Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla

The Most Excellent
Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla
Born1887 (1887)
Arnuero, Spain
Died30 May 1932(1932-05-30) (aged 44–45)
Madrid, Spain
Alma materMadrid School of Architecture
OccupationArchitect
Notable workSantander Central Post Office Building (Santander)
Parent(s)Joaquín Fernández
Elvira Quintanilla
AwardsMedal of Merit in Labour

Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla (Arnuero, Cantabria, 1887 – Madrid, 30 May 1932)[1] was a Spanish architect who worked mainly in Santander and Madrid. He was also the architect for the Madrid Municipal Fire Department, head of the Urban Planning Section of the Madrid City Council, and president of the Association of Architects of Spain. In 1932, he was awarded the Medal of Merit in Labour.[2]

Like most Cantabrian architects of his time, he was a follower of the regionalist architecture developed by Leonardo Rucabado, as seen in his major architectural work, the Santander Post Office Building. This work was conceived together with Secundino Zuazo; however, it was Fernández Quintanilla who oversaw its construction.[2] With Zuazo, he collaborated on the controversial competition for the construction of the Círculo de Bellas Artes headquarters; their project was one of the highest-rated, though it was ultimately not selected. They also jointly designed several buildings on the newly created Gran Vía in Madrid.[2]

Biography

Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla was born in the Cantabrian municipality of Arnuero;[4] son of Joaquín Fernández de Peña and Elvira Quintanilla Cagigal,[5] he was a cousin of the painter Luis Quintanilla.[6] In 1913 he graduated from the Madrid School of Architecture and a year later became the architect for the Madrid Municipal Fire Department. He was also president of the Association of Architects of Spain.[7][8]

He is classified within the Montaña Regionalist School alongside other Cantabrian architects of the period, such as Javier González de Riancho, Deogracias Mariano Lastra, Ramón Lavín Casalis, Valentín Lavín del Noval, Gonzalo Bringas, among others;[9] this school followed the precepts of the architect from Castro, Leonardo Rucabado, as set out in his book Proyecto de palacio para una noble de la Montaña, which proposed using elements characteristic of the architecture found in the Cantabria region during the 17th and 18th centuries to create an identifiable architecture.[9] Fernández Quintanilla transformed Rucabado's ideas towards architectural rationalism, as can be seen in his work on the Coliseum Cinema (Santander, 1929).[9][2]

In 1915, he won first prize in the competition for the Santander Post Office Building, designing the project together with Secundino Zuazo, although Fernández Quintanilla was in charge of the construction.[10]This work shows Rucabado's influence, presenting a style typical of Montaña regionalism with a tendency towards ornamental architecture.[11] Inaugurated in September 1927,[12] it is a free-standing, rectangular-plan building with ashlar walls and a wooden frame.[13] The rear has a closed, continuous balcony, while its main façade is flanked by two polygonal towers.[13] In 1919, he also collaborated with Zuazo on the competition for the Post Office building in Bilbao.[10]

In mid-March 1919, the council of the Círculo de Bellas Artes called a national competition to build the social headquarters of the cultural institution. The first prize included direction of the works, and five others received compensation of between three and fifteen thousand pesetas.[14] A total of fifteen submissions were entered. Fernández Quintanilla entered together with Zuazo, proposing a union between traditional Spanish architecture and the classicism with new forms seen in European cities, showing influence from Peter Behrens and Paul Bonatz.[15] After discarding several preliminary projects in the first sessions due to quality or non-compliance with the competition rules, the project by Fernández Quintanilla and Secundino Zuazo won first prize in the fourth session and a cash award of 7,500 pesetas. However, this decision caused anger from Antonio Palacios and two hundred other architects, who called for debates in assemblies and led to numerous resignations within the institution.[15] The final stage of the competition was declared void as none of the three finalists achieved an absolute majority; their project came second with two of the six votes.[15] Finally, the board of the Círculo de Bellas Artes approved Antonio Palacios's project after he offered to direct the project in exchange for waiving his fees. This led to complaints among architects and further resignations within the institution, as well as inflating the initial budget (four million) by almost two million pesetas.[15]

In 1929, he collaborated with the politician and architect Bernardo Giner de los Ríos on the drafting of Madrid: información sobre la ciudad, a research work presented at the First Congress of Urban Planning in Spain.[16] That same year, he also organized, with Giner de los Ríos, the Office of Information on the City of Madrid.[16]

