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ARCHITECTURE: ISABELLINE CLASSICISM

The foundation of the Special School of Architecture in Madrid in 1844, followed by the creation of a second school in Barcelona in 1859, meant, in addition to the attempt to obtain better technical training (mathematics, physics, history, legislation), the opening to historicism, although not the abandonment of academic classicism, which continued to be supported by the corresponding Academies in this field. This, however, did not limit the artistic vocation of the School of Architecture, as was clear from 1855, when its students stopped sharing their first courses with engineers at the School of Roads, Canals and Ports.

In general, the period is marked by a weak renewal in the theoretical field, more interested in the resolution of technical questions raised by the introduction of new materials, such as iron or large glass surfaces. However, problems of this order were usually solved from translations of English and French treatises or, in any case, practical manuals intended to solve very specific questions, such as Observations on the Practice of the Art of Building (1857) or the Album of Original Architectural Projects (1846), both by Manuel Fornés, to which we can add the poor Lessons on Civil Architecture (1847) by Juan Miguel Inclán Valdés.

The evident crisis of the Academies can be seen, on the other hand, in the hesitations that the classical code began to provoke among the architects most attentive to the French innovations contained, for example, in the treaties of Durand or Celles, which allowed them to recover the teachings of the medieval past, incorporating them into an eclecticism that relegated classicism to official buildings, while the architectural orders began to become detached from their normative meaning to become symbols of prestige at the service of the bourgeoisie.

Indeed, the architecture of the Romantic era was characterised by the absolute dominance, prior to the development of the different historicisms that began to emerge from the middle of the century, of a late neoclassicism, which served, having already lost its initial revolutionary connotations, as an expression of the social order to which the more moderate liberal bourgeoisie aspired. Far from being exhausted, architecture in the central decades of the 19th century maintained a marked attachment to the classical tradition, especially in its Renaissance-Mannerist version, canonically established as a synthesis between order and imagination.

Historicism thus spread progressively, without major ruptures, on a classical basis, which did not lose its vigor definitively until the end of the century. Its foundation, clearly integrated into the project of formulating a genuinely national architecture, was based on the constant search for the adaptation of architecture to its environment, on the one hand, and on the uniqueness of the building, as an unrepeatable event, on the other.

Beginning with the debate on the concept of style, the impossibility of articulating, within the relativistic framework sponsored by romanticism, a dominant stylistic formula resulted in the hegemony of eclecticism, understood as the imitation of increasingly defined and differentiated styles, combined and recombined in buildings that often became a lesson in the history of art or literature rather than a work of art or literature.

The success of neo-medieval architecture, which made function and style congruent, was scarce in the period prior to the Restoration period. The main reason was the delay in the urbanisation process, which made the construction of new temples unnecessary for a Church that was, on the other hand, very economically weakened. However, it is worth highlighting the unrealised projects of San Luís de los Franceses (1857), signed by Manuel Seco y Rodríguez, in a very purist neo-Gothic style, inspired by the cathedral of Burgos, or that of the church and hospital of Buen Suceso (1860), by Juan Segundo de Lema, endowed with greater stylistic freedom. We can also add the palace of Bendinat (1858), in Mallorca, the work of Bartolomé Ferrá, similar to a fortress.

Nor did neo-Muslim architecture, generally limited to recreational environments (private rooms, mansions, cafés, casinos, spas, bullrings, etc.), have much impact in this period, outside of what is strictly decorative. The evocative hedonism with which it is associated, common to all orientalist ideology, only had a place, as a picturesque alternative to neo-Gothic rationalism, in works such as the Arab Cabinet of the Palace of Aranjuez (1848), by the Granadan Rafael Contreras, inspired by the Hall of the Two Sisters of the Alhambra, or the Arab Hall of the Vista Alegre Palace, based on the Hall of the Boat of the Alhambra. Only after the war of Morocco (1859-1861), the neo-Muslim style began to be applied to the integral architecture of the building, being displayed on the outside, as in the Xifré Palace (1862), of Emile Boeswillwald.

Official architecture

Although the problems of public finances prevented the development of a more substantial official architecture, there is no doubt that the administration was, together with the private initiative of the bourgeoisie, the main patron of the architecture of the period. The Renaissance-inspired language, typical of Elizabethan classicism, continued to dominate these buildings, although treated with increasing freedom, seeking to achieve an eclectic synthesis of the various classical currents, occasionally moving, since the 1960s, to the most moderate versions of Second Empire architecture.

Of special importance is the Palace of the Congress of Deputies (1842-1850), Narciso Pascual Colomer (1801-1870). Edificio de planta axial y simétrica, el salón de sesiones quedó organizado en forma de una discreta herradura cubierta por la bóveda que pintó Carlos Luís de Ribera. The main façade is structured on three floors and three bodies, with a central protruding portico, of Corinthian hexastyle type, topped by a pediment with a tympanum with an allegorical theme.

