fallen, the España Building and the Labor University of Gijón stand out as the most representative buildings of the architecture of autarky.[16]​.

In the second stage of Francoist architecture, the economic openness of the country allowed an assimilation of the modern movement "Rationalism (architecture)"), gradually incorporated during the 1950s and especially the 1960s new, more avant-garde architectural forms and approaches.

In the works of some architects, official approval and the advancement of architectural design were able to coexist, as is the case of Luis Gutiérrez Soto, interested in the typology and rational distribution of spaces, whose prolific work easily alternates the rediscovery of historical styles with a rationalist style, or the commissions of the Vertical Unions to Francisco de Asís Cabrero. Luis Moya Blanco's achievements in the construction of brick vaults also deserve a mention; His interest in traditional brick construction led him to an in-depth study of the material's modern formal possibilities, highlighting his use of the partitioned vault.

In the last decades of Franco's life, a new generation of architects strongly rescued the legacy of GATEPAC: Alejandro de la Sota Martínez was a pioneer in this new path, and young architects such as Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza, Fernando Higueras and Miguel Fisac, often with modest budgets, investigated types of prefabricated and collective housing.

Late 20th century

The death of Franco and the return of democracy brought a new architectural optimism to the country in the late 1970s and 1980s. Critical regionalism became the dominant school for serious architecture.[18] The flow of money from the European Union, tourism, and a flourishing economy were fertile ground for Spanish architecture. A new generation of architects emerged, including Enric Miralles, Carme Pinós, and the architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava. The Barcelona Olympic Games and the Seville Expo, both in 1992, further boosted Spain's reputation internationally, to the point that many architects from countries in recession moved to Spain to participate in this boom. In recognition of the support for architecture provided by the City of Barcelona, ​​the Royal Institute of British Architects awarded him the Royal Gold Medal in 1999, the first time in history that the award was given to a city.[19]​.

Bilbao attracted the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to build a new gallery that opened in 1997. Designed by Frank Gehry in a deconstructivist style, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao became world famous and has single-handedly increased Bilbao's global prestige. The museum's success in creating iconic architecture is known in urban planning as the "Bilbao effect."[20]​.

• - Rande Bridge in the Vigo estuary by Fabrizio de Miranda, Florencio del Pozo") and Alfredo Passaro"), 1973-1978.

• - New Igualada Cemetery Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós, 1985-1994.

• - City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, by Santiago Calatrava, 1998.

• - Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, by Frank Gehry, 1997.

• - Kursaal Congress Palace and Auditorium, by Rafael Moneo (San Sebastián), 1999.

21st century

In 2003, the Prince of Asturias, Don Felipe de Borbón inaugurated in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands), the modern building of the Tenerife Auditorium, designed by Santiago Calatrava. Several correspondents and newspapers from around the world attended this event.[21] In 2006, Terminal 4 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport by Richard Rogers, Antonio Lamela and Luis Vidal "Luis Vidal (architect)") won the Stirling Prize. In April 2007, the MUSAC (Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León, in León "León (Spain)") of the architects Emilio Tuñón and Luis M. Mansilla received the Mies van der Rohe Contemporary Architecture Prize from the European Union,[22] which had already won the Kursaal (San Sebastián) by Rafael Moneo in 2001.

The Agbar Tower is a skyscraper in Barcelona designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel. It measures 144.4 meters and has 38 floors, including 4 underground levels. Its design combines a series of different architectural concepts, the result of which is a striking structure built with reinforced concrete, covered with a glass façade and more than 4,400 windows cut into the structural concrete.

From February 12 to May 1, 2006, MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York, dedicated the exhibition On-Site: New Architecture in Spain to new architecture in Spain.[23] MoMA defines Spain as a country that has become in recent years an international center of innovation and architectural excellence, as demonstrated by the fact that seven Pritzker Prize winners (Rafael Moneo, Álvaro Siza, Thom Mayne, Zaha Hadid, Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas) have been selected for the exhibition.[24]​ Terence Riley, in charge of the Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA, who said goodbye to the museum with this exhibition, comments:

Four skyscrapers were built in Madrid (2006-2009), of which the tallest measures 250 meters. This business park is called Cuatro Torres Business Area, and the Caja Madrid Tower, which is the tallest in all of Spain, is designed by Norman Foster.

In Asturias, the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center was inaugurated in 2011, the only work of the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in Spain. It consists of five pieces: a large open plaza, a dome, an auditorium, a viewing tower and a multipurpose building.

In 2017 the RCR team formed by Carme Pigem, Ramón Vilalta and Rafael Aranda obtained the Pritzker Prize.[26]​.

• - Agbar Tower in Barcelona, ​​by Jean Nouvel, 2005.

• - Skyscraper of the CTBA business complex in Madrid, 2004 to 2009.

• - RCR, Sant Antoni-Joan Oliver Library, Barcelona, ​​2002-2005.

• - Facade of the MUSAC in León "León (Spain)"), by Mansilla + Tuñón Arquitectos, 2005 Mies van der Rohe Award in 2007.

• - Bridge Pavilion at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, designed by Zaha Hadid.

• - Niemeyer Center in Avilés, Asturias, the only work in Spain by Oscar Niemeyer, 2011.

Due to the great climatic and topographical differences in the country, popular architecture shows great variety. Limestone, slate (rock), granite, clay (cooked or not), wood or straw are used in different regions. Also the structures and distribution vary greatly according to regional customs. Some of these constructions have their own names: cortijo, carmen&action=edit&redlink=1 "Carmen (architecture) (not yet written)"), barraca "Barraca (housing)"), caserío "Caserío (construction)"), palloza, farmhouse, etc. Some Spanish regions show examples of popular architecture with its own trace, such as the popular Alistana architecture in the province of Zamora.

• - The hórreo is an elevated granary from Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. In this image a Galician granary appears.

• - The Asturian granary (in this case a bread basket) has a hipped roof, while the Galician granary has a gabled roof.

• - Palomar "Palomar (birds)") from Tierra de Campos (Castilla y León).

• - A farmhouse in Castellón. The farmhouses evolved from the Roman villas.

• - Barraca "Barraca (housing)") of the Ebro Delta. It is a light, even precarious, construction that uses reeds and mud, local materials that gave the title to a famous novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez set in the Albufera of Valencia, an area with similar characteristics.

