The Gardens of the Alhambra and the Search for Spanish Modernism, 1953-75

摘要

In October 1952, twenty- four Spanish architects spent three days at the famous palace complex of the Alhambra in Granada, begun by the fourteenth-century Nasrid rulers of Al-Andalus. Their purpose in gathering was to reflect on possible future paths for modern architecture in Spain, following a decade of architectural traditionalism imposed on the nation by General Francisco Franco's regime since the end of the Civil War (1936-39). The result of these architects' debates was the publication in January 1953 of the Alhambra Manifesto. Compiled by architect and academic Fernando Chueca Goitia and signed by all the other conference participants, the Manifesto emphasized the need for a modern Spanish architecture rooted in local traditions. If the academic architecture of Francoist Spain invoked the monumental classicism of the sixteenth-century royal complex of the Escorial, for these designers the palaces of the Alhambra offered a refreshing new paradigm that abandoned rigid classical hierarchies in favor of more informal asymmetrical layouts and fostered fluid relationships among buildings, patios, and gardens (Figures 1 and 2).