Architecture of the Philippines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The front entrance of Fuerza de Santiago towering 40 metres high.

The architecture of the Philippines is a reflection of the history and heritage of the country. The most prominent historic constructions in the
archipelago are from the Spanish, Japanese, Malay, Hindu, Chinese, and American cultures.

The pre-colonial architecture of the Philippines consisted of the Nipa hut made from natural materials but there are some traces of large-scale
construction before the Spanish colonizers came but not well documented. An example of this is the pre-colonial walled city of Manila although later
after the Spanish colonization, dismantled by the Spaniards and rebuilt as Intramuros. There are also other minor pre-colonial walled cities like Betis
and Macabebe.[citation needed]

During three hundred years of Spanish colonialization, the Philippine architecture was dominated by the Spanish influences. During this
period, Intramuros, the walled city of Manila, was built with its walls, houses, churches and fortress. The Augustinian friars built a large number of grand
churches all over the Philippine Islands.

During this period the traditional Filipino "Bahay na bato" style for the large houses emerged. These were large houses built of stone and wood
combining Filipino, Spanish and Chinese style elements.

After the Spanish-American war, the architecture of the Philippines was dominated by the American style. In this period the plan for the modern city of
Manila was designed, with a large number of neoclassical architecture and art deco buildings by famous American and Filipino architects. During
the liberation of Manila by the Americans in 1945, large portions of Intramuros and Manila were destroyed. In the period after the second world war
many of the destroyed buildings were rebuilt.

At the end of the 20th century modern architecture with straight lines and functional aspects was introduced. During this period many of the older
structures fell into decay. Early in the 21st Century a revival of the respect for the traditional Filipino elements in the architecture returned.

Pre-colonial architecture

A representation of a Filipino range house

Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, the main form of dwelling for a family in the Philippines was the nipa hut, a single room house composed of wood,
bamboo or other native materials. Though the styles of the nipa hut varied throughout the country, most all of them shared similar characteristics
including having it raised slightly above ground on stilts and a steep roof. Aside from nipa huts, other small houses were built on top of trees to prevent
animal as well as enemy attacks.[citation needed]
Architecture during the Spanish Colonial era
Spanish colonization introduced European architecture into the country. The influence of European architecture and its style actually came via
the Antillesthrough the Manila Galleon. The most lasting legacy of Spain in terms of architecture was its colonial parish churches designed by
innumerable Spanish friars.

Bahay na bato
In this era, the nipa hut or bahay kubo gave way to the Bahay na bato (stone house) and became the typical house of noble Filipinos. The Bahay na
bato, the colonial Filipino house, followed the nipa hut's arrangements such as open ventilation and elevated apartments. The most obvious difference
between the two houses would be the materials that was used to build them. The bahay na bato was constructed out of brick and stone rather than the
traditional bamboo materials. It is a mixture of native Filipino, Spanish and Chinese influences. Excellent preserved examples of these houses of the
illustrious Filipinos can be admired in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. In Taal, Batangas, the main street is also lined with examples of the traditional Filipino homes.

Intramuros
Intramuros is the old walled city of Manila located along the southern bank of the Pasig River. The historic city was home to centuries-old churches,
schools, convents, government buildings and residences, the best collection of Spanish colonial architecture before much of it was destroyed by the
bombs of World War II. Of all the buildings within the 67-acre city, only one building, the San Agustin Church, survived the war.

Fort Santiago
Fort Santiago (Fuerza de Santiago) is a defense fortress established by Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi. The fort is the citadel of the
walled city of Intramuros, in Manila, Philippines.

The location of Fort Santiago was also once the site of the palace and kingdom of Rajah Suliman, chieftain of Manila of pre-Spanish era. It was
destroyed by the conquistadors upon arriving in 1570, encountering several bloody battles with the Muslims and native Tagalogs.
The Spaniards destroyed the native settlements and erected Fuerza de Santiago in 1571.

Paco Park
Paco Park was planned as a municipal cemetery for the well-off and established aristocratic Spanish families who resided in the old Manila,
or Intramuros. The cemetery is circular in shape, with an inner circular fort that was the original cemetery with niches on the hollow walls. As the
population continued to grow, a similar second outer wall was built with the thick adobe hollow walls with niches, the top of the walls made into a
walkway circumnavigating the park. A Roman Catholic chapel was built inside the inner walls, dedicated to St. Pancratius.

San Augustin church Paoay, Ilocos Norte, July 2005

Augustinian Churches
The order of the Augustinians, Augustinian Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines, build many churches all over the Philippines.
These magnificent structures can still be found all over the Philippine Islands.

The San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, is the most famous of these churches. This unique specimen of Filipino architecture from the Spanish
area has been included in the World Heritage Sites List of the UNESCO. The church was built by the Augustinian friars from 1694 until 1710.It shows
the earthquake proof baroque style architecture.
The interior of the San Agustín Church in Intramuros, with magnificent trompe l'oeil mural on its ceiling and walls

San Agustín Church and Monastery, built between 1587 and 1606, is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines, and the only building left intact after
the destruction of Intramuros during the Battle of Manila (1945). The present structure is actually the third to stand on the site and has survived seven
major earthquakes, as well as the wars in Manila. The church remains under the care of the Augustinians who founded it.