• - Windmills in Campo de Criptana, La Mancha. Technology of Middle Eastern origin, they were introduced in Spain in the 16th century, not long before Cervantes immortalized them. The oldest tradition was water mills.

• - Farmhouse "Farmhouse (construction)") of Lascorz in La Fueva (Huesca). The farmhouse, in contrast to the farmhouse in the eastern area, is the form of a "block house" that responds to the dispersed settlement in a large mountainous area between the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Coast. Warehouses, housing and spaces for livestock are usually on different levels of the same construction.

• - District of Royo Odrea, in Ayna (Albacete) "Ayna (Albacete)"). Concentrated settlement is the norm in dry Spain, with crowded nuclei. Whitewashed facades are usually interpreted as a hygienic measure, as well as a thermal one, and a way to homogenize the consistency of the wall material. The location may have a defensive origin, or even be an intermediate place for the use of different agricultural, livestock and forestry exploitation areas.

• - Hanging houses, Cuenca "Cuenca (Spain)"). The extreme use of space in adaptation to difficult locations and the use of native materials (the abundant wood in the Serranía) are representative of popular architecture, both rural and, in this case, urban.

• - Material: adobe, used in some regions of Castilla y León.

• - Tiles on a roof in Colmenar de Oreja. This is the most common arrangement, although in the province of Segovia the traditional thing is to place only the ones at the bottom. The use of tiles in the Middle and Modern ages detected a house of special wealth "where there are tiles there is money", since poor homes were covered with branches, grass or other more accessible materials.

• - Main street "Calle Mayor (Alcalá de Henares)") of Alcalá de Henares. The arcades are a unique and characteristic structure of Spanish urban planning. In this case they house curious elements of the city's old Jewish quarter such as the walkways, in contrast to its rectilinear layout (on the pre-existing road, it connects the old Roman center with the main square, which characteristically arose in a suburb).

• - Category:Architecture of Spain.

• - Category:Architecture of Spain by locality.

• - Annex:Architectures of Spain.

Literature

• - Chueca Goitia, Fernando: History of Spanish architecture, two volumes. Provincial Council of Ávila, 2001. ISBN 84-923918-7-1.

• - Bru i Bistuer, Eduard (1984) Contemporary Spanish architecture. Gustavo Gili Editorial. ISBN 84-252-1045-3.

• - New Architecture in Spain (PB) — Edited by and with an essay by Terence Riley. ISBN 0-87070-499-0.

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

• - Newcomb, Rexford (1937). Spanish-Colonial Architecture in the United States. J.J. Augustine, New York. Dover Publications; reissue (April 1, 1990). ISBN 0-486-26263-4.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Architecture of Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Visigothic Architecture in Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Asturian Architecture.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Mudejar Architecture.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Gothic Architecture in Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Renaissance Architecture of Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Baroque Architecture in Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Neo-Mudejar Architecture in Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Popular architecture in Spain.

• - Architecture in Spain on the web Everything about Spain.

• - Arch XX Sudoe Archived March 13, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. — database of Spanish buildings of the 20th century.

megalithic architecture

During the Stone Age the most widespread megalith in the Iberian Peninsula was the dolmen. The plans of these funerary chambers used to be pseudocircles" or trapezoids, formed by enormous stones driven into the ground and others that covered them, forming a roof. As the typology evolved, an entrance appeared in the corridor called dromos, which gradually gained importance until it was as wide as the chamber. In the most advanced state, vaulted ceilings and false domes were common. The Antequera complex contains the largest dolmens in Europe. The best preserved, the Menga Cave, is 25m deep, four meters high and was built with 32 megaliths. Currently, a well has been discovered inside, the origin of which is unknown.

In the Bronze Age, the best preserved examples are in the Balearic Islands, where three types of constructions appear: the taula "Taula (talayotic construction)"), T-shaped, the talayot and the naveta. The talayots were truncated-conical or truncated-pyramidal defense towers. They used to have a central pillar. The ships were constructions made of large stones and their shape was similar to the hulls of ships.

Iberian and Celtic architecture

The fort culture, which arose in the north and center of the peninsula and was directly or indirectly related to the Celtic peoples, developed characteristic constructions called forts "Castro (fortification)"). They are walled towns, usually located at the top of a hill or mountain. There are fort settlements throughout the entire Cantabrian region and on the plateau. They are especially abundant in the Duero Valley and Galicia. Notable examples are Las Cogotas Y Ulaca in (Ávila) and the Castro de Santa Trega (Pontevedra).

The houses in the forts are about 3.5 to 5 m long and are generally circular, with some rectangular, made of stone and with thatched roofs, with a central column. Its streets were generally regular, suggesting some type of central organization.

The cities built by the Arévacos are related to the Iberian culture, whose cities had a notable urban development, such as Numancia. Others are more primitive and often carved into the rock, such as Termantia.

Urban development

The Roman conquest of Hispania, begun in 218 BC. C., meant an almost complete Romanization of the Iberian Peninsula. Roman culture was deeply assumed by the population: ancient military camps and Iberian, Phoenician and Greek settlements were transformed into large cities, such as Augusta Emerita in Lusitania, Corduba, Itálica, Hispalis, Gades in Bética, Tarraco, Carthago Nova, Caesar Augusta, Asturica Augusta, Legio Septima Gemina and Lucus Augusti in Tarraconensis, united by a complex road network. The construction development includes some monuments of comparable quality to those of the capital, Rome.[1]​.

Constructions

Civil engineering is represented by imposing constructions such as the Segovia Aqueduct or the Milagros Aqueduct of Mérida "Mérida (Spain)"), bridges such as those of Alcántara over the Tagus, that of Córdoba over the Guadalquivir or that of Mérida "Mérida (Spain)") over the Guadiana. Lighthouses were also built, such as the one still in use in La Coruña, the Tower of Hercules. Civil constructions were promoted especially under Emperor Trajan (98 AD – 117 AD).

Playful architecture is represented by buildings such as the theaters of Mérida, Cartagena, Sagunto, Tiermes or Cádiz, the amphitheaters of Mérida, Itálica, Tarraco and Segóbriga and the circuses of Mérida, Córdoba, Toledo, Sagunto and many others.