The national library, started by Francisco Jareño Alarcón (1818-1892), also the designer of the neighbouring Casa de la Moneda (1861), now defunct, has a rectangular floor plan with four bays in the shape of a cross and an octagonal space in the centre covered by a dome made of cloth. The Universidad Central (1842) is in the same line, Francisco Javier Mariátegui, preceded by an austere neoclassical façade with a clear dominance of horizontal lines; or the disappeared façade of the Senate Palace (1840), by Aníbal Álvarez Bouquet, designed in the image and likeness of the triumphal arches.

Worthy of attention are the buildings intended to house some of the emerging Provincial Councils, such as that of Álava (1833), designed by Martín Miguel de Saracíbar, o la Diputación Foral de Navarra (1847), by José Nagusía,an obvious example of the survival of classical models. Of a typology close to that of the palace, some town halls also stand out, such as that of San Sebastián (1823), Silvestre Pérez, a model for other similar buildings, characterized by their severe cubic volumes, as also shown by those in Barcelona, José Mas (1847); Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1856), by Juan Daura; or those of Gijón (1861) and Llanes, both by Andrés Coello.

Theaters

If the cathedral is the emblem of the medieval city, with the rise of the bourgeoisie, it will be the theatre building that occupies this position of urban representation. Although the increasingly ostentatious façades tended to remain faithful to the classical language of architectural orders, inside the building the search for more egalitarian and functional spatial solutions, privileging ease of circulation, optics and acoustics, were the central issues to be elucidated.

This chapter highlights some architects specialising in this type of building, such as Jerónimo de la Gándara, author of the projects for the Teatro de la Zarzuela (1856), the Lope de Vega (1861) or the porches of the Calderón de la Barca (1864), all in Madrid, in addition to the Calderón theatre in Valladolid (1864) or the one in Jérez de la Frontera (1866).

The construction of the now defunct Old Theatre of Bilbao (1833), by Juan Bautista Escondrillas, corresponds to this period; the Principal Theatre of La Coruña (1840), by José Mª Nolla; the Principal Theatre of Burgos (1843-1857), by Francisco Angoitia; the Theatre of Palma de Mallorca (1854), by Antonio Sureda; the Municipal Theatre of Figueres (1850), by Josep Roca i Bros; the Principal Theatre of San Sebastián (1844), by Joaquín Ramón Echeveste, etc.

Among all of them, however, the Teatro Principal de Valencia (1854) stands out, José Zacarías Camaña, with a tetrastyle portico of Ionic order topped by a balustrade; or the sober Teatro Principal of Alicante (1845), Emilio Jover, with its hexastyle portico of Tuscan order columns topped by a smooth pediment. Another important building is the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona (1862), by José Oriol Mestres Espulgues (1815-1895), also with a horseshoe plan and an eclectic façade with regionalist references, topped by a semicircular pediment. In any case, the canonical model was the Teatro Real in Madrid (1818-1850), after the Opera, designed by Isidro González Velázquez and Antonio López Aguado, but concluded by Custodio Moreno and Francisco Cabezuelo. By opting for a horseshoe shape for the auditorium, Aguado’s design added a whole series of leisure and transit spaces that made the building more comfortable and safe.

Bullrings

Although its typology arose in the 18th century from the buildings of ancient entertainment, it was not until the following century that the canonical model became widespread. The sobriety of the one in Valencia (1850), designed by Sebastián Monleón,still neoclassical in design and inspired by Roman amphitheatres, with a 48-sided polygonal plan and four porticoed floors.

Palaces

In the middle decades of the 19th century, Isabelline Madrid was filled with small palaces in the Renaissance style, mostly Italianate, but also with some more traditional Plateresque references, commissioned by the bourgeoisie. They are generally isolated buildings surrounded by a garden, not too high, with very symmetrical and decorated facades.

A good example of this is the “Capricho” (1834-1844), in the Alameda de Osuna, commissioned by the Duke of Osuna to Antonio López Aguado, a typical example of romantic classicism of English inspiration. Martín López Aguado, Martín López Aguado, son of the previous one, was responsible for another outstanding project, the palace of the Count of Villahermosa (1843), on Fuencarral Street, with clear Italian Renaissance and Mannerist influences, also evident in the palace commissioned by the banker Gaviria (1847) to Aníbal Álvarez Bouquel, greatly influenced by the Farnese Palace of Sangallo and Michelangelo. Similar is the case of the palace of the Duke of Granada of Ega (1859), a work of Matías Laviña, located on the Cuesta de Santo Domingo and inspired by the Chancellery of Rome. Even the late palace of the Duke of Veragua (1860), also designed by Laviña, maintains this fidelity to the classicist language, in this case tracing its façade in the style of that of the Central University of Madrid. The same can be said of the palace on Calle de San Pedro (1858), by Juan Antonio Sánchez, o el del duque de Sesto (1865), by Francisco de Cubas, author also of palacio de López-Dóriga (1872).

