Bernardo Giner de los Rios
Encyclopedia
Bernardo Giner de los Ríos (1888, Málaga
- 1970) was a Spanish
architect
and author of architectural works. He built many buildings in and around Madrid, including many schools.
, was a philosopher and proponent of the ideas of Karl Christian Friedrich Krause
, some of whose aesthetic ideas he translated in 1874 as Compendio de Estética. Francisco and Hermenegildo Giner de los Ríos also founded the freethinking Institución Libre de Enseñanza in 1876.
, around Alicante
, and built many schools in Madrid
. During the Spanish Civil War
, from 1936 to 1939, he served as the Minister of Communications, Transport and Public Works for the Republican side. After the war, he spent a year in Santo Domingo before moving to Mexico in 1940, where he developed an active career. From 1945 to 1960 he served as General Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic in exile. He spent the years 1946-1949 in Paris
in this role before returning to Mexico
,where he died in 1970.
in 1952, Giner de los Ríos published 50 Años de Arquitectura Española (1900-1950) ("50 Years of Spanish Architecture"), a history of Spanish architecture in the 20th century that had grown out of a talk that he gave at the Ateneo Español de México in August 1951.
Though he assumed an objective voice and omitted a political discussion of architecture from this book, his point of view on the history is particularly interesting given his political activity and his family's history with the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. The book adopted a progressive, but technocratic view of modernization and focused on the role of school construction and municipal urban design achievements in Spanish architecture.
Open minded about aesthetics
, Giner de los Ríos himself built schools in the modern Madrileño compromise style typical of the younger generation of architects, red-brick with strip windows and moldings of simplified section, like many 1930s buildings at Madrid
's new University City (Ciudad Universitaria). However, Giner's book for the most part set aside politics and matters of architectural style to focus on technical advances and planning successes. Thus continuities across political regimes were emphasized, which might have prevented the later debate between Oriol Bohigas
and Carlos Sambricio over the former's Arquitectura Española de la Segunda República (1970).
Responding to Sambricio's critiques, Bohigas's book became Modernidad en la Arquitectura de la España Republicana in 1998. Had Bohigas read Giner de los Ríos more closely, he might have resisted the desire to simplistically identify modernity in Spanish architecture with the politics of the Second Republic.
From 1961 to 1970, the Boletín de la Institución Libre de Enseñanza resumed publication (it had stopped in 1936) in Mexico under his direction. Publication resumed in Madrid in 1977, after the Institución was legalized.
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
- 1970) was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and author of architectural works. He built many buildings in and around Madrid, including many schools.
Background
The son of Hermenegildo Giner de los Ríos and Laura García Hoppe, Bernardo Giner de los Ríos was born into a family of intellectuals and progressive politicians. His uncle, Francisco Giner de los RíosFrancisco Giner de los Ríos
Francisco Giner de los Ríos was a philosopher, educator and one of the most influential Spanish intellectuals at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century....
, was a philosopher and proponent of the ideas of Karl Christian Friedrich Krause
Karl Christian Friedrich Krause
Karl Christian Friedrich Krause was a German philosopher, born at Eisenberg, Thuringia.-Education and Life:...
, some of whose aesthetic ideas he translated in 1874 as Compendio de Estética. Francisco and Hermenegildo Giner de los Ríos also founded the freethinking Institución Libre de Enseñanza in 1876.
Architecture
Beginning his career in the 1920s, Bernardo Giner de los Ríos specialised in the construction of schools, serving as a school inspector for the Spanish province of LevanteLevante, Spain
The Levante is a name used to refer to the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It roughly corresponds to the former Xarq Al-Andalus, but has no modern geopolitical definition...
, around Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, and built many schools in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, from 1936 to 1939, he served as the Minister of Communications, Transport and Public Works for the Republican side. After the war, he spent a year in Santo Domingo before moving to Mexico in 1940, where he developed an active career. From 1945 to 1960 he served as General Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic in exile. He spent the years 1946-1949 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in this role before returning to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
,where he died in 1970.
Writings
In Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
in 1952, Giner de los Ríos published 50 Años de Arquitectura Española (1900-1950) ("50 Years of Spanish Architecture"), a history of Spanish architecture in the 20th century that had grown out of a talk that he gave at the Ateneo Español de México in August 1951.
Though he assumed an objective voice and omitted a political discussion of architecture from this book, his point of view on the history is particularly interesting given his political activity and his family's history with the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. The book adopted a progressive, but technocratic view of modernization and focused on the role of school construction and municipal urban design achievements in Spanish architecture.
Open minded about aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
, Giner de los Ríos himself built schools in the modern Madrileño compromise style typical of the younger generation of architects, red-brick with strip windows and moldings of simplified section, like many 1930s buildings at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
's new University City (Ciudad Universitaria). However, Giner's book for the most part set aside politics and matters of architectural style to focus on technical advances and planning successes. Thus continuities across political regimes were emphasized, which might have prevented the later debate between Oriol Bohigas
Oriol Bohigas
Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola is a Catalan Spanish architect and urban planner. He is partner in the architecture office MBM.From 1980 until 1984 he has been the Director of Planning of the City of Barcelona....
and Carlos Sambricio over the former's Arquitectura Española de la Segunda República (1970).
Responding to Sambricio's critiques, Bohigas's book became Modernidad en la Arquitectura de la España Republicana in 1998. Had Bohigas read Giner de los Ríos more closely, he might have resisted the desire to simplistically identify modernity in Spanish architecture with the politics of the Second Republic.
From 1961 to 1970, the Boletín de la Institución Libre de Enseñanza resumed publication (it had stopped in 1936) in Mexico under his direction. Publication resumed in Madrid in 1977, after the Institución was legalized.