Religious architecture also spread throughout the peninsula as can be seen in the temples of Córdoba, Vich, Mérida (Diana and Marte) and Talavera la Vieja, among others. The main funerary monuments are the towers of the Scipios of Tarragona, the dystyle of Zalamea de la Serena and the mausoleums of the Atilii family in Sádaba and Fabara. Triumphal arches can be found in Cáparra, Bará and Medinaceli.

Contenido

El término prerrománico se refiere al arte cristiano tras la antigüedad clásica y antes del arte románico. Cubre realizaciones artísticas muy diversas, puesto que fueron realizadas en siglos distintos y por culturas diferentes. El territorio español tiene una gran variedad en arquitectura prerrománica: alguna de sus ramas, como el arte asturiano, llegaron a un gran nivel de refinamiento para su época y contexto cultural.

Visigothic architecture

From the century it is worth mentioning the remains of the Basilica of Cabeza de Griego"), in Cuenca "Cuenca (Spain)") and the small church of San Cugat del Vallés, in Barcelona. This, although very deteriorated, clearly shows a single nave plan that ends in an apse. From the following century are those of San Pedro de la Nave, San Juan de Baños, Santa María de Quintanilla de las Viñas, whose trace will later be repeated in other later temples belonging to the "repopulation style" or "Mozarabic" style. Furthermore, in this period the early Christian tradition in religious architecture is basically followed:

Asturian architecture

The Kingdom of Asturias appears in 718, when the Asturian tribes, gathered in assembly, decided to name Don Pelayo their chief. Pelayo gathered local tribes and Visigoth refugees under his command with the intention of progressively restoring the Gothic order.

The Asturian pre-Romanesque is a unique style, which, combining elements of other styles, such as the Visigoth and local traditions, created and developed its own personality and characteristics, reaching a notable level of refinement, not only in terms of construction, but also in terms of aesthetics.

Regarding its evolution, the Asturian pre-Roman followed a "stylistic evolution clearly associated with the political evolution of the kingdom, its stages clearly marked." It was mainly a court architecture and five stages are distinguished: first period (737–791) from the kingdom of Favila to that of Bermudo I of Asturias. The second period includes the kingdoms of Alfonso II of Asturias (791–842), entering a stage of stylistic definition. These two periods are included within the so-called pre-Ramirense"). The most important church is that of San Julián de los Prados, in Oviedo, with an interesting system of volumes and a program of interesting iconographic frescoes, closely related to Roman wall paintings. The lattices and trifoliate windows in the apse appear for the first time in this stage. The Holy Chamber of the Cathedral of Oviedo, San Pedro de Nora "Church of San Pedro (Nora)") and Santa María de Bendones "Church of Santa María (Bendones)") also belong to the pre-Ramirense.

The third period includes the kingdoms of Ramiro I (842–850) and Ordoño I (850–866). It is the so-called Ramirense") and is considered the culmination of this style, due to the work of an unknown architect who brought new ornamental styles and structures, such as the barrel vault and the consistent use of transverse arches and buttresses, bringing the style closer to the achievements obtained by Romanesque architecture two centuries later. Some authors have pointed out an inexplicable Syrian influence on the ornamentation. In this period, most of the masterpieces of this style flourished: the pavilions of the Palacio del Monte Naranco (Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo) and the church of Santa Cristina de Lena").

A fourth period extends during the reign of Alfonso III (866–910), in which the arrival of a strong Mozarabic influence in Asturian architecture is detected, expanding the use of the horseshoe arch. A fifth and final stage coincides with the transfer of the court to León "León (Spain)"), which ceases to speak of the Kingdom of Asturias properly, preferring the term Kingdom of León. The pre-Romanesque enters the phase that can be called repopulation art.

Mozarabic architecture

Mozarabic architecture was carried out by the Mozarabs, Christians who lived in Muslim Spain from the Arab invasion (711) until the end of the century, and who maintained their differentiated personality also from the Christians of the northern kingdoms, to whom they emigrated in successive waves or were incorporated by the Reconquista. An example of this architecture is the church of Bobastro, a rock temple located in the place known as Mesas de Villaverde, in Ardales (Málaga), of which only some ruins remain. Another representative building of this architecture is the church of Santa María de Melque, located near La Puebla de Montalbán (Toledo). With respect to this temple, there is doubt about its stylistic affiliation, since it shares Visigothic features with other more properly Mozarabic ones, and its dating is also not clear. The hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga presents an unprecedented typology, including in its rectangular plan a tribune over a small hypostyle room, in the manner of mosques, and its roof being supported by a single central pillar in the shape of a palm tree. Both this pillar and the interior walls are profusely decorated with frescoes depicting hunting scenes and exotic animals. A certain typological connection can be established as an initiatory temple, already in the Romanesque period, with the church of Santa María de Eunate and the other Templar constructions with a centralized plan, such as that of Torres del Río or the Vera Cruz "Church of the Vera Cruz (Segovia)") of Segovia.

As has already been said, the identification with Mozarabic constructions in the Christian kingdoms of the northern peninsula is problematic.

Repopulation or Leonese architecture

Between the end of the century and the beginning of the century, an evolution of the pre-Romanesque developed in the northern Christian kingdoms, which has traditionally been attributed to Mozarabic influence,[2] although currently this has been discussed and it is preferred to consider it as a third phase of the pre-Romanesque, after the Visigoth and the Asturian. Historically it coincides with the repopulation of the Duero Plateau and the headwaters of the Ebro. Examples of these temples are those of the church of Santiago de Peñalba of Peñalba de Santiago (León), the church "Church of San Cipriano (San Cebrián de Mazote)") of San Cebrián de Mazote (Valladolid), the monastery of San Miguel de Escalada (León), the church of San Vicente del Valle (Burgos), the Church of Santa María "Church of Santa María (Lebeña)") of Lebeña (Cantabria), the Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga of Caltojar (Soria), the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña of Jaca (Huesca), the pre-Romanesque church of the Monastery of Leyre (Navarra), the Monastery of San Millán de Suso (La Rioja) and some other Zamoran or Asturian examples. A similar argument could be made to include some small Catalan churches considered "Mozarabic", such as those of San Julián de Boada or the church of Santa María de Matadars.

