A transitional architecture. The first schools of Antonio Fernández Alba

Abstract

The architect Antonio Fernández Alba played a crucial role in the renewal of architectural language in Spain in the second half of the 20th century. His interest in education, as a teacher and designer, was expressed at all educational stages, from early childhood education to university instruction.

This text analyses three schools designed by Fernández Alba over the course of a decade, from 1959 to 1968: Nuestra Señora Santa María School, Montfort School and Aula Nueva School. These projects incorporate transitional spaces that connect both the exterior and the interior, architecture with nature and school with society. The demands of the new pedagogy of the time are resolved through the use of the interior courtyard and the in-transit spaces.

Transition spaces fulfil not only practical functions but also enrich the educational experience. Fernández Alba thus follows the postulates of Pestalozzi and Roth, considering the school as an extension of the home and a place of social integration.