The San Agustín Church lies inside the walled city of Intramuros located in the capital city Manila, Philippines. It is the first European stone church to
be built in the Philippines designed in Spanish architectural structure. The church also houses the legacies of the Spanish conquistadors, Miguel López
de Legazpi,Juan de Salcedo and Martín de Goiti who are buried and laid to rest in a tomb, underneath the church.

The church has 14 side chapels and a trompe-l'oeil ceiling. Up in the choir loft are the hand-carved 17th-century seats of molave, a beautiful tropical
hardwood. Adjacent to the church is a small museum run by the Augustinian order, featuring antique vestments, colonial furniture, and religious
paintings and icons.

Together with three other ancient churches in the country, it was designated as part of the World Heritage Site "Baroque Churches of the Philippines"
in 1993.

Lighthouses

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

During the Spanish and American era many lighthouses were constructed around the Philippine Islands. The most Northeastern Lighthouse can be
found in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

Architecture during the American colonial period

After the Spanish American war in 1898, the Americans took over rule of the Philippines until after the second world war. During this period the
Americans constructed many Neoclassical buildings in Manila.

In 1902 Judge William Howard Taft was appointed to head the Philippine Commission to evaluate the needs of the new territory. Taft, who later
became the Philippines' first civilian Governor-General,[1] decided that Manila, the capital, should be a planned town. He hired as his architect and city
planner Daniel Hudson Burnham, who had built Union Station and the post office in Washington. In Manila, Mr. Burnham had in mind a long wide, tree-
lined boulevard along the bay, beginning at a park area dominated by a magnificent hotel. To design, what is now known as, the Manila Hotel Taft
hired William E. Parsons, a New York architect, who envisioned an impressive, but comfortable hotel, along the lines of a California mission, but
grander.[2] The original design was an H-shaped plan that focused on well-ventilated rooms on two wings, providing grand vistas of the harbor, the
Luneta, and Intramuros. The top floor was a large viewing deck that was used for various functions, including watching the American navy steam into
the harbor.[3]

Many of these buildings were heavily damaged during the Battle of Manila in 1945. After the second world war many were rebuilt. Many buildings in
Manila were designed by the Filipino architect Juan M. Arellano.

In 1911 the Army Corps of Engineers constructed the Manila Army and Navy Club at the shore of Manila Bay bordering the Luneta Park. The building
consists of a Grand entrance and has three stories that housed the various function rooms and the Hotel rooms. It has been in use far into the eighties
however it has fallen into dacay and is in need of restoration.

Emilio Aguinaldo's house in Kawit, Cavite, renovations designed by Aguinaldo himself, the first President of the Philippines, in 1919.

At T.M. Kalaw Street stands one of the remaining structures that survived the liberation of Manila in 1945, the Luneta Hotel, which was completed in
1918 . According to study by Dean Joseph Fernandez of the University of Santo Tomas, the hotel was designed by the Spanish architect-engineer
Salvador Farre. The structure is the only remaining example of the French Renaissance architecture with Filipino stylized beaux arts in the Philippines
to date. This famous landmark fell gradually into decay. In 2007 the renovation activities have started and it is hoped that this building will be restored
to its old grandeur.

The Manila Metropolitan Theater is an art deco building designed by the Filipino architect Juan M. Arellano, and built in 1935. During the liberation of
Manila by the Americans in 1945, the theatre we totally destroyed. After reconstruction by the Americans it gradually fell into disuse in the 1960s. In the
following decade it was meticulously restored but again fell into decay. The City of Manila is planning a renovation of this once magnificent building.
[when?]

The sculptures in the façade of the theater are from the Italian sculptor Francesco Riccardo Monti, who lived in Manila from 1930 until his death in
1958, and worked closely together with Juan M. Arellano. Highly stylized relief carving of Philippine plants executed by the artist Isabelo
Tampingco decorate the lobby walls and interior surfaces of the building.

In 1940 the Manila Jai Alai Building was constructed along Taft avenue, designed by architect Welton Becket. It has been built in the Philippine Art
Deco style. In addition to the Jai Alai game it included the famous " Sky Lounge". Unfortunately, demolition began on July 15, 2000 on the orders of
Mayor Lito Atienza. The building is now gone for ever.

At the Far Eastern University (FEU) in Quiapo, Manila, five Art Deco structures on the campus were designed by National Artist Pablo Antonio. Three
were built before World War II and two, after. Although FEU buildings were totally damaged during the war, the university was restored to its original Art
Deco design right after. The university was given a (UNESCO) Asia Pacific-Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage in 2005 for the outstanding
preservation of its Art Deco structures.[4]

Art Deco theaters in the Philippines

Main article: Art Deco theaters of the Philippines

During the rise of cinema in the Philippines as a form of recreation, several theaters were constructed in the 1930s to 1950s in the  Art Deco style
designed by prominent architects now recognized as National Artists. Some though are no longer existing due to damages and to gave way to these
days city developments. The following are the Philippine architects who contributed and lead to the design of the classic Philippine theaters:

 Juan Nakpil, a Philippine national artist for Architecture

 Pablo Antonio
 Juan M. Arellano
After World War II
United Architects of the Philippines
The United Architects of the Philippines or UAP is the Official Voice for Architects throughout the country. The UAP was formed through the
“unification” of three architectural organizations: the Philippine Institute of Architects, The League of Philippine Architects and the Association of
Philippine Government Architects. It became the Bonafide Professional Organization of Architects upon receiving Accreditation Number 001 from
the Professional Regulation Commission. Thus, UAP was the first professional organization recognized by the Republic.