The Caliphate of Córdoba

The Muslim conquest of Hispania by the troops of Musa ibn Nusair and Tariq ibn Ziyad and the fall of the Umayyad dynasty of Damascus, led to the creation by Abd al-Rahman I, the only surviving prince who escaped from the Abbasids, of an independent Emirate with capital in Córdoba "Córdoba (Spain)"). The city would become the cultural capital of the West from 750 to 1009.

The architecture built in al-Andalus under the Umayyads evolved from that of Damascus, with local aesthetic additions: the horseshoe arch, distinctive of Hispano-Arabic architecture, was taken from the Visigoths. Architects, artists and craftsmen came from the east to build cities like Medina Azahara, whose splendor could not even be imagined in contemporary European kingdoms.[3]​.

The most important construction of the Umayyads in Córdoba was the Mosque of Córdoba, built in consecutive stages by Abderramán I, Abderramán II, Alhakén II and Almanzor.

The Taifa kingdoms

With the disappearance of the Caliphate, the territory was divided into small kingdoms called taifas. Their political weakness was accompanied by a cultural conservatism, which, together with the advance of the Christian kingdoms, led the taifas to cling to the prestige of the structures and forms of the Córdoba style.

The recession manifested itself in the construction techniques and materials used, although not in the profusion of ornamentation. The multi-lobed arches were multiplied and thinned and all the caliphal elements were exaggerated.

Some magnificent examples of Taifal architecture have survived to this day, such as the Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza or the small mosque of Bab-Mardum in Toledo, later converted into one of the first examples of Mudejar architecture such as the Church of Cristo de la Luz.

Almoravids and Almohads

The Almoravids burst into Al-Andalus from North Africa in 1086 and unified the Taifa kingdoms under their power. They developed their own architecture, but very little has survived, since the next invasion, that of the Almohads, imposed ultra-orthodox Islam and destroyed practically all the important Almoravid buildings, along with Medina Azahara and other caliphal constructions.

Almohad architecture is extremely sober and naked. They used brick as the main construction material. Practically the only decoration used, the sebka, were grids of rhombuses made of brick. They also used the palm as decoration, but it was nothing more than a simplification of the more ornate Almoravid palm. As time went by, Almohad art became slightly more decorative.

The best-known element of Almohad architecture is La Giralda, the former minaret of the Seville mosque, although the upper part is Renaissance. Classified as Mudejar, but immersed in Almohad aesthetics, the synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, in Toledo, is a rare example of architectural collaboration of the three medieval Spanish cultures.

Nasrid architecture of the kingdom of Granada

After the dissolution of the Almohad empire, the Muslim kingdoms in the south of the Peninsula were reorganized and in 1237 the Nasrid kingdom was established with its capital in Granada.

The architecture produced by the Nasrids was to be some of the richest in Islam. It was heir to the other Muslim styles of Al-Andalus, which the Nasrids combined, and to the close contact with the Christian kingdoms of the north. The ornamentation and structural elements were taken from Cordoban architecture (horseshoe arches), from the Almohads (sebka and palm), but also from their own creation, such as the prismatic and cylindrical capitals and muqarnas arches, in a joyful combination of interior and exterior spaces, gardens and architecture, designed to please all the senses. Unlike Umayyad architecture, which used expensive and imported materials for construction, the Nasrids used only humble materials: mud, plaster and wood. However, the aesthetic result is full of complexity and is disconcerting for the viewer: the multiplication of the decoration, the wise use of light and shadows and the incorporation of water into the architecture, are some of the keys to the style.[4] Epigraphy was also integrated into the walls of the different rooms, with poems alluding to the beauty of the spaces.[5] The palaces of the Alhambra and the Generalife are the most important constructions of the period.

The architecture carried out by Muslims who remained in Christian territory and who did not convert is called the Mudejar style. It developed mainly from the 19th century with strong influences of Arab taste and art, but adapted to the taste of Christian lords. For this reason, Mudejar is just a pure style: techniques and artistic language are frequently combined with other styles depending on the historical moment. Thus, we can refer to the Mudejar, but also to the Mudejar Romanesque, the Mudejar Gothic or the Renaissance Mudejar.

The Mudejar style is a symbiosis of techniques and ways of understanding architecture, the result of the coexistence of Muslim, Jewish and Christian cultures. It emerged as an architectural style in the 19th century. It is usually accepted that the style was born in Sahagún "Sahagún (León)").[6] It spread to the rest of the Kingdom of León, Toledo, one of the oldest and most important centers, Ávila, Segovia, and later to Granada and Seville. In Toledo we must highlight the synagogues of Santa María la Blanca and El Tránsito, both Mudejar but not Christian. In Seville, the rooms of the Alcázar,[7]​ despite being classified as Mudejar, are more related to the Nasrid art of the Alhambra than to the rest of the Mudejar, since they were created by architects from Granada with little Christian influence brought by Peter I of Castile. Also in Seville we must highlight the Casa de Pilatos "Casa de Pilatos (Sevilla)").

Other important Mudejar centers are found in cities such as Toro "Toro (Zamora)"), Cuéllar, Arévalo "Arévalo (Ávila)") and Madrigal de las Altas Torres, highlighting the Monastery of Las Claras, in Tordesillas and the Convent of San Pablo "Convento de San Pablo (Peñafiel)") in Peñafiel. The Aragonese Mudejar had a special development, especially in Zaragoza and Teruel during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, highlighting the Mudejar towers of Teruel.

It is characterized by the use of brick as the main material. He did not create his own structures, unlike the Gothic or Romanesque, but rather reinterpreted Western styles through a Muslim perspective. The geometric character, distinctive of Islam, appears in the accessory arts, using cheap materials - tile, brick, wood, plaster, metals - worked in an elaborate way, highlighting the coffered ceiling. Even after Muslims were no longer employed in construction, their contributions remained an integral part of Spanish architecture.

The Gothic style began in Spain due to the growing communication from central and northern Europe during the 2nd century, when the late Romanesque alternated with a transitional style such as Cistercian architecture and with some expressions of pure Gothic, such as the Cathedral of Ávila; This and that of Cuenca "Cathedral of Cuenca (Spain)") are the earliest of the style. Full Gothic arrived in full force through the Camino de Santiago in the 19th century, with the creation of some of the purest Gothic cathedrals, of French influence: the cathedrals of Burgos, León and Toledo.

