Spanish Architecture and Design

Renaissance Architecture

The ideas promoted in Italy during the Renaissance never managed to fully take root in Spain. Consequently, the life span of Renaissance architecture proper, in an almost purist sense, was rather short. Following the deep impression that the Gothic aesthetic, in all its forms, from the early Gothic to the Flamboyant style, left in the Spanish sensibility, a move towards classical temperance and clean lines was not immediately obvious or In this sense, the Plateresque style provided a means of local interpretation of the decorative elements of Renaissance architecture, such that the prevailing tradition of ornate and often exaggerate structures developed under the dominance of Flamboyant and Isabelline Gothic could be reconciled with the latest fashions.

But under the tutelage of a cosmopolitan King and Emperor, Charles V, well versed in international trends, a more conservative kind of Renaissance architecture was finally promoted in Spain during the XVI century. The process, however, was rather natural, as the court and other patrons relied on the talent that had been created locally over the past century or so, rather using predominantly imported minds to impose a style.

Thus, we have important architects who progress from the Plateresque aesthetic to the more restrained purism of Renaissance architecture, such as Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, who is most often remembered for his facade of the Cathedral of Salamanca, a typically Plateresque creation. Nevertheless, Gil de Hontañón is also reputed for a number of his works in the most purist tradition.

For instance, he designed the facade of the Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso, currently part of the University of Alcalá de Henares, on the outskirts of Madrid which he decorated in perfectly symmetrical panels, three horizontal and three vertical, with a narrow central ornamentation in which the Habsburg two-headed eagle presides over a portal rendered grander by three sets of fake double columns 'holding' each of the horizontal sections.


Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón's progression from the Plateresque of Salamanca Cathedral, to the more reserved style of the Colegio Mayor comes to a full circle with the Palacio de los Guzmanes in León. 
A private palace, Gil fully exploits the opportunity to cast clean lines along a facade split into two horizontal sections and equips the building with a spacious internal garden in the style of a cloister with spacious semicircular archeries.

Another important artists of the time, Alonso de Covarrubias was also formed in the prevailing tradition of Flamboyant architecture with Juan Guas, in Toledo Cathedral, where he ultimately acted as master builder from 1534. Covarrubias has left his indelible mark in the town of Toledo through his modifications of the Alcázar or fortress, which dominates the skyline of the former capital of the Kingdom.

Further south, the work of Diego de Siloé was instrumental in the outline of Granada, a city that Charles V wanted to turn into an urban example. A great place to go in Spain, Granada's cathedral is unique among other things because it evidences the transition from Enrique Egas' first plan of the building, still immersed in a Gothic aesthetic, and the final version built by Diego de Siloé, a less sumptuous and equally striking project.

In so far as the purist vein of the Spanish Renaissance is almost a transitional period, leading up to the austere aesthetic proposal put forward by Felipe II and best expressed in the monastery of El Escorial, probably the most representative artist of the style is Pedro Machuca, whose complete architectural oeuvre comprises the grand total of one, single building: the Palace of Emperor Charles V in Granada.

That one building, however, is the masterpiece of Renaissance architecture in Spain. Located inside the complex of La Alhambra, the palace was designed and built by Pedro Machuca, a known artist, primarily involved in painting. Machuca's design first introduced the notion of a round internal patio within a square building, for which many describe its style as Mannerist. Either way, the two-storied patio with its doric and ionic colonnades remains an absolutely staggering place to visit.

Plateresque Renaissance Architecture

he transition from the intricate excesses of the Isabelline style to the unique forms of the Plateresque was guided, primarily, by aesthetic requirements that led to additions of what, ultimately, were Renaissance elements. So much is evident from the earliest constructions that evidence the new fashion, such as the New Cathedral of Salamanca, Segovia Cathedral or some of the elements added to the Cathedral of Seville during the early days of the VI century.
Symbolically, the year 1492 is considered by many to be the time when Spain walked through the threshold of the Renaissance, leaving behind the sinister obscurantism of the Middle Ages. In architectural terms, at least, the reality is that for the best part of XV century artists in the peninsula had exploited every decorative possibility available to them, and it is quite likely that the earliest version of Spanish Renaissance, the Plateresque, emerged primarily as a new ornamental alternative.



