Felix Hernandez Gimenez . A well-known architect and urban planner , he was also noted for his work as an archaeologist and restorer in the two main monuments of Córdoba : Medina Azahara and the Mezquita Catedral.
Summary
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- 1 Biographical summary
- 1Trayectoria
- 2 Jobs in Seville
- 3 Muerte
- 4 Disclosure
- 5 Honorary recognitions
- 2 Sources
biographical synthesis
He was born in Ciudad Condal, Barcelona , on June 21, 1889 , the city to which his father moved from Caracas ( Venezuela ). There he studied and obtained the title of architect in ( 1912 ) and there he carried out his first project. Shortly after, he worked as municipal architect in Soria (1915), where he married and drew up the plan of the Numantine ruins . Later, he was in Sevillebecoming the municipal architect of Linares until he moved definitively to Córdoba, where he developed the highlights of his career until his death. To his status as an architect and archaeologist must be added that of a curator of monuments and an Arabist, facets that gave him enormous appeal from different angles.
Trajectory
During the 1920s he developed his most interesting activity as a builder and architect. Córdoba owes him an abundant sample of residential houses that respond to the aesthetics of neo- baroque regionalism , among which those of the Paseo del Gran Capitán, the Casa Hoces Losada on Concepción street, both from 1925 , and the Casa Colomera in Las Tendillas, stand out. of 1928 . Its forms are based on those of the local baroque of the 18th century , extracting from them a clearly Cordovan character, capable of being equated with the neo-baroque of Seville and Madrid, without giving up certain winks related to Viennese secessionism.
As an urban planner, he was appointed director of the Office of the Ensanche, created by the City Council to develop the blueprint for the expansion of the city in 1921 . Although the project was not carried out, he was responsible for important interventions, especially the opening of the Plaza de las Tendillas ( 1925-27 ) and the urbanization of the adjacent streets.
But its best-known facet was the conservation and restoration of countless historical-artistic monuments, most of them located in the province of Córdoba. His participation in the consolidation works of the Mosque-Cathedral can be described as very important.
However, its main action must be located around the archaeological site of Medina Azahara, which owes much of what it exhibits to it. After the death of Ricardo Velázquez Bosco in 1923 , Hernández was appointed director of the excavations, which he would carry out in two phases, between 1924 and 1936 , and between 1944 and 1975 , the year of his death.
Jobs in Seville
Other actions of his affected the restoration of a large number of monuments, among which it is necessary to review, in addition to those already mentioned, the Patio de los Naranjos