Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano (1828, in

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

– 1901, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

) was a Spanish architect.

Biography

Villar studied architecture in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

at the

Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acade ...

, and qualified in 1852. The following year he settled in Barcelona and was elected a member of what is now known as the

Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi The Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi (, in English "Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Saint George") is a Catalan art school located in Barcelona. The president is the architect Jordi Bonet i Armengol. The institution was ...

. In 1854 he designed a series of emergency hospitals for victims of the cholera epidemic. Amongst other public appointments he became president of the Association of Architects and director of the Higher School of Architecture. He held the post of diocesan architect from 1874 to 1892, and was succeeded in it by his son Francesc de Paula del Villar i Carmona. He restored the church of

Santa Maria del Pi Santa Maria del Pi (, meaning "St. Mary of the Pine") is a 15th-century Gothic church in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the Plaça del Pi, in the Barri Gòtic district of the city. History It is known that in 987 there existed ...

, the Basílica de Santa Maria de Vilafranca and the Casa de Misericòrdia; he also designed many parish churches and the apse of the basilica of the

Monastery of Montserrat Santa Maria de Montserrat () is an abbey of the Order of Saint Benedict located on the mountain of Montserrat (mountain), Montserrat in Monistrol de Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain. It is notable for enshrining the image of the Virgin of Montserrat ...

, a commission on which

Antoni Gaudí Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalan architect from Spain known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized, ''sui generis'' style. Most are located in Barcel ...

worked under him in a junior capacity.

Sagrada Família

In 1877 he was commissioned by the Associació de Devots de Sant Josep to build the church of the Sagrada Família. Villar planned a Neo-Gothic design, of which only the

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

was built. He abandoned the project in 1883 as a result of disagreements with

Joan Martorell Joan Martorell i Montells () (born 1833 in Barcelona, died 5 July 1906 in Barcelona) was a Catalan architect and designer. He was an uncle of the architect Bernardí Martorell i Puig. Martorell worked in the styles of historicism and Gothic Rev ...

, the architect advising Josep Maria Bocabella, president of the Associació de Devots de Sant Josep and promoter of the project. The job was offered to Martorell, who turned it down, and instead recommended Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi then took charge of the project and made it into his magnum opus.

External links

Arquitectura Barcelona :: Francisco de Paula del Villar i Lozano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paula Del Villar Y Lozano, Francisco Spanish architects 1828 births 1901 deaths Gothic Revival architects