With the passing of the new architecture law or Republic Act No. 9266, UAP becomes the IAPOA or the Integrated Accredited Professional
Organization of Architects.

Examples of Filipino architecture after WWII

[edit]Antipolo Church
The image of "Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage" has been venerated in the church of Antipolo for centuries. The old church that housed the virgin
was destroyed in February 1945 when the Americans bombed Antipolo as part of the liberation campaign of Manila. In 1954, a new church was built
designed by the renowned Filipino architect Jose de Ocampo. This church is of a cupolaeddesign centered around the image of the Virgin. It functions
as the center point of the pilgrimages to Antipolo.

Parish of the Holy Sacrifice

The Church of the Holy Sacrifice is the first circular church and the first thin-shell concrete dome in the Philippines

The Parish of the Holy Sacrifice is the landmark Catholic chapel in the University of the Philippines Diliman. Known for its architectural design, the
church is recognized as a National Historical Landmark and a Cultural Treasure by the National Historical Institute and the National Museum
respectively. Five National artists collaborated on the project. The building was designed by the late National Artist for Architecture, Leandro
Locsin.Alfredo Juinio served as the structural engineer for the project. Around the chapel are fifteen large murals painted by Vicente
Manansala depicting theStations of the Cross. The marble altar and the large wooden cross above it were sculpted by Napoleon Abueva. The mosaic
floor mural called the “River of Life” was designed by Arturo Luz.

Bahay Kubo mansion

In May 2008, National artist for architecture Francisco Mañosa, designer of the Coconut Palace, built his own two-storey Bahay Kubo mansion in Ayala
Alabang Village, a wealthy suburb south of Manila. With only 3 posts or "haligi", it has five one-inch coconut shell doors, a "silong", Muslim room, sala,
and master's bedroom with a fish pond therein.[5][6]

Spanish architecture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sagrada Família by Gaudí.

Spanish architecture refers to architecture carried out in any area in what is now modern-day Spain, and by Spanish architects worldwide. The term
includes buildings within the current geographical limits of Spain before this name was given to those territories (whether they were
called Iberia,Hispania, Al-Andalus or were formed of several Christian kingdoms). Due to its historical and geographical diversity, Spanish architecture
has drawn from a host of influences.

Since the first known inhabitants in the Iberian peninsula, the Iberians around 4000 BC and later on the Celtiberians,[1] Iberian architecture started to
take shape in parallel with other architectures around the Mediterranean and others from Northern Europe.

A real development came with the arrival of the Romans, who left behind some of their most outstanding monuments in Hispania. The arrival of
theVisigoths brought about a profound decline in building techniques which was paralleled in the rest of the former Empire. The Moorish conquest in
711 CE lead to a radical change and for the following eight centuries there were great advances in culture, including architecture. For
example, Córdoba was established as the cultural Capital of its time under the Muslim Umayyad dynasty. Simultaneously, the Christian kingdoms
gradually emerged and developed their own styles, at first mostly isolated from European architectural influences, and later integrated
into Romanesque and Gothic streams, they reached an extraordinary peak with numerous samples along the whole territory. The Mudéjar style, from
the 12th to 17th centuries, was characterised by the blending of cultural European and Arabic influences.

Towards the end of the 15th century, and before influencing Latin America with its Colonial architecture, Spain itself experimented with Renaissance
architecture, developed mostly by local architects. Spanish Baroque was distinguished by its exuberant Churrigueresque decoration and the most
soberHerrerian style, both developing separately from later international influences. The Colonial style, which has lasted for centuries, still has a strong
influence in Latin America. Neoclassicism reached its peak in the work of Juan de Villanueva and his disciples.
The 19th century had two faces: the engineering efforts to achieve a new language and bring about structural improvements using iron and glass as
the main building materials, and the academic focus, firstly on revivals and eclecticism, and later on regionalism. The arrival of Modernism in the
academic arena produced figures such as Gaudí and much of the architecture of the 20th century. The International style was led by groups
like GATEPAC. Spain is currently experiencing a revolution in contemporary architecture and Spanish architects like Rafael Moneo, Santiago
Calatrava, Ricardo Bofill as well as many others have gained worldwide renown.

Because of their artistic relevance, many architectural sites in Spain, and even portions of cities, have been designated World Heritage
sites by UNESCO. Spain has the second highest number of World Heritage Sites in the world; only Italy has more. These are listed at List of World
Heritage Sites in Europe: Spain.

