La última entrevista. Una biografía intelectual de Antonio Fernández Alba

Eduardo Prieto González

doi:10.12795/astragalo.2024.i36.03

Authors

Eduardo Prieto González Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12795/astragalo.2024.i36.03

Keywords:

Humanism, memory, literature, history, criticism

Abstract

This final interview explores the life and thought of Spanish architect Antonio Fernández Alba. From his childhood in Salamanca, influenced by figures like his teacher Atilano Coco and the impact of Unamuno, to his formative years in Madrid, Fernández Alba developed a committed architectural vision enriched with literary and philosophical references. The influence of Unamuno, Kierkegaard, and Hölderlin accompanied him in his early projects, reflecting his connection to the Castilian land and landscape. His evolution was marked by encounters with architects like José Luis Fernández del Amo and Louis Kahn. His work spanned from modest organicism to the design of iconic public buildings during Spain’s Transition, such as the Valladolid School of Architecture and the Data Centre of the Geographic Institute. In his later years, he dedicated himself to historic preservation projects, revealing his interest in history and conservation. Fernández Alba consistently rejected the cult of “star architects” and advocated for a humanist, civic-minded architecture enriched by literature and philosophy. Throughout his life, he fostered an intense relationship with ideas, books, and criticism, which led him to redefine his role more as a curious reader than as a celebrated architect—a humility that reflected his profound intellectual and cultural commitment.

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Author Biography

Eduardo Prieto González, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid

Eduardo Prieto holds a PhD in Architecture, Extraordinary Doctorate Award from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He also holds a degree in Philosophy (UNED, 2004) and a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Aesthetics and Theory of the Arts, and in Moral and Political Philosophy (UNED, 2007), defined by a multidisciplinary approach, his work focuses on the relationships between thought, technique and architecture, and is developed through several lines of research, including the environmental history of architecture, a term coined by the author in his reference book on the subject, Historia medioambiental de la arquitectura (Cátedra, 2019, 2022). He has been Visiting Scholar at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, has carried out studies and research stays at the Università della Sapienza di Roma, Akademie del Bildende Künste and the Technische Schüle in Vienna, and has given seminars, courses and lectures at the EPFS Laussane, the TU Delft, the Universidad Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires and the UNL in Santa Fe, among others. He has been working since 2010 at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, where he currently teaches the subjects History of Architecture and Urbanism and History of Art and Architecture; he directs the Master Architecture and Contemporary Culture, as well as the International Course Environmental Architecture: Technique, Typology, History and the Mini-Congresses of Theory, History and Criticism of Architecture. He has taught the subjects Thermodynamic Typologies in the Master's Degree in Advanced Architectural Projects at the UPM, and has directed the project Una mirada medioambiental al patrimonio, financed by the Tatiana Foundation. As a result of this teaching work, he has supervised a dozen doctoral theses related to the environment, energy and heritage in architecture. He works as an architecture critic for Arquitectura Viva, El Mundo and Revista de libros. He has written for international magazines such as Domus or Summa+, and is a member of the scientific committee or reviewer of prestigious architecture magazines such as Arquitectura, Arquitectura Viva, Informes de la construcción, Astrágalo, Varia, ZARCH, REIA or Constelaciones. He is a member of the Governing Board of the Association of Historians of Architecture and Urbanism (AhAU).