rationalist architecture

During the 1930s the predominant style had been rationalism, completely discredited after the Civil War by the new regime.

At the end of the 1940s, faced with an incipient liberation from the regime, architecture ceased to be so controlled by the State through the DGA.[21]​ The previous historicist style had become outdated and associated with Francoism, so architects gradually adopted this new architecture.[3]​ Despite being a fully state building, the Central Headquarters of the so-called Vertical Union, Madrid, is an example of rationalist architecture. Built between 1949 and 1956 by the architects Cabrero and Aburto, it has forms of Italian fascist architecture.[22]​In 1948, the Altamira School appeared in Santillana del Mar (Cantabria), which sought to reintroduce the forms and approaches of the Modern Movement "Rationalism (architecture)") through the organization of International Weeks of Contemporary Art.[23]​At the beginning of 1950, contemporary art began to be more widespread and accepted among state and intellectual circles, with Franco inaugurating the Biennial of Hispanic American Art in Madrid in 1951.[24]​Internationally renowned rationalist architects such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Neutra, and Wright began to be known in Spain.[25]​In 1957, young Spanish architects and artists won prizes in two international exhibitions, at the General Exhibition in Brussels. "General Exhibition of the first category in Brussels (1958)") and at the XI Milan Triennale. Its presence is a result of the country's will to outsource and innovate artistically.[26]​.

Despite no longer having ideological obstacles, the scarcity of design materials used in modern American architecture was a great setback for architects, who innovated with the materials they had available, using, for example, exposed brick or partitioned vaults.[27]​.

However, the Modern Movement "Rationalism (architecture)") would return to Spain with the help of religious architecture in the early 1950s. In 1947, Pope Pius Religious architecture would be of great interest to architects, such as Luis Moya, Miguel Fisac ​​or Fernández del Amo,[28]​, whose churches in colonization towns stand out.[29]​.

Architects such as Javier Carvajal and García de Paredes (Spanish Pavilion of the 1962), José Antonio Coderch (Casa Rozes, 1962) or Miguel Fisac (JORBA Laboratories, 1965).[30]​[31]​The majority of the rationalist architects of this second round are grouped under the name of the Madrid school "School of Madrid (architecture)"), due to the large number of existing works in the city.[3]​.

organic architecture

Less widespread in Spain, this style that appeared in the early 1960s proposed more undulating shapes, of an organic nature. The Torres Blancas building by Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza (Madrid, 1968) or the Girasol Building (Madrid, 1966) and Trade Building (Barcelona, ​​1968), by José Antonio Coderech, stand out.[32]​The main architect of this period would be Fernando Higueras, where his main work stands out; the IPCE headquarters (1970).[33]​.

brutalist architecture

Brutalism in Spain would be popular in the last years of Francisco Franco's life, in the first half of the 1970s. Due to the high cost of construction, the buildings would be intended mainly for luxury homes and as artistic manifestations.[34] We could highlight the Torre de Valencia by Javier Carvajal Ferrer (Madrid, 1973), the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Philippines (1970), with the peculiarity that it is not an extensive building, having only a front elevation, to La Fábrica by Ricardo Bofill (San Justo Desvern, 1975) or to the Walden 7 urbanization, in the same town and by the same author.[35]​.

Postwar reconstruction

After the Civil War, the new Regime had to face the destruction of a multitude of urban areas, among other infrastructures. Some 200 towns had been destroyed by more than 60%[8]​ and 102 towns by more than 75%, totaling some 250,000 damaged homes throughout Spain.[36]​At the end of the war, José Luis Escario set the cost of urban reconstruction at 2,500 million pesetas.[10]​In addition, dozens of cities suffered serious shantytown problems due to the shortage of housing. housing. In 1950, there were 400,000 inhabitants in Madrid in substandard housing, distributed in 30 neighborhoods.[8]​.

New towns or colonies

The National Institute of Colonization "Instituto Nacional de Colonización (Spain)") (1939) would promote the construction of more than 300 entire towns in impoverished rural areas to stimulate agricultural production. Architects such as Alejandro de la Sota Martínez, José Luis Fernández del Amo and José Antonio Corrales among others were hired. The urban planning approach reproduced the scheme of traditional Castilian and Andalusian towns, pivoting around a main square and a church. The aim was that, based on common criteria, no town would be the same, giving way to avant-garde creativity.[37]​[38]​.

This project was closely related to the intentions to improve the Spanish countryside through hydraulic works, especially reservoirs. In 1939 there were 180 and in 1970 another 376 had been built, the majority between 1955 and 1970.[8]​.