Prehistory
[edit]Megalithic architecture
Naveta des Tudons, in Menorca

In the Stone Age, the most expanded megalith in the Iberian Peninsula was the dolmen. The plans of these funerary chambers used to
be pseudocircles ortrapezoids, formed by huge stones stuck on the ground, and others over them, forming the roof. As the typology evolved, an
entrance corridor appeared, and gradually took prominence and became almost as wide as the chamber. Roofed corridors and false domes were
common in the most advanced stage. The complex of Antequera contains the largest dolmens in Europe. The best preserved, the Cueva de Menga, is
twenty-five metres deep and four metres high, and was built with thirty-two megaliths.

The best preserved examples of architecture from the Bronze Age are located in the Balearic Islands, where three kinds of construction appeared: the
T-shapedtaula, the talayot and the naveta. The talayots were troncoconical or troncopiramidal defensive towers. They used to have a central pillar. The
navetas, were constructions made of great stones and their shape was similar to a ship named hulk

[edit]Iberian and Celtic architecture

Celtic settlements in Galicia: Castro de Baroña.

The most characteristic constructions of the Celts were the Castros, walled villages usually on the top of hills or mountains. They were developed at the
areas occupied by the Celts in the Duero valley and in Galicia. Examples include Las Cogotas, in Ávila and the Castro of Santa Tecla, in Pontevedra.

The houses inside the Castros are about 3.5 to 5 meters long, mostly circular with some rectangular, stone-made and with thatch roofs which rested on
a wood column in the centre of the building. Their streets are somewhat regular, suggesting some form of central organization.

The towns built by the Arévacos were related to Iberian culture, and some of them reached notable urban development like Numantia. Others were
more primitive and usually excavated into the rock, like Termantia.

[edit]Roman period
[edit]Urban development

Roman theater in Mérida.

The Roman conquest of Hispania, started in 218 BC supposed the almost complete romanization of the Iberian Peninsula. Roman culture was deeply
assumed by local population: Former military camps and Iberian, Phoenician and Greek settlements were transformed in large cities where
urbanization highly developed in the provinces: Emerita Augusta in the Lusitania, Corduba, Italica, Hispalis, Gades in the Baetica, Tarraco, Caesar
Augusta, Asturica Augusta, Legio Septima Gemina and Lucus Augusti in the Tarraconensis were some of the most important cities, linked by a
complex net of roads. The construction development includes some monuments of comparable quality to those of the capital, Rome. [2]

[edit]Constructions
Alcántara bridge, of Trajan epoque.

Civil engineering represented in imposing constructions like the Aqueduct of Segovia or Mérida (acueducto de los Milagros), in bridges
like Alcántara Bridge and Mérida bridge, over Tagus River, or Córdoba bridge, over Guadalquivir River. Civil works were widely developed in Hispania
under Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD). Lighthouses like the still in use Hercules Tower, in La Coruña, were also built.

Ludic architecture is represented by such buildings as the theaters of Mérida, Sagunto or Tiermes, the amphitheaters like the ones in Mérida, Italica,
Tarragona or Segobriga and circuses were built in Mérida, Córdoba, Toledo, Sagunto and many others.

Religious architecture also spread thougout the Peninsula: examples include the temples of Córdoba, Vic, Mérida (Diana and Mars), and Talavera la
Vieja, among others. The main funerary monuments are the Escipiones tower of Tarragona, the distyle of Zalamea de la Serena in Badajoz, and
the Mausoleums of the Atilii family, in Sádaba and of Fabara, in Ampurias, both in Zaragoza. Arches of the Triumph can be found in Caparra (four
faced), Bará and Medinaceli.

[edit]Pre-Romanesque period
Main article: Spanish Pre-Romanesque art

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

[edit]Visigothic architecture
Main article: Visigothic art

[edit]Asturian art
Main article: Asturian art

Santa María del Naranco

The kingdom of Asturias arose in 718, when the Astur tribes, rallied in assembly, decided to appoint Pelayo as their leader. Pelayo joined the local
tribes and the refuged Visigoths under his command, with the intention of progressively restoring Gothic Order.

Asturian Pre-Romanesque is a singular feature in all Spain, which, while combining elements from other styles as Visigothic and local traditions,
created and developed its own personality and characteristics, reaching a considerable level of refinement, not only as regards construction, but also in
terms of aesthetics.

As regards its evolution, from its appearance, Asturian Pre-Romanesque followed a "stylistic sequence closely associated with the kingdom's political
evolution, its stages clearly outlined". It was mainly a court architecture, and five stages are distinguished; a first period (737-791) from the reign of the
king Fáfila to Vermudo I. A second stage comprises the reign of Alfonso II (791-842), entering a stage of stylistic definition. These two first stages
receive the name of Pre-Ramirense. Its most important church is San Julián de los Prados, in Oviedo, with an interesting volumetry and a complex
iconographical frescoes progam, related narrowly to the Roman mural paintings. The characteristic lattices and the triple window at the chevet
appeared first at this stage. The Holy Chamber of the Cathedral of Oviedo, San Pedro de Nora and Santa María de Bendones also belong to it.
Interior of San Julián de los Prados

The third period comprises the reigns of Ramiro I (842-850) and Ordoño I (850-866). It is called Ramirense and is considered the zenith of the style,
due to the work of an unknown architect who brought new structural and ornamental achievements like the barrel vault, and the consistent use of
transverse arches and buttresses, which made the style rather close to the structural achievements of the Romanesque two centuries later. Some
writers have pointed to an unexplained Syrian influence of the rich ornamentation. In that period most of the masterpieces of the style flourished: The
palace pavilions of Naranco Mountain (Santa Maria del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo) and the church of Santa Cristina de Lena were built in that
period.