One of the pivotal figures in the development of the eclectic Plateresque style was Juan Gil de Hontañón, who had been in contact with Juan Guas, one of the most important exponents of Spanish Flamboyant architecture, in Segovia. As a matter of fact, the layout of Segovia Cathedral, built between 1525 and 1577, is attributed to Gil.

Baroque

The reign of Felipe II coincided with the highest point in the fortunes of the Spanish Empire, on the rise ever since the discovery of the New World, back in 1492. Internally, many were the changes undergone in the social sphere, as the prudent king chose to move the court from the historical capital, Toledo, to Madrid, and to embark on the construction of El Escorial, which would launch Juan de Herrera, its architect, into fame and would put the country on the threshold of Baroque architecture                                        .

Built between 1563 and 1584, El Escorial was a project of such ambition and projection that, once finished, it set the rules for creative activity in the Empire for the foreseeable future. It was the beginning of what has come to be known as Herrerism, a style determined and defined by the austere look of the monastery-cum-palace.

Among the followers of Juan de Herrera's style one prominent representative is Francisco de Mora, whose early training got him involved in the construction of El Escorial. Although he worked primarily in Madrid, his first monumental project was carried out in Uclés, home base of the Order of Santiago. He was involved in constructions at the monastery for over 20 years, including the erection of its church, its western facade and its funeral chapel.

Nevertheless, Francisco de Mora is most famous for his work at the town or Lerma, where the Duke appointed him for the development of an urban space. As well as several churches, he was in charge of erecting the Ducal Palace, a landmark of Spanish Baroque architecture. Cast from the same mold as El Escorial, Mora's creation exudes the same sense of rigid elegance with a flurry of right angles, flat walls decorated only with heraldic crests and protruding towers in each of the corners, crowned with Flemish spires.

It would be precisely Francisco de Mora's nephew, Juan de Mora, who would carry out many of the projects involved in the enhancing and development of Madrid as the capital of the kingdom, once Felipe III ordered the court to return from Valladolid, in 1606. One such project was the completion of the city's main square, the Plaza Mayor, which he embarked upon in 1617. Two years later, the square was finished, largely following the style and design of Juan de Herrera.
The Capital

If you're strolling through the city one day, however, you have a much better chance to experience and appreciate the work of Juan de Mora if you cross Sol and continue through the Calle Mayor, which leads to the Casa de la Villa, former venue of the City Council. The Casa de la Villa is an excellent sample of the evolutioned style of Juan de Herrera, with a similar layout but a less rigid 

whole.                                                  le.

The end of the XVI and beginning of the XVII centuries saw Madrid develop as a real city and therefore much of the early Baroque architecture produced in the kingdom at the time was done in the capital. Among the many churches that were erected during this time, the Collegiate of St Isidore bears special mention.

Conceived by the Jesuit priest Pedro Sánches, the Collegiate served for many years as the cathedral of the city, before the completion the Cathedral of La Almudena in 1993. Like all Jesuit architecture it follows the norms of the church off the Gesù in Rome, with a single nave with chapels on either side. The crossing of the church is crowned with a cupola, designed by Francisco Bautista.

Meanwhile, as the administrative centre of the kingdom became larger, the need arose to build a palace where the King, by now Felipe IV, would be able to seek solace without being too far removed from Madrid. Thus it was decided that a recreational facility should be erected just on the outskirts of the city. That was the germ that gave rise to the Palace of El Buen Retiro, presently almost completely extinct, bar the gardens.

Like most Baroque architecture in Spain, the palace had certain aesthetic resemblance to the monastery of El Escorial, especially in the almost military outlook of its buildings, laid out in a square with towers on the corners topped with Flemish spires. Designed by Alonso Carbonel, El Buen Retiro remained a recreational, not a contemplative, retreat though, and was fittingly equipped with large open spaces and ornate gardens that, to this day give Madrid its very own character.


Modern Examples