Neo-Mudéjar
Encyclopedia
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
which originated in Spain
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...
and emerged as a revival of the Mudéjar
Mudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
architecture. It appeared in the late 19th century 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...
, and soon spread to other regions of the country. Such architects as Emilio Rodríguez Ayuso perceived the Mudéjar art as characteristical and exclusive Spanish style. They started to construct buildings using some of the features of the ancient style, as horseshoe arch
Horseshoe arch
The horseshoe arch, also called the Moorish arch and the Keyhole arch, is the emblematic arch of Islamic architecture. They were formerly constructed in Visigothic Spain. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form....
es and the use of the abstract shaped brick ornamentations for the façades.
History
The first example of the Neo-Mudéjar style was the Madrid's now-demolished bullringBullring
A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain, but they can also be found in neighboring countries and the New World...
, designed by Rodríguez Ayuso. The style became then a strong, almost "compulsory" reference for the construction of bullfight rings all around Spain and beyond the fronteers, to Portugal and the Hispanoamerican countries.
In Madrid it became one of its most representative styles, not only for public buildings, as Escuelas Aguirre
Escuelas Aguirre
The Escuelas Aguirre is a notable Neo-Mudéjar style building, located at Calle de Alcalá, 62, Madrid, Spain. Since 2006 it has housed the Casa Árabe e Instituto Internacional de Estudios Árabes y del Mundo Musulmán....
or the Bullring of Las Ventas
Las Ventas
The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas is a famous bullring in Madrid .Situated in the Guindalera quarter of the district of Salamanca, it was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. It has a seating capacity of 25,000 and is regarded as the home of bullfighting in Spain.This bullring was designed by the architect...
but also for housing. The use of cheap materials, mainly brick for exteriors, made it a popular style in the new neighborhoods.
The Neo-Mudéjar was often combined with Neo-Gothic by architects as Francisco de Cubas, Antonio María Repullés y Vargas or Francisco Jareño. After the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929
Ibero-American Exposition of 1929
The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 was a world's fair held in Seville, Spain, from the 9th of May 1929 until the 21st of June 1930. Countries in attendance of the exposition included: Portugal, The United States, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, the Republic of Colombia, Cuba,...
in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, another stream of Neo-Mudéjar features appeared: the Andalusian Architectural Regionalism. The Plaza de España
Plaza de España (Seville)
The Plaza de España is a plaza located in the Parque de María Luisa , in Seville, Spain built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929...
or the Diario ABC
Diario ABC
ABC is a Spanish national daily newspaper founded in Madrid on January 1, 1903, by Torcuato Luca de Tena y Alvarez-Ossorio. ABC started as a weekly newspaper until it turned daily in June 1905. Today, ABC is the third largest general-interest newspaper in Spain, and the oldest newspaper still...
newspaper headquarters in Madrid are examples of this new style that combined traditional Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
n architecture with Mudéjar features.
List of notable Neo-Mudéjar buildings
- Gran Teatro Falla, CádizCádizCadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
- Las Ventas bullringLas VentasThe Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas is a famous bullring in Madrid .Situated in the Guindalera quarter of the district of Salamanca, it was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. It has a seating capacity of 25,000 and is regarded as the home of bullfighting in Spain.This bullring was designed by the architect...
, Madrid - Church of Santa Cruz, Madrid
- Church of La Paloma, Madrid
- Water tower (now exhibition space) Torre de Canal Isabel II, in Madrid.
- Escuelas AguirreEscuelas AguirreThe Escuelas Aguirre is a notable Neo-Mudéjar style building, located at Calle de Alcalá, 62, Madrid, Spain. Since 2006 it has housed the Casa Árabe e Instituto Internacional de Estudios Árabes y del Mundo Musulmán....
, Madrid - ToledoToledo, SpainToledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
Train Sation - ZaragozaZaragozaZaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
Post-Office - Campo Pequeno bullringCampo Pequeno bullringThe Campo Pequeno Bullring is the bull ring of Lisbon, Portugal. It is located in the Campo Pequeno Square, by the Avenida da República. After a profound renovation, it re-opened as a multi-event venue in 2006, designed to be used for various events apart from bull fighting. It hosts a range of...
in LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, inspired in Madrid Bullring by Rodríguez Ayuso.