As for the suburban palaces, that of the Marquis of Salamanca (1845-1858), a work designed by Narciso Pascual and Colomer on the Paseo de Recoletos, has been considered the prototype of romantic architecture in its neo-Renaissance version.

Domestic architecture

Heir to the models created in the 18th century based on traditional tradition and Italian influences, the domestic architecture of the first half of the 19th century continued to be based on the rigid modular symmetry of facades organized by the rhythmic repetition of openings.

In Barcelona, the most notable are the Casas Xifré (1836-1840), by Josep Boixareu and Francesc Vila, with a rectangular floor plan, four interior courtyards and porticoed galleries, intended for commercial premises, on the façades.

In Madrid the Casas del Cordero (1842-1845), designed by Juan José Sánchez Pescador, responded to the same approach of dignifying domestic architecture demanded by the emerging middle class. Numerous projects with similar approaches followed, such as the houses in the Plaza de Oriente (1844), by Narciso Pascual Colomer, o la Casa de Rivas (1846), by José Alejandro y Álvarez.

Town planning

El incremento demográfico que van a experimentar las principales ciudades a lo largo de todo el siglo XIX, exigirá respuestas urbanísticas que hasta bien avanzada la centuria continuaron siendo deudoras de los postulados ilustrados. Buena muestra de ello es el papel ordenador que se le continuó otorgando a las plazas regulares, cerradas y porticadas, tan afines a lo neoclásico, que fueron frecuentes sustitutas de los edificios desamortizados. Algunos ejemplos a destacar son la plaza de Sant Jaume(1848), de Josep Mas i Vila, and above all the Plaza Real (1850-1865), by Francesc Daniel i Molina, both in Barcelona. Along the same lines, it is also worth remembering the Plaza de la Independencia, in Gerona (1855), by Martín Sureda Deulevol, la Plaza del Mercado de Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1857), by Manuel de Oráa or, in Sevilla, the Plaza Nueva, (1850), by Ángel de Ayala.

Although not always guided by foresight and planning, the disentailment also allowed the development of new extensions and alignment plans, initially interior, as occurred with the remodeling of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol (1858-1861), Lucio del Valle. Later, after the widespread demolition of the medieval walls, peripheral expansions began, responsible for the authentic transition to the bourgeois city. As occurred with that of Barcelona (1856-1860), designed by Ildefonso Cerdá, these extensions became authentic orthogonal “new cities”, primarily for residential and commercial purposes, dominated by criteria of order, hygiene and circulation.

Restorations

Awareness of the problems generated by the destruction of heritage as a result of the confiscations led to the creation, within the Royal Academy of San Fernando, of the Central Commission of Monuments, as well as the Provincial Commissions of Monuments in 1857. However, the lack of budget and political will made their work totally ineffective throughout the century.

The anti-interventionist theories of Stern and Ruskin, who advocated consolidating the ruin rather than reconstructing the building, were less accepted in Spain than the positivist ideas of Viollet-le-Duc, who was in favour of returning to the Gothic building all its stylistic purity, even restoring it to an ideal that may not have existed, for example, by recreating parts that were not finished at the time. It was only at the end of the 19th century, following the proposals of Boito, that the criterion of conserving rather than restoring became widespread again.

The restoration of San Jerónimo el Real in Madrid, begun by Narciso Pascual in 1848, is a good example of the distortions introduced by this desire to recover a non-existent ideal, especially with regard to the two new towers added to the chevet. Something similar happened with the cathedral of León, whose controversial restoration, begun in 1860 by Matías Laviña Blasco, created a building free of the dynamism of Renaissance and Baroque additions, in line with the rationalist interventions promoted by Viollet-le-Duc. The cathedrals of Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona, San Vicente de Ávila, Santa María de Ripoll, the Alhambra and the mosque of Córdoba were other buildings restored during this period based on similar criteria.

LITERATURE

ARIAS ANGLÉS, E. (1999) Historia del Arte Español. Del Neoclasicismo al Impresionismo, Madrid, Akal.

ARIZA MUÑOZ, C. (1988) Los jardines de Madrid en el siglo XIX, Madrid.

ARRECHEA MIGUEL, M. J. (1989) Arquitectura y romanticismo. El pensamiento arquitectónico en la España del siglo XIX, Valladolid, Universidad de Valladolid-Caja Salamanca.

BENET, J. (1983) Ingeniería de la época romántica, Madrid.

FERNÁNDEZ MUÑOZ, A. L. (1988) Arquitectura teatral en Madrid. Del corral de comedias al cinematógrafo, Madrid.

GARCÍA MELERO, J. E. (1998) Arte español de la Ilustración y del siglo XIX. En torno a la imagen del pasado, Madrid, Ediciones Encuentro.

HERNANDO CARRASCO, J. (1989) Arquitectura en España, 1770-1900, Cátedra, Madrid.

NAVASCUÉS PALACIO, P. (1993) Arquitectura española (1808-1914), Espasa Calpe, Madrid (Summa Artis, XXXV).