This exhibition provides an overview of the work of architect Miguel López González, who played a key role in shaping the urban landscape of Alicante and other cities across the province in the 20th century. As a summary of Miguel López’s career we present 26 of his projects, arranged chronologically and divided into four periods.
1932-1946: The influence of the European avant-gardes
Miguel López González completed his studies at the Barcelona School of Architecture in 1931, where two of his fellow students were Sert and Torres Clavé. A member of GATCPAC (“Group of Catalan Architects and Technicians for the Advancement of Contemporary Architecture”), he settled in Alicante after joining the City Council as an assistant architect. In 1935, he articulated his architectural philosophy as follows: “Today, in the century of machinery, every new object is an immediate expression of progress; every part and every element are tailored to a specific purpose, and anything useless is discarded. Primary shapes act directly upon our senses. Masses, light, planes and spaces are all that matters.” His words allude to the concept of functionality and the elimination of ornament, and are in line with the definition of architecture proposed by Le Corbusier in 1923. During this period Miguel López created many of the earliest examples of avant-garde architecture in Alicante, such as the La Adriática building, the Provincial Institute of Hygiene and the Perpetuo Socorro Sanatorium.
1939-1955: Autarky and a retreat into historicism
The establishment of the Francoist dictatorship brought about major changes in the cultural and architectural scene. López had to adapt to the new situation, skilfully exploring historicist approaches in his work; numerous monuments to heroes were erected following the Spanish Civil War, designed by the architect with a focus on formal restraint and using elementary volumes to convey symbolic messages. His intellectual resistance lasted until 1942, when he became a target of reprisals by the regime and was dismissed from his post at the Municipal Office; he would be allowed to return in 1948. In 1944-45 he took part in a competition to renovate Alicante’s Plaza del Dieciocho de Julio; this was his most representative project from the period, undertaken alongside Madrid-born architect Manuel Muñoz Monasterio. Its austere, academic style – also present in the residential buildings López designed in those years – was influenced by the architectural trends prevalent in Madrid at the time, as he had carried out various projects in the Spanish capital.
1950-1959: Embracing international trends
Spain was admitted to various international organisations from 1950 onwards, which boosted the national economy and led to increased cultural openness: more foreign journals and magazines, and the novel ideas contained in them, were allowed into the country. Urban growth was the first consequence of these transformations, with the construction of new housing to accommodate the influx of workers – a housing development of this kind was the area formerly known as the José Antonio neighbourhood. The Valero building at Plaza de Calvo Sotelo is an example of the opposite phenomenon: new bourgeois apartment blocks that towered over historic districts. The large-scale industrial complex developed by Aluminio Ibérico was perhaps the most prominent symbol of these changing times. Other new facilities in the city included the fire station and privately-owned educational centres like the Inmaculada Jesuitas School, and spaces such as the Explanada were upgraded.
1957-1976: Modern architecture becomes established practice
In 1957 López advocated “a new aesthetic approach, with lightweight, slender constructions of an understated elegance, focused on materials and structures, but also on masses, light, planes and spaces” – a statement reminiscent of the ideas he had expressed in the 1930s. Throughout this long decade, which coincided with the so-called “economic miracle,” projects became more ambitious and larger in size, and new technologies were introduced. López’s repertoire expanded to include two modern building types, namely pavilions and skyscrapers, which he employed in his design for the FICIA trade fair venue in Elda, now sadly disappeared. The first skyscraper in Alicante also dates from this period: the controversial Gran Sol Hotel, a technically innovative example of speculative architecture. Numerous religious schools were established in those years, such as the Priests’ Residence-Seminary in Alicante, the Marist Juniorate in Guardamar or the Sagrada Familia School in Elda.
The present exhibition is intended to celebrate and shine a light on the work of Miguel López González, but two additional objectives should be mentioned. First, this initiative is a way of thanking those archives (mostly public, but also private) that, for almost 40 years, have helped us in our research on modern architecture in Alicante and, more specifically, on López’s work.
Second, this in-depth look at 26 projects by the architect – all of which have been properly documented to make sure visitors fully understand their meaning and relevance – also stresses the fact that modern architectural works from the second third of the 20th century are crucial cultural and artistic assets that, according to local heritage lists, nevertheless remain largely unprotected. Therefore, only by promoting heritage education and raising awareness of the values highlighted at the exhibition will we be able to put a stop to the gradual decay and possible disappearance of this architecture.
Justo Oliva Meyer, Andrés Martínez-Medina and Mercedes Carbonell Segarra
Exhibition curators