The fourth period belongs to the reign of Alfonso III (866-910), where a strong Mozarab influence arrived to Asturian architecture, and the use of the
horse-shoe arch expanded. A fifth and last which coincides with the transfer of the court to León, the disappearance of the kingdom of Asturias, and
simultaneously, of Asturian Pre-Romanesque.

[edit]Repopulation architecture
Main article: Repoblación art and architecture

From the ending of the 9th to the beginning of the 11th century a number of churches were built in the Northern Christian kingdoms. They are widely
but incorrectly known as Mozarabic architecture. This architecture is a summary of elements of diverse extraction irregularly distributed, of a form that
in occasions predominate those of paleo-Christian, Visigothic or Asturian origin, while at other times emphasizes the Muslim impression.

The churches have usually basilica or centralized plans, sometimes with opposing apses. Principal chapels are of rectangular plan on the exterior and
ultra-semicircular in the interior. The horseshoe arch of Muslim evocation is used, somewhat more closed and sloped than the Visigothic as well as the
alfiz. Geminated and tripled windows of Asturian tradition and grouped columns forming composite pillars, with Corinthian capital decorated with
stylized elements.

Decoration has resemblance to the Visigothic based in volutes, swastikas, and vegetable and animal themes forming projected borders and sobriety of
exterior decoration. Some innovations are introduced, as great lobed corbels that support very pronounced eaves.

A great command of the technique in construction can be observed, employing ashlar, walls reinforced by exterior buttresses and covering by means of
segmented vaults, including by the traditional barrel vaults.

[edit]The architecture of Al-Andalus

[edit]The Caliphate of Córdoba

Maqsura of the Great Mosque of Córdoba

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

The most outstanding construction of the Umayyad Córdoba is the Great Mosque, built in consecutive stages by Abd ar-Rahman I, Abd ar-Rahman
II, Al-Hakam II and Al-Mansur.
[edit]The Taifas

Aljafería, inZaragoza.

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

[edit]Almoravids and Almohads

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

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

[edit]Nasrid architecture of the Kingdom of Granada

The Alhambra: Court of the Lions

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

[edit]Mudéjar Style

The Courtyard of the Dolls in theAlcázar of Seville

Main article: Mudéjar

The architecture of the Moors and native Andalusians who remained in Christian territory but were not converted to Christianity is called Mudéjar Style.
It developed mainly from 12th to 16th centuries and was strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship but constructed for the use of Christian
owners. Thus, it is not really a pure style: Mudéjar architects frequently combined their techniques and artistic language with other styles, depending of
the historical moment. Thus we can refer to Mudéjar, but also to Mudéjar-Romanesque, Mudéjar-Gothic or Mudéjar-Renaissance.

The Mudéjar style, a symbiosis of techniques and ways of understanding architecture resulting from Jewish, Muslim and Christian cultures living side
by side, emerged as an architectural style in the 12th century. It is characterised by the use of brick as the main building material. Mudéjar did not
involve the creation of new structures (unlike Gothic or Romanesque), but reinterpreting Western cultural styles through Islamic influences. The
dominant geometrical character, distinctly Islamic, emerged conspicuously in the accessory crafts using cheap materials elaborately worked—
tilework, brickwork, wood carving, plaster carving, and ornamental metals. Even after the Muslims were no longer employed, many of their
contributions remained an integral part of Spanish architecture.

Mudéjar church ofSahagún, León

It is accepted that the Mudéjar style was born in Sahagún.[6] Mudéjar extended to the rest of the Kingdom of León, Toledo, Ávila,Segovia, and later to
Andalusia, especially Seville and Granada. The Mudéjar Rooms of the Alcázar of Seville, although classified as Mudéjar, are more closely related to
the Nasrid Alhambra than to other buildings of the style as they were created by Pedro of Castile, who brought architects from Granada who
experienced very little Christian influence. Centers of Mudéjar art are found in other cities, likeToro, Cuéllar, Arévalo and Madrigal de las Altas Torres.
It became highly developed in Aragon, with 3 main focuses: Zaragoza, Calatayud, and Teruel, during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. In Teruel a
wide group of imposing churches and towers were built. Other fine examples of Mudéjar can be found in Casa Pilatos (Seville), Santa Clara Monastery,
in Tordesillas, or the churches of Toledo, one of the oldest and most outstanding Mudéjar centers. In Toledo, the synagogues of Santa María la
Blanca and El Tránsito (both Mudéjar though not Christian) deserve special mention. [7]

[edit]Romanesque period
Inner view of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Main article: Romanesque architecture

Romanesque first developed in Spain in the 10th and 11th centuries, before Cluny`s influence, in Lérida, Barcelona, Tarragona and Huesca and in the
Pyrenees, simultaneously with the north of Italy, as what is called "First Romanesque" or "Lombard Romanesque". It is a very primitive style, whose
characteristics are thick walls, lack of sculpture and the presence of rhythmic ornamental arches, typified by the churches in the Valle de Bohí.