Developmentalism

The second Franco regime was characterized by developmentalism, a name given to the country's great economic advance between 1959 and 1975. This economic boom led to the internal emigration of millions of rural inhabitants to urban areas, resulting in an enormous housing shortage and a major problem of the proliferation of shanty towns. This was gradually solved with difficulty through public housing plans. The greatest of them; The II National Housing Plan (1961-1975), built four million homes.[41] These actions, carried out by the National Housing Institute "National Housing Institute (Spain)") (1939) were supported by the Limited Income Housing Law of 1954, which promoted social housing and price control at first. Years later, housing would gradually cease to be controlled by the FET de las JONS through the INV, proliferating the power of the promoter-construction companies, without depending so much on a state organization (this can be seen in the great height that these buildings can reach).[39]​ The urban development carried out by these companies did not have the slightest artistic interest, and the function and relevance of the architect was diminished. This is why the average building from this period suffers from great technical and aesthetic deficiencies, as well as the lack of supervision in its construction by the referee. The loss of artistic sensitivity of the property disfigures the urban landscape of Spanish cities.[42] An example of this is hives, a type of high-density residential housing.

Contenido

El gremio de los arquitectos sufre un revés tras la guerra. Del referente arquitectónico de la II República, la asociación progresista catalana GATCPAC y su versión española GATEPAC, habían quedado pocos arquitectos; muchos de ellos se habían exiliado, incluido uno de sus fundadores, Josep Lluís Sert. Otros habían sido represaliados, como Sixte Illescas, y adquirirían un perfil innovador más bajo.[6]​ Entre 1939 y 1942, dentro de las represalias a profesionales, se sancionaron a 177 arquitectos, un 16% del total. La sanción incluía desde multas hasta la inhabilitación profesional.[7]​.

La arquitectura de la autarquía o del primer franquismo (1939-1959) está condicionada por 3 grandes factores:[8]​[9]​.

A nivel estético la arquitectura de la Autarquía destaca por su oposición al racionalismo y por usar de manera ecléctica estilos artísticos históricos españoles, pudiendo denominarse como arquitectura historicista. El Régimen, a través de ideólogos falangistas, buscaba una arquitectura que lo validase y que pudiera servirle como símbolo de poder. Es por ello que la arquitectura sería principalmente historicista, rebuscando en los estilos castizos y tradicionales españoles.[12]​ Tras descartar a los estilos regionalistas "Regionalismo (arte)") (que ya habían triunfado en la década de 1920), se encontró un estilo plenamente español en los estilos desarrollos entre el siglo y . Se tomarían como referencia a El Escorial, el Alcázar de Toledo y el Museo del Prado, así como a los arquitectos Juan de Herrera y Juan de Villanueva. Con base en la obra de estos arquitectos, habrá dos grandes corrientes que dominen la arquitectura española desde 1939 hasta principios de los 1950:[13]​.

En menor medida está el neobarroco (Ej: Delegación de Hacienda de Bilbao "Edificio de la Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (Bilbao)"))[17]​ y un acercamiento a líneas nazis y fascistas italianas (Ej: Arco de la Victoria).[2]​ Cabe destacar por su singular monumentalismo a la mayor obra religiosa de este periodo, el Valle de los Caídos, proyecto estrechamente relacionado con el régimen y que sería construido entre 1940 y 1958 bajo proyecto de Pedro Muguruza, considerado como el arquitecto personal de Franco.[18]​También hay que mencionar a la Universidad Laboral de Gijón (1948-1957), un enorme complejo educativo diseñado por Luis Moya Blanco.[11]​.

Este historicismo en la mayoría de casos se destinó únicamente a los exteriores, puesto que en los interiores se aplicó una distribución funcionalista propia del estilo racionalista "Racionalismo (arquitectura)").[11]​.

Construction: Brick, slate and stone.

The rationalist style "Rationalism (architecture)"), common in the Second Republic, had cement as its main material, which was greatly discredited by the new conception of architecture. Ernesto Giménez even said that it was a hostile material to hang a crucifix on.[19]​.

Especially the neo-Herrerian current used three materials, each one with a symbolic function as proposed in 1944 by the Falangist thinker Ernesto Giménez Caballero:[1]​ The brick represented the common people; the "red mass" that had to be subdued by rationality, a virtue granted to the slate, used for the roofs and associated with the Germanicity from which the Spanish people descend. The stone was related to the Roman past, associating this civilization as the matrix of Spain (used at the base of the building).[1]​.

The main construction technique was the use of reinforced concrete in practically the entire structure.[14]​.

The General Directorate of Architecture

In June 1939, the I Assembly of Architects took place in Madrid, which would lead in September to the creation of the General Directorate of Architecture, chaired by the Falangist Pedro Muguruza and dependent on the Ministry of the Interior "Ministry of the Interior (Spain)"). This governing body would control architecture in the country and all architects would be subordinate to it.[20]​.

rationalist architecture

During the 1930s the predominant style had been rationalism, completely discredited after the Civil War by the new regime.