Alongside other national architects, Fernández Quintanilla is one of the creators of the Gran Vía in Madrid, collaborating with Secundino Zuazo along with Fernando de Escondrillas and José Miguel de la Quadra-Salcedo.[17] In 1929, he was chosen as a juror for the awards given by the Spanish government as part of the International Competition for the Columbus Lighthouse, receiving the third highest number of votes.[18] This competition involved over two thousand architects from forty-eight countries, who submitted a total of 456 preliminary projects for this tribute to Christopher Columbus in Santo Domingo.[19][20]

He died on 30 May 1932 in Madrid, the same year he was awarded the Medal of Merit in Labour and appointed head of the Urban Planning Section of the Madrid City Council.[21]

Style

At the beginning of his career, he followed the regionalist precepts of Leonardo Rucabado, a trend spread among Cantabrian architects of the time in search of a distinctive identifying feature;[9] however, he transformed these ideas towards architectural rationalism,[9] which sought to balance traditional architecture, preserving the typical style, with modernity, accepting industrial processes, technological progress, and invention, which prevailed in major European cities.[4] Towards the end of his work, simplicity and the elimination of all superfluous elements within eclecticism and with Art Deco influence are apparent, as seen in the Coliseum Cinema.[4][22]

Works

Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla designed the following works:[4][7][21]

  • House for Dr. Azúa (Madrid, 1914)
  • House for Benjamín del Río (Santander, 1917)
  • Santander Post Office Building (Santander, 1918–1925)
  • Rental houses at General Espartero Street, numbers 9, 11 and 13 (Santander, 1920–1923)
  • Family house for Manuel Suárez Inclán (Santander, 1920)
  • Family house for Laureano Falla Gutiérrez (Santander, 1920)
  • Family house for Eduardo Pérez del Molino (Santander, 1922)
  • Peña y Media House (Santander, 1923)
  • Pantheon for the Peiró family (Madrid, 1923)
  • Peña y Media House (Madrid, 1924)
  • School of the Piarists (Santander, 1927)
  • House for Francisco Hueso (Madrid, 1928)
  • House for Leopoldo García (Madrid, 1929)
  • Coliseum Cinema (Santander, 1929)
  • Main house of the Valdenoja estate (Santander, 1931)

References

  1. ^ "El señor Don Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla (Obituary)" [Mr. Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla (Obituary)]. ABC (in Spanish). 1 June 1932. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d Fernández-Quintanilla 2008.
  3. ^ Aramburu-Zabala Higuera 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d "Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  5. ^ Aramburu-Zabala Higuera 2008, p. 32.
  6. ^ Fernández-Quintanilla 2008, p. 184.
  7. ^ a b Fernández-Quintanilla 2008, p. 287.
  8. ^ "En honor de los arquitectos de las exposiciones" [In Honor of the Architects of the Exhibitions]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 June 1929. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  9. ^ a b c d e Moure Romanillo & Suárez Cortina 2002, p. 116.
  10. ^ a b Suazo Ugalde 2003, p. 24.
  11. ^ Universidad de Cantabria. "Oficina central de Correos" [Central Post Office] (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  12. ^ Flores-Gispert, Juan Carlos (21 May 2007). "Correos reformará su edificio central y prevé mejoras en oficinas locales" [Post Office to Renovate its Central Building and Plans Improvements in Local Offices]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  13. ^ a b "Edificio de correos" [Post Office Building]. Consejería de Innovación, Industria, Turismo y Comercio del Gobierno de Cantabria (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  14. ^ Garrido, Antonio (16 March 1919). "Círculo de Bellas Artes. Concurso entre arquitectos" [Círculo de Bellas Artes. Competition Among Architects]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d Felisa de Blas Gómez. "El emblemático y polémico concurso del Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid, 1919" [The Emblematic and Controversial Competition for the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, 1919.] (PDF) (in Spanish). Universidad de Valladolid. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  16. ^ a b Jiménez-Landi Martínez 1996.
  17. ^ Navascués Palacio & Alonso Pereira 2002.
  18. ^ "El concurso internacional del Faro de Colón" [The International Columbus Lighthouse Competition]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 15 May 1929. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  19. ^ Morán, J. "El Faro de Colón de Vaquero y Moya cumple 80 años" [The Columbus Lighthouse by Vaquero and Moya Turns 80]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  20. ^ Suazo Ugalde 2003.
  21. ^ a b Fernández-Quintanilla 2008, p. 288.
  22. ^ Moure Romanillo & Suárez Cortina 2002.

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