The full Romanesque architecture arrived with the influence of Cluny through the Way of Saint James, that ends in the Cathedral of Santiago de
Compostela. The model of the Spanish Romanesque in the 12th century was the Cathedral of Jaca, with its characteristic plan and apse, and its
"chessboard" decoration in stripes, called taqueado jaqués. As the Christian Kingdoms advanced southwards, this model spread throughout the
reconquered areas with some variations. Spanish Romanesque also shows the influence of Spanish pre-Romanesque styles, mainly Asturian
and Mozarabic. But there is also a strong Moorish influence, especially the vaults of Córdoba's Mosque, and the multifoil arches. In the 13th century,
some churches alternated in style between Romanesque and Gothic. Aragón, Navarra and Castile-Leon are some of the best areas for Spanish
Romanesque architecture.

[edit]The Gothic period

Main article: Spanish Gothic architecture

Burgos Cathedral

The gothic style arrived in Spain as a result of European influence in 12th century when late Romanesque alternated with a few expressions of pure
Gothic architecture like the Cathedral of Ávila. The High Gothic arrived in all its strength through the Way of Saint James in the 13th century, with some
of the purest Gothic cathedrals, with German and French influence: the cathedrals of Burgos, León and Toledo.

The most important post-13th century Gothic styles in Spain are the Levantino and Isabelline Gothic. Levantino Gothic is characterised by its structural
achievements and their unification of space, with masterpieces as La Seu (cathedral) in Palma de Mallorca, Valencia's silk market, (Lonja de Valencia),
and Santa Maria del Mar (Barcelona).

Isabelline Gothic, created during the times of the Catholic Monarchs, was part of the transition to Renaissance architecture, but also a strong
resistance to Italian Renaissance style. Highlights of the style include Saint John of The Kings in Toledo and the Royal Chapel of Granada.

See also: Isabelline Gothic

[edit]Renaissance

Main article: Architecture of the Spanish Renaissance

Palace of Charles V inGranada

In Spain, Renaissance began to be grafted to Gothic forms in the last decades of the 15th century. The style started to spread made mainly by local
architects: that is the cause of the creation of a specifically Spanish Renaissance, that brought the influence of South Italian architecture, sometimes
from illuminated books and paintings, mixed with gothic tradition and local idiosyncrasy. The new style was called Plateresque, because of the
extremely decorated facades, that brought to the mind the decorative motifs of the intricately detailed work of silversmiths, the "Plateros". Classical
orders and candelabra motifs (a candelieri) were combined freely into symmetrical wholes.

In that scenery, the Palace of Charles V by Pedro Machuca, in Granada, supposed an unexpected achievement in the most advanced Renaissance of
the moment. The palace can be defined as an anticipation of the Mannerism, due to its command of the classical language and its rupturist aesthetical
achievements. It was constructed before the main works of Michelangelo and Palladio . Its influence was very limited, and, misunderstood, Plateresque
forms imposed in the general panorama.

As decades passed, the gothic influence disappeared and the research of an orthodox classicism reached high levels. Although Plateresco is a
commonly used term to define most of the architectural production of the late XV and first half of XVI, some architects acquired a more sober personal
style, like Diego Siloe and Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón.

El Escorial

Examples include the facades of the University of Salamanca and of the Convent of San Marcos in León.

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

[edit]Baroque period
Main article: Spanish Baroque

As Italian Baroque influences penetrated across the Pyrenees, they gradually superseded in popularity the restrained classicizing approach of Juan de
Herrera, which had been in vogue since the late sixteenth century. As early as 1667, the facades of Granada Cathedral (by Alonso Cano) and Jaén
Cathedral (by Eufrasio López de Rojas) suggest the artists' fluency in interpreting traditional motifs of Spanish cathedral architecture in the Baroque
aesthetic idiom.

Vernacular Baroque with its roots still in Herrera and in traditional brick construction was developed in Madrid throughout the 17th century. Examples
include Plaza Mayor and the Major House.
Obradoiro façade of theCathedral of Santiago de Compostela

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

The evolution of the style passed through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, the Churriguera popularized Guarini's blend of Solomonic
columns and composite order, known as the "supreme order". Between 1720 and 1760, the Churrigueresque column, or estipite, in the shape of an
inverted cone or obelisk, was established as a central element of ornamental decoration. The years from 1760 to 1780 saw a gradual shift of interest
away from twisted movement and excessive ornamentation toward a neoclassical balance and sobriety.

Two of the most eye-catching creations of Spanish Baroque are the energetic facades of the University of Valladolid (Diego Tome, 1719) and Hospicio
de San Fernando in Madrid (Pedro de Ribera, 1722), whose curvilinear extravagance seems to herald Antonio Gaudí and Art Nouveau. In this case as
in many others, the design involves a play of tectonic and decorative elements with little relation to structure and function. However, Churrigueresque
baroque offered some of the most impressive combinations of space and light with buildings like Granada Charterhouse, considered to be the
apotheosis of Churrigueresque styles applied to interior spaces, or the Transparente of the Cathedral of Toledo, by Narciso Tomé, where sculpture and
architecture are integrated to achieve notable light dramatic effects.

Royal Palace of Madrid

The Royal Palace of Madrid and the interventions of Paseo del Prado (Salón del Prado and Alcalá Doorgate) in the same city, deserve special
mention. They were constructed in a sober Baroque international style, often mistaken for neoclassical, by the Bourbon kings Philip V and Charles III.
The Royal Palaces of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in Segovia, and Aranjuez, in Madrid, are good examples of baroque integration of architecture and
gardening, with noticeable French influence (La Granja is known as the Spanish Versailles), but with local spatial conceptions which in some ways
display the heritage of the Moorish occupation.

Rococo was first introduced to Spain in the (Cathedral of Murcia, west facade, 1733). The greatest practitioner of the Spanish Rococo style was a
native master, Ventura Rodríguez, responsible for the dazzling interior of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza (1750).

[edit]Spanish Colonial architecture

The church of Santa Prisca in Taxco: Mexican Churrigueresque.

The combination of the Native American and Moorish decorative influences with an extremely expressive interpretation of the Churrigueresque idiom
may account for the full-bodied and varied character of the Baroque in the American colonies of Spain. Even more than its Spanish counterpart,
American Baroque developed as a style of stucco decoration. Twin-towered facades of many American cathedrals of the seventeenth century had
medieval roots and the full-fledged Baroque did not appear until 1664, when the Jesuit shrine on Plaza des Armas in Cusco was built.

The Peruvian Baroque was particularly lush, as evidenced by the monastery of San Francisco in Lima (1673), which has a dark intricate facade
sandwiched between the twin towers of local yellow stone. While the rural Baroque of the Jesuite missions (estancias) in Córdoba, Argentina, followed
the model of Il Gesù, provincial "mestizo" (crossbred) styles emerged in Arequipa, Potosí and La Paz. In the eighteenth century, the architects of the
region turned for inspiration to the Mudéjar art of medieval Spain. The late Baroque type of Peruvian facade first appears in the Church of Our Lady of
La Merced, Lima (1697–1704). Similarly, the Church of La Compañia, Quito (1722–65) suggests a carved altarpiece with its richly sculpted facade and
a surfeit of spiral salomónica.

To the north, the richest province of 18th-century New Spain — Mexico — produced some fantastically extravagant and visually frenetic architecture
known as Mexican Churrigueresque. This ultra-Baroque approach culminates in the works of Lorenzo Rodriguez, whose masterpiece is the Sagrario
Metropolitano in Mexico City (1749–69). Other fine examples of the style may be found in the remote silver-mining towns. For instance, the Sanctuary
at Ocotlán (begun in 1745) is a top-notch Baroque cathedral surfaced in bright red tiles, which contrast delightfully with a plethora of compressed
ornament lavishly applied to the main entrance and the slender flanking towers.

The true capital of Mexican Baroque is Puebla, where a ready supply of hand-painted glazed tiles (talavera) and vernacular gray stone led to its
evolving further into a personalised and highly localised art form with a pronounced Indian flavour.

[edit]Neoclassical Style

Prado Museum, by Villanueva

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

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

Other works of Palacios include the Circle of Fine Arts, the Río de la Plata Bank, the Hospital of Laborers, all of them in Madrid.

In the first half of the 20th century, another wave of revivals emerged, mainly after the Iberoamerican Exhibition of Seville in 1929: the Regionalisms.
Features of the different regional vernacular architectures took then the protagonism.

[edit]Neo-Mudéjar Style
Main article: Neo-Mudéjar

In the late 11th century a new architectural movement emerged in Madrid as a revival of the Mudéjar architecture. The Neo-Mudéjar soon spread to
other regions of the country. Such architects as Emilio Rodríguez Ayuso perceived the Mudéjar art as characteristical and exclusive Spanish style.
They started to construct buildings using some of the features of the ancient style, as horse-shoe arches and the use of the abstract shaped brick
ornamentations for the façades. It became a popular style for bull rings and for other public constructions, but also for housing, due to its cheap
materials, mainly brick for exteriors. The Neo-Mudéjar was often combined with Neo-Gothic features.

[edit]Architecture of glass and iron

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

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

Modernisme - Hospital de Sant Pau

When the city of Barcelona was allowed to expand beyond its historic limits in the late 19th century, the resulting Eixample ("extension": larger than the
old city; by Ildefons Cerdà), became the site of a burst of architectural energy known as the Modernisme movement. Modernisme broke with past styles
and used organic forms for its inspiration in the same way as the concurrent Art-Nouveau and Jugendstil movements in the rest of Europe. Most
famous among the architects represented there is Antoni Gaudí, whose works in Barcelona and spread in other parts
of Catalonia, León and Cantabria mixing traditional architectural styles with the new, were a precursor to modern architecture. Perhaps the most
famous example of his work is the still-unfinished La Sagrada Família, the largest building in the Eixample.

Other notable Catalan architects of that period include Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, although their approachal to
Modernisme was largely more linked to Neo-Gothic shapes.

[edit]Modernist architecture
The creation in 1928 of the GATCPAC group in Barcelona, followed by the foundation of GATEPAC (1930) by architects, mainly from Zaragoza,
Madrid, San Sebastián and Bilbao, established two groups of young architects practicing the Modern Movement in Spain. Josep Lluis Sert, Fernando
García Mercadal, Jose María de Aizpurúa and Joaquín Labayenamong others were organised in three regional groups. [9] Other architects explored the
Modern Style with their personal views: Casto Fernández Shaw with his visionary work, most of it on paper, Josep Antoni Coderch, with his integration
of the Mediterranean housing and the new style concepts or Luis Gutiérrez Soto, mostly influenced by the Expressionist tendencies.
Barcelona Pavilion, 1929

In 1929 World's Fair was held in Barcelona and the German pavilion designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became an instant icon; amalgamating
Rohe's minimalismand notions of truth to materials with a De Stijl influenced treatment of planes in space. The large overhanging roof famously
'hovers' apparently unsupported.

During and after the Spanish Civil War and World War II, Spain found herself both politically and economically isolated. The consequent effect of
which, in tandem withFranco's preference for "a deadening, nationalistic sort of classical kitsch", was to largely suppress progressive modern
architecture in Spain.[10] Nevetheless, some architects could make coexist in their works the official approval and the advance in the construction, like
Gutiérrez Soto, interested in tipology and rational distribution of the spaces whose prolific work alternated historical revivals and racionalist image with
ease. Luis Moya Blanco's achievements in the construction with brick vaults deserve also a mention. His interest in the traditional brick construction
lead him to a deep investigation in the modern formal possibilities of that material.

In the last decades of the Franco's life, a new generation of architects rescued the legacy of the GATEPAC with strength:  Alejandro de la Sota was the
pioneer in that new way, and young architects as Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza, Fernando Higueras and Miguel Fisac, often with modest budgets,
investigated in prefabrication and collective housing typos.

Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, by Frank Gehry

The Auditorio de Tenerife, by Santiago Calatrava

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències inValencia

The death of Franco and the return of democracy brought a new architectural optimism to Spain in the late 1970s and 1980s.Critical
regionalism became the dominant school of thought for serious architecture. [11] The influx of money from EU funding, tourism and a flowering economy
strengthened and stabilised Spain's economic base, providing fertile conditions for Spanish architecture. A new generation of architects emerged,
amongst whom were Enric Miralles, Carme Pinós, and the architect/engineer Santiago Calatrava. The 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the World's
Fair in Seville, further bolstered Spain's reputation on the international stage, to the extent that many architects from countries suffering from
recessions, moved to Spain to assist in the boom. In recognition of Barcelona's patronage of architecture, the Royal Institute of British
Architectsawarded the Royal Gold Medal to Barcelona in 1999, the first time in its history the award was made to a city. [12] Bilbaoattracted the Solomon
R. Guggenheim Foundation to construct a new gallery which opened in 1997. Designed byFrank Gehry in a deconstructivist manner, the Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao became world famous and single-handedly raised the profile of Bilbao on the world stage. Such was the success of the museum that
the construction of iconic architecture in towns aspiring to raise their international profile has become a recognised town planning strategy known as
the "Bilbao effect".[13]

[edit]Famous Spanish architects of the 20th century

Enric Miralles' St. Caterina Market

The MUSAC by Mansilla+Tuñón in León

The Foreigners Brigade. Adolfo Moran. Madrid

In 2006, the exhibition "On-Site: New architecture in Spain" was held in the MoMA. It defined Spain as a country that has lately become known as an
international center for design innovation and excellence, [14] as it is shown in the fact that seven Pritzker awarded architects were selected for the
exhibition. As Terence Riley, then in charge of the Architectural Department of the MoMA said: "There is not an "Spanish" architectural style. But there
is an increasingly level of quality and beauty within the new projects, probably more than other part of the world". The curator also stated that in Spain
there is a lot of construction as there is even more in China. "However, while in China you cannot find hardly any interesting proposal, there are a lot in
Spain. Their variety and open-minded lines are surprising.". In 2006, Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport by Richard Rogers and Antonio Lamela won the
British Stirling Prize. The Barcelona Torre Agbar or Agbar Tower, by French architect Jean Nouvel combines different architectural concepts, resulting
in a striking structure built with reinforced concrete, covered with a facade of glass, with its window openings cut out of the structural concrete.There
are also other minor projects in cities such as acting in Niemeyer Avilés estuary or the "City of Culture" of Eisenman in Santiago de Compostela, both
without a complete but opened in 2010. From 2008, Spain experienced the late-2000s recession in a particularly severe way and especially in
construction, which suffered a sharp drop. Many of the public and private architectural developments were cancelled of indefinitely delayed. [15]

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