At the end of the 1940s, faced with an incipient liberation from the regime, architecture ceased to be so controlled by the State through the DGA.[21]​ The previous historicist style had become outdated and associated with Francoism, so architects gradually adopted this new architecture.[3]​ Despite being a fully state building, the Central Headquarters of the so-called Vertical Union, Madrid, is an example of rationalist architecture. Built between 1949 and 1956 by the architects Cabrero and Aburto, it has forms of Italian fascist architecture.[22]​In 1948, the Altamira School appeared in Santillana del Mar (Cantabria), which sought to reintroduce the forms and approaches of the Modern Movement "Rationalism (architecture)") through the organization of International Weeks of Contemporary Art.[23]​At the beginning of 1950, contemporary art began to be more widespread and accepted among state and intellectual circles, with Franco inaugurating the Biennial of Hispanic American Art in Madrid in 1951.[24]​Internationally renowned rationalist architects such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Neutra, and Wright began to be known in Spain.[25]​In 1957, young Spanish architects and artists won prizes in two international exhibitions, at the General Exhibition in Brussels. "General Exhibition of the first category in Brussels (1958)") and at the XI Milan Triennale. Its presence is a result of the country's will to outsource and innovate artistically.[26]​.

Despite no longer having ideological obstacles, the scarcity of design materials used in modern American architecture was a great setback for architects, who innovated with the materials they had available, using, for example, exposed brick or partitioned vaults.[27]​.

However, the Modern Movement "Rationalism (architecture)") would return to Spain with the help of religious architecture in the early 1950s. In 1947, Pope Pius Religious architecture would be of great interest to architects, such as Luis Moya, Miguel Fisac ​​or Fernández del Amo,[28]​, whose churches in colonization towns stand out.[29]​.

Architects such as Javier Carvajal and García de Paredes (Spanish Pavilion of the 1962), José Antonio Coderch (Casa Rozes, 1962) or Miguel Fisac (JORBA Laboratories, 1965).[30]​[31]​The majority of the rationalist architects of this second round are grouped under the name of the Madrid school "School of Madrid (architecture)"), due to the large number of existing works in the city.[3]​.

organic architecture

Less widespread in Spain, this style that appeared in the early 1960s proposed more undulating shapes, of an organic nature. The Torres Blancas building by Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza (Madrid, 1968) or the Girasol Building (Madrid, 1966) and Trade Building (Barcelona, ​​1968), by José Antonio Coderech, stand out.[32]​The main architect of this period would be Fernando Higueras, where his main work stands out; the IPCE headquarters (1970).[33]​.

brutalist architecture

Brutalism in Spain would be popular in the last years of Francisco Franco's life, in the first half of the 1970s. Due to the high cost of construction, the buildings would be intended mainly for luxury homes and as artistic manifestations.[34] We could highlight the Torre de Valencia by Javier Carvajal Ferrer (Madrid, 1973), the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Philippines (1970), with the peculiarity that it is not an extensive building, having only a front elevation, to La Fábrica by Ricardo Bofill (San Justo Desvern, 1975) or to the Walden 7 urbanization, in the same town and by the same author.[35]​.

Postwar reconstruction

After the Civil War, the new Regime had to face the destruction of a multitude of urban areas, among other infrastructures. Some 200 towns had been destroyed by more than 60%[8]​ and 102 towns by more than 75%, totaling some 250,000 damaged homes throughout Spain.[36]​At the end of the war, José Luis Escario set the cost of urban reconstruction at 2,500 million pesetas.[10]​In addition, dozens of cities suffered serious shantytown problems due to the shortage of housing. housing. In 1950, there were 400,000 inhabitants in Madrid in substandard housing, distributed in 30 neighborhoods.[8]​.

New towns or colonies

The National Institute of Colonization "Instituto Nacional de Colonización (Spain)") (1939) would promote the construction of more than 300 entire towns in impoverished rural areas to stimulate agricultural production. Architects such as Alejandro de la Sota Martínez, José Luis Fernández del Amo and José Antonio Corrales among others were hired. The urban planning approach reproduced the scheme of traditional Castilian and Andalusian towns, pivoting around a main square and a church. The aim was that, based on common criteria, no town would be the same, giving way to avant-garde creativity.[37]​[38]​.

This project was closely related to the intentions to improve the Spanish countryside through hydraulic works, especially reservoirs. In 1939 there were 180 and in 1970 another 376 had been built, the majority between 1955 and 1970.[8]​.

Developmentalism

The second Franco regime was characterized by developmentalism, a name given to the country's great economic advance between 1959 and 1975. This economic boom led to the internal emigration of millions of rural inhabitants to urban areas, resulting in an enormous housing shortage and a major problem of the proliferation of shanty towns. This was gradually solved with difficulty through public housing plans. The greatest of them; The II National Housing Plan (1961-1975), built four million homes.[41] These actions, carried out by the National Housing Institute "National Housing Institute (Spain)") (1939) were supported by the Limited Income Housing Law of 1954, which promoted social housing and price control at first. Years later, housing would gradually cease to be controlled by the FET de las JONS through the INV, proliferating the power of the promoter-construction companies, without depending so much on a state organization (this can be seen in the great height that these buildings can reach).[39]​ The urban development carried out by these companies did not have the slightest artistic interest, and the function and relevance of the architect was diminished. This is why the average building from this period suffers from great technical and aesthetic deficiencies, as well as the lack of supervision in its construction by the referee. The loss of artistic sensitivity of the property disfigures the urban landscape of Spanish cities.[42] An example of this is hives, a type of high-density residential housing.