After the 19th century, the style spread with creative local variants such as Levantine Gothic and Elizabethan Gothic. Levantine Gothic, which flourished in the 19th century, is characterized by its structural achievements and the unification of space, its masterpieces being the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca, the Lonja de la Seda in Valencia and the Church of Santa María del Mar "Iglesia de Santa María del Mar (Barcelona)") in Barcelona. Guillermo Bofill carried out an extraordinary daring act in the cathedral of Gerona by unifying the three naves of the apse into a single nave of extraordinary amplitude.

In the Castile of the century, the close commercial and political relationship with northern Europe brought together architects such as Juan and Simón from Colonia, Hanequín from Brussels, Juan Guas and Enrique Egas who created a school adapting to local sensitivity. Work continues on the last great Gothic cathedrals (Seville, new Salamanca and Segovia). Elizabethan Gothic, so called because it coincides with the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, represents a transition to the Renaissance, but at the same time a strong resistance to leaving traditional Gothic principles. His masterpieces are San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo, the Royal Chapel of Granada and the Cartuja de Miraflores in Burgos. The chronological and formal boundaries with the simultaneous Plateresque are imprecise.

In Spain, the Renaissance began together with Gothic forms in the last decades of the century. The style began to spread mainly at the hands of local architects: it is the reason for a specifically Spanish Renaissance style, which brought together the influence of southern Italian architecture, sometimes coming from illustrated books and paintings, with Gothic tradition and local idiosyncrasy. The new style is called plateresque, due to the excessively decorated facades, which are reminiscent of the intricate work of silversmiths. Classical orders and candlestick motifs (candelieri) are freely combined in symmetrical ensembles.

In this context, the Palace of Charles V, designed by Pedro Machuca, in Granada, was an unexpected achievement within the most advanced Renaissance of the time. The palace can be defined as an anticipation of mannerism, due to its mastery of classical language and its groundbreaking aesthetic achievements. It was built before the main works of Michelangelo and Palladio. Its influence was very limited and poorly understood, the Plateresque forms imposed themselves on the general panorama.

As the decades passed, the Gothic influence declined and the search for an orthodox classicism reached very high levels. Although plateresque is a term commonly used to define the majority of architectural production at the end of the century and first half of the century, some architects acquired a more sober taste, such as Diego de Siloé, Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón and Gaspar de Vega. Examples of plateresque are the facades of the University of Salamanca and the Hostal San Marcos de León.

The summit of the Spanish Renaissance is represented by the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, built by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, in which an initial excessive adherence to the art of ancient Rome was overcome by an extremely sober style. The influence of Flemish and North European roofs and spiers, the symbolism of the scarce decoration and the precise cut of the granite established the basis for a new style, the Herrerian style, which formed a school for many years.

With a style closer to Mannerism, the century closed with architects such as Andrés de Vandelvira (Jaén Cathedral).

When Italian baroque influences reached Spain, they gradually replaced in popular taste the sober classicist taste that had been in fashion since the 19th century. As early as 1667, the facades of the Granada Cathedral by Alonso Cano and that of Jaén by Eufrasio López de Rojas indicate the ease of their interpretation in the baroque manner of the traditional motifs of Spanish cathedrals.

The local baroque maintains its roots in Herrera and in the traditional brick construction, developed in Madrid throughout the century (Plaza Mayor and Madrid City Hall).

In contrast to the baroque of northern Europe, Spanish art of the time sought to please the senses rather than the intellect. The Churriguera family, who specialized in altars and altarpieces, rebelled against the sobriety of Herrerian classicism and promoted an intricate, exaggerated, and almost whimsical style of superficial decoration, known as churrigueresque. In half a century, they turned Salamanca into an exemplary churrigueresque city.

The evolution of the style went through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, the Churrigueras popularized Guarini's mixture of the Solomonic column and the composite order, known as the "supreme order." Between 1720 and 1760, the churrigueresque column or stipe "Estípite (architecture)"), in the shape of a cone or inverted obelisk, was established as the main element of the ornamental decoration. The years 1760 to 1780 saw a gradual shift of interest from the twisted and excessive movement of ornamentation towards the balance and sobriety of the neoclassical.

Two of the most spectacular creations of the Spanish Baroque are the facades of the University of Valladolid (Diego Tomé, 1719) and the Hospicio de San Fernando in Madrid (Pedro de Ribera, 1722), whose curvilinear extravagance seems to announce Antonio Gaudí and modernism "Modernism (art)"). In this case and in many others, the design includes the interplay of ceilings and decorative elements with little relation to structure and function. However, the Churrigueresque baroque offers some of the most spectacular combinations of light and space, such as in the Cartuja de Granada, considered the apotheosis of Churrigueresque applied to interior spaces, and the "transparent" one of the Toledo Cathedral by Narciso Tomé, where sculpture and architecture are integrated to achieve a dramatic effect of light.

The Royal Palace of Madrid and the constructions of the Paseo del Prado (Salón del Prado and Puerta de Alcalá) also in Madrid, deserve to be mentioned. They were built in the sober international baroque, often confused with neoclassical, by the Bourbon kings Philip V and Charles III. The royal palaces of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in Segovia, and that of Aranjuez, in Madrid, are good examples of the integration of Baroque architecture and gardens, with notable French influence (La Granja is known as the "Spanish Versailles"), but with a local spatial conception, which in some way shows heritage from the Muslim occupation.

Rococo was introduced in Spain for the first time in the Cathedral of Murcia, in 1733, on its western façade. Also in the Levantine area, the exuberant decoration of the door of the palace of the Marquis of Dos Aguas in Valencia, designed by the painter and engraver Hipólito Rovira (1740–1744), stands out. The best representative of the style was the Spanish master Ventura Rodríguez, responsible for the Santa Capilla de la Virgen del Pilar (1750) inside the temple of Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza.

The Spanish colonial style of architecture dominated in the early Spanish territories of the Americas and also in the Philippines. It is distinguished by the contrast between the simple and solid construction that the new place demands and the baroque ornamentation that comes from Spain. The colonial area of ​​Santo Domingo, founded in 1498, is the oldest western city in the New World and is a good example of this style.

The combination of Native American and Arab decorative influences, with an expressive interpretation of Churrigueresque, could explain the variety and intensity of the Baroque in the American colonies of Spain. Even more so than its Spanish counterpart, American Baroque developed as a style of stucco decoration. Twin-towered facades of several century American cathedrals have medieval roots. The full baroque did not appear until 1664, when the Jesuits built their sanctuary in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco.

Peruvian Baroque is especially exuberant, as evidenced by the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco de Lima in Lima (1673), which displays a dark and very intricate façade between two twin towers. While the rural baroque of the Jesuit missions (estancias) in Córdoba "Córdoba (Argentina)") (Argentina) followed the model of Il Gesù, "mestizo" provincial styles appeared in Arequipa, Potosí and La Paz. In the 19th century, the region's architects were inspired by the Mudejar art of medieval Spain. The late Baroque façade style first emerged in the Church of Our Lady of La Merced in Lima (1697–1704). Similarly, in the Company's church "Iglesia de la Compañía (Quito)") in Quito (1722–1765), the façade resembles a richly sculpted altarpiece with an excess of Solomonic columns.

To the north, the richest province of the century, New Spain, present-day Mexico, Central America, and the US states of Texas, New Mexico, California, and Arizona produced the fantastically extravagant and visually frenetic architecture that is Mexican churrigueresque. This ultra-baroque style culminates in the works of Lorenzo Rodríguez, whose masterpiece is the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Mexico City (1749–1769). Other notable examples are found in remote mining towns. For example, the sanctuary of Ocotlán (begun in 1745) is a first-rate Baroque cathedral, whose surface is covered in bright red tiles, which contrast with a plethora of compressed ornaments generously applied to the doorway and flanks of the towers. The true capital of Mexican Baroque is Puebla, where the abundance of hand-painted tiles and local gray stone led to a very personal and localized evolution of the style, with a pronounced Indian flavor.

The extremely intellectual postulates of neoclassicism were less successful in Spain than the much more expressive Baroque. Spanish neoclassicism expanded from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, founded in 1752. Its main figure was Juan de Villanueva, who adapted Edmund Burke's ideas about beauty and the sublime to the requirements of the local climate and history. He built the Prado Museum (which was originally going to serve as a Science Office), combining three elements: an academy, an auditorium and a museum, in a building with three separate entrances. The Prado was part of Charles III's ambitious program that sought to turn Madrid into the capital of Arts and Sciences. Very close to the museum, Villanueva built the El Retiro astronomical observatory and the Botanical Garden, all within the Paseo del Prado axis, with its emblematic fountains of Neptune "Fuente de Neptuno (Madrid)") and Cibeles (designed by Ventura Rodríguez) and closed by the Hospital and Royal College of Surgery of San Carlos. He also designed some of the kings' summer residences in El Escorial and Aranjuez and rebuilt the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, among other important works. Villanueva's disciples Antonio López Aguado and Isidro González Velázquez spread the style throughout the center of the country.

Eclecticism

Eclectic architecture is that which combines several styles in one building, without following a single architectural order. This current arrived in Spain in the last years of the century. One of the most important eclecticist buildings is the Communications Palace in Madrid, designed by Antonio Palacios and Joaquín Otamendi. It was inaugurated in 1909.

Historicism

Historicism arrived from Europe in the century, whose most notable styles are neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque. Of the neo-Gothic we must highlight the Episcopal Palace of Astorga and the Sobrellano Palace in Comillas "Comillas (Cantabria)"), the façade of the Barcelona Cathedral, the Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in Tenerife and the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit of Terrassa. Of the neo-Romanesque, less important than the previous one, we must mention the crypt of the Madrid Cathedral "Catedral de la Almudena (Madrid)") and the Basilica of Our Lady of Covadonga, in Asturias.

At the end of the century a new architectural movement emerged in Madrid: a resurgence of Mudejar architecture, the neo-Mudejar, which immediately spread to other regions. Architects such as Emilio Rodríguez Ayuso saw Mudejar art as an exclusive and characteristic style of Spain. Buildings began to be constructed using some of the characteristics of the old style, such as horseshoe arches and the use of abstract brick ornamentation for the facades. It became popular especially in the construction of bullrings and other public buildings, but also for the construction of homes, due to the use of cheap materials, mainly brick for the exteriors. Highlights include the cover of the Teruel Cathedral and La Escalinata in the same city, the work of Aniceto Marinas, and the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid.

It was mainly developed in Asturias and inland Catalonia.

Barcelona would embrace the style with ambition in the search for a new identity and would become the main focus, as part of a romantic restoration of the city's old town, financed by an increasingly wealthy bourgeoisie due to the benefits of the industrial revolution. The Barcelona Cathedral built in the Gothic style between 1298 and 1420, however the façade and the dome correspond to a remodeling in the neo-Gothic style carried out between 1882 and 1913, when the dome was completed. Nearby is the famous Pont del Bisbe, from 1928.

As an architect, Enric Sagnier would stand out, some of his most notable works are the Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart (1902-1961), the Church of Pompeii "Church of Our Lady of Pompeii (Barcelona)") (1907-1910), the Doctor Genové House (1911) or the Barcelona Pension Fund (1914-1917).

Glass and iron architecture

The mass production of iron and glass during the century gave architects new ideas for developing buildings. In 1851, the inauguration of "The Crystal Palace" laid the foundations for a new form of construction, faster, lighter, and suitable for new uses, such as greenhouses. Decades later, the Barcelona Universal Exposition (1888) "Barcelona Universal Exhibition (1888)") would be held, promoting this movement with works in the city of Barcelona such as the Columbus Monument (Barcelona) "Columbus Monument (Barcelona)"), the Umbraculo, the Hivernacle, or the Barceloneta Iron Bridge, the latter now missing.

Some of the most notable examples of this new form of construction are the Mercado del Borne (1876) or the Mercado de San Antonio (1882) in Barcelona, ​​or the Palacio de Cristal del Retiro (1887) and the Palacio de Cristal de la Arganzuela (1924) in Madrid.

Modernism

In Spain, modernism "Modernism (art)") had its center in Barcelona. When the city of Barcelona expanded beyond its historical limits, resulting in Ildefonso Cerdá's Ensanche, in which the so-called Catalan modernism or modernisme would develop. Modernisme broke with previous styles and used organic forms for inspiration, as did Art Nouveau "Modernism (art)") in France and Jugendstil in Germany. The most famous architect is Antoni Gaudí, whose work in Barcelona (the best known La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Milà and Casa Batlló) and in other places in Spain (Capricho de Gaudí, Casa Botines and Palacio Episcopal de Astorga) mixes traditional architecture with other new styles, being a precursor of modern architecture. Other notable Catalan architects of the time were Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch.

Modernism also had development in other cities in Catalonia, such as Tarrasa (Masía Freixa and Fábrica Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover) and Reus (Casa Navàs), and the rest of Spain, such as Teruel (Casa El Torico or Casa La Madrileña), Zaragoza (Casino Mercantil "Centro Mercantil Industrial y Agrícola (Zaragoza)") or Kiosco de la Música) or Comillas "Comillas (Cantabria)"), where, apart from Gaudí's Capricho, you can admire the Comillas Pontifical University, in Melilla, a city on the other side of the strait, by the hand of Enrique Nieto and with countless buildings of great value, becoming the second city in Spain with the largest number of modernist and art-deco buildings.

Modern movement between 1920-1939

The creation in 1928 of the GATCPAC group in Barcelona, ​​followed by the creation of GATEPAC (1930) by architects mainly from Zaragoza, Madrid, San Sebastián and Bilbao, established two groups of young architects who followed the dictates of modern architecture in Spain. Josep Lluís Sert, Fernando García Mercadal, José Manuel Aizpurúa and Joaquín Labayen among others, were organized into three regional groups.[14] Other architects explored the modern style from particular points of view: Casto Fernández Shaw with his visionary work, almost all on paper, José Antonio Coderch, with his integration of Mediterranean housing and the concepts of the new style or Luis Gutiérrez Soto, highly influenced by trends expressionists.

At the 1929 International Exhibition "Barcelona International Exhibition (1929)") in Barcelona the German Pavilion "German Pavilion (Barcelona)") designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich became an instant icon; amalgamating minimalism and notions of fidelity to materials with influences from De Stijl in the treatment of planes in space.[15]​ The famous ceiling looms over the viewer apparently without supports.

Architecture of Francoism 1939-1975

Francoist architecture was developed mainly in the first stage of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1959), during the autarky, hence it is known as architecture of the Autarky. It is characterized by a general rejection of rationalism "Rationalism (architecture)") (frequent during the Second Republic) and by reinterpreting in an eclectic way the historical styles of the Spanish Empire. It is especially based on Herrerianism, with the Neo-Herrerian style being the main current of this period, and, to a lesser extent, Villanovian neoclassicism. It was originally known as imperial style. There are also certain rationalist touches through the reproduction of the architecture of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The architecture of autarky is conditioned by the serious economic problems of post-war Spain and the need to rebuild the country. Likewise, it presents a great ideological load.[16][17]​.

The Moncloa complex in Madrid, the Valley of the Fallen, the España Building and the Labor University of Gijón stand out as the most representative buildings of the architecture of autarky.[16]​.

In the second stage of Francoist architecture, the economic openness of the country allowed an assimilation of the modern movement "Rationalism (architecture)"), gradually incorporated during the 1950s and especially the 1960s new, more avant-garde architectural forms and approaches.

In the works of some architects, official approval and the advancement of architectural design were able to coexist, as is the case of Luis Gutiérrez Soto, interested in the typology and rational distribution of spaces, whose prolific work easily alternates the rediscovery of historical styles with a rationalist style, or the commissions of the Vertical Unions to Francisco de Asís Cabrero. Luis Moya Blanco's achievements in the construction of brick vaults also deserve a mention; His interest in traditional brick construction led him to an in-depth study of the material's modern formal possibilities, highlighting his use of the partitioned vault.

In the last decades of Franco's life, a new generation of architects strongly rescued the legacy of GATEPAC: Alejandro de la Sota Martínez was a pioneer in this new path, and young architects such as Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza, Fernando Higueras and Miguel Fisac, often with modest budgets, investigated types of prefabricated and collective housing.

Late 20th century

The death of Franco and the return of democracy brought a new architectural optimism to the country in the late 1970s and 1980s. Critical regionalism became the dominant school for serious architecture.[18] The flow of money from the European Union, tourism, and a flourishing economy were fertile ground for Spanish architecture. A new generation of architects emerged, including Enric Miralles, Carme Pinós, and the architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava. The Barcelona Olympic Games and the Seville Expo, both in 1992, further boosted Spain's reputation internationally, to the point that many architects from countries in recession moved to Spain to participate in this boom. In recognition of the support for architecture provided by the City of Barcelona, ​​the Royal Institute of British Architects awarded him the Royal Gold Medal in 1999, the first time in history that the award was given to a city.[19]​.

Bilbao attracted the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to build a new gallery that opened in 1997. Designed by Frank Gehry in a deconstructivist style, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao became world famous and has single-handedly increased Bilbao's global prestige. The museum's success in creating iconic architecture is known in urban planning as the "Bilbao effect."[20]​.

• - Rande Bridge in the Vigo estuary by Fabrizio de Miranda, Florencio del Pozo") and Alfredo Passaro"), 1973-1978.

• - New Igualada Cemetery Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós, 1985-1994.

• - City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, by Santiago Calatrava, 1998.

• - Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, by Frank Gehry, 1997.

• - Kursaal Congress Palace and Auditorium, by Rafael Moneo (San Sebastián), 1999.

21st century

In 2003, the Prince of Asturias, Don Felipe de Borbón inaugurated in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands), the modern building of the Tenerife Auditorium, designed by Santiago Calatrava. Several correspondents and newspapers from around the world attended this event.[21] In 2006, Terminal 4 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport by Richard Rogers, Antonio Lamela and Luis Vidal "Luis Vidal (architect)") won the Stirling Prize. In April 2007, the MUSAC (Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León, in León "León (Spain)") of the architects Emilio Tuñón and Luis M. Mansilla received the Mies van der Rohe Contemporary Architecture Prize from the European Union,[22] which had already won the Kursaal (San Sebastián) by Rafael Moneo in 2001.

The Agbar Tower is a skyscraper in Barcelona designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel. It measures 144.4 meters and has 38 floors, including 4 underground levels. Its design combines a series of different architectural concepts, the result of which is a striking structure built with reinforced concrete, covered with a glass façade and more than 4,400 windows cut into the structural concrete.

From February 12 to May 1, 2006, MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York, dedicated the exhibition On-Site: New Architecture in Spain to new architecture in Spain.[23] MoMA defines Spain as a country that has become in recent years an international center of innovation and architectural excellence, as demonstrated by the fact that seven Pritzker Prize winners (Rafael Moneo, Álvaro Siza, Thom Mayne, Zaha Hadid, Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas) have been selected for the exhibition.[24]​ Terence Riley, in charge of the Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA, who said goodbye to the museum with this exhibition, comments:

Four skyscrapers were built in Madrid (2006-2009), of which the tallest measures 250 meters. This business park is called Cuatro Torres Business Area, and the Caja Madrid Tower, which is the tallest in all of Spain, is designed by Norman Foster.

In Asturias, the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center was inaugurated in 2011, the only work of the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in Spain. It consists of five pieces: a large open plaza, a dome, an auditorium, a viewing tower and a multipurpose building.

In 2017 the RCR team formed by Carme Pigem, Ramón Vilalta and Rafael Aranda obtained the Pritzker Prize.[26]​.

• - Agbar Tower in Barcelona, ​​by Jean Nouvel, 2005.

• - Skyscraper of the CTBA business complex in Madrid, 2004 to 2009.

• - RCR, Sant Antoni-Joan Oliver Library, Barcelona, ​​2002-2005.

• - Facade of the MUSAC in León "León (Spain)"), by Mansilla + Tuñón Arquitectos, 2005 Mies van der Rohe Award in 2007.

• - Bridge Pavilion at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, designed by Zaha Hadid.

• - Niemeyer Center in Avilés, Asturias, the only work in Spain by Oscar Niemeyer, 2011.

Due to the great climatic and topographical differences in the country, popular architecture shows great variety. Limestone, slate (rock), granite, clay (cooked or not), wood or straw are used in different regions. Also the structures and distribution vary greatly according to regional customs. Some of these constructions have their own names: cortijo, carmen&action=edit&redlink=1 "Carmen (architecture) (not yet written)"), barraca "Barraca (housing)"), caserío "Caserío (construction)"), palloza, farmhouse, etc. Some Spanish regions show examples of popular architecture with its own trace, such as the popular Alistana architecture in the province of Zamora.

• - The hórreo is an elevated granary from Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. In this image a Galician granary appears.

• - The Asturian granary (in this case a bread basket) has a hipped roof, while the Galician granary has a gabled roof.

• - Palomar "Palomar (birds)") from Tierra de Campos (Castilla y León).

• - A farmhouse in Castellón. The farmhouses evolved from the Roman villas.

• - Barraca "Barraca (housing)") of the Ebro Delta. It is a light, even precarious, construction that uses reeds and mud, local materials that gave the title to a famous novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez set in the Albufera of Valencia, an area with similar characteristics.

• - Windmills in Campo de Criptana, La Mancha. Technology of Middle Eastern origin, they were introduced in Spain in the 16th century, not long before Cervantes immortalized them. The oldest tradition was water mills.

• - Farmhouse "Farmhouse (construction)") of Lascorz in La Fueva (Huesca). The farmhouse, in contrast to the farmhouse in the eastern area, is the form of a "block house" that responds to the dispersed settlement in a large mountainous area between the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Coast. Warehouses, housing and spaces for livestock are usually on different levels of the same construction.

• - District of Royo Odrea, in Ayna (Albacete) "Ayna (Albacete)"). Concentrated settlement is the norm in dry Spain, with crowded nuclei. Whitewashed facades are usually interpreted as a hygienic measure, as well as a thermal one, and a way to homogenize the consistency of the wall material. The location may have a defensive origin, or even be an intermediate place for the use of different agricultural, livestock and forestry exploitation areas.

• - Hanging houses, Cuenca "Cuenca (Spain)"). The extreme use of space in adaptation to difficult locations and the use of native materials (the abundant wood in the Serranía) are representative of popular architecture, both rural and, in this case, urban.

• - Material: adobe, used in some regions of Castilla y León.

• - Tiles on a roof in Colmenar de Oreja. This is the most common arrangement, although in the province of Segovia the traditional thing is to place only the ones at the bottom. The use of tiles in the Middle and Modern ages detected a house of special wealth "where there are tiles there is money", since poor homes were covered with branches, grass or other more accessible materials.

• - Main street "Calle Mayor (Alcalá de Henares)") of Alcalá de Henares. The arcades are a unique and characteristic structure of Spanish urban planning. In this case they house curious elements of the city's old Jewish quarter such as the walkways, in contrast to its rectilinear layout (on the pre-existing road, it connects the old Roman center with the main square, which characteristically arose in a suburb).

• - Category:Architecture of Spain.

• - Category:Architecture of Spain by locality.

• - Annex:Architectures of Spain.

Literature

• - Chueca Goitia, Fernando: History of Spanish architecture, two volumes. Provincial Council of Ávila, 2001. ISBN 84-923918-7-1.

• - Bru i Bistuer, Eduard (1984) Contemporary Spanish architecture. Gustavo Gili Editorial. ISBN 84-252-1045-3.

• - New Architecture in Spain (PB) — Edited by and with an essay by Terence Riley. ISBN 0-87070-499-0.

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

• - Newcomb, Rexford (1937). Spanish-Colonial Architecture in the United States. J.J. Augustine, New York. Dover Publications; reissue (April 1, 1990). ISBN 0-486-26263-4.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Architecture of Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Visigothic Architecture in Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Asturian Architecture.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Mudejar Architecture.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Gothic Architecture in Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Renaissance Architecture of Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Baroque Architecture in Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Neo-Mudejar Architecture in Spain.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Popular architecture in Spain.

• - Architecture in Spain on the web Everything about Spain.

• - Arch XX Sudoe Archived March 13, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. — database of Spanish buildings of the 20th century.