The General Headquarters of the Air and Space Force ( es, Cuartel General del Ejército del Aire y del Espacio, links=no), also known in Spanish as the ''Ministerio del Aire'' (after
the institution it formerly hosted), is a building in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, Spain.
History
Once the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
had ended with the
Francoist faction's victory and after the requirement of a smallholding for the construction of the Ministry of the Air Force's headquarters in 1939 filed by
Juan Vigón, the plot of land on where the
Modelo Prison lied was chosen and ceded as building site.
In order to present the project, the architect,
Luis Gutiérrez Soto
Luis Gutiérrez Soto (1900–1977) was a Spanish architect. He worked primarily in Madrid.
Biography
Born on 6 June 1900 in the , Madrid, Spain. After earning a degree in 1923, he became Chief Architect of the Ministry of Public Instruction, del ...
, traveled to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
to study buildings with a similar purpose, elaborating an initial draft reminiscent of
Paul Ludwig Troost
Paul Ludwig Troost (17 August 1878 – 21 January 1934) was a German architect. A favourite master builder of Adolf Hitler from 1930, his Neoclassical designs for the ''Führerbau'' and the ''Haus der Kunst'' in Munich influenced the style of N ...
and
Albert Speer's works. His project was reworked several times, discarding the
neoclassicist
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
elements, and ultimately, pandering to the imperial historicism sought by the
Francoist regime
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
, it adopted the
herrerian
The Herrerian style ( es, estilo herreriano or ''arquitectura herreriana'') of architecture was developed in Spain during the last third of the 16th century under the reign of Philip II (1556–1598), and continued in force in the 17th centu ...
elements, inspired by
El Escorial
El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...
.
The building was intended to be part of a wider effort to create the image of an "Imperial Madrid". Nonetheless the delusions of grandeur vis-à-vis the so-called "Imperial Cornice" caught up with reality and the scarcity during the Post-War and most of the individual projects ended up either filed, unfinished or mutilated, with the single clear success being precisely the Ministry of the Air.
The formal beginning of the construction (undertaken by
Huarte y Compañía) took place on 10 December 1943. Although building works did not fully end until 1958, parts of the building were already in use in 1954.
References
; Citations
; Bibliography
*
*
{{coord missing, Spain
Buildings and structures in Argüelles neighborhood, Madrid
Government buildings in Spain
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
Neo-Herrerian architecture
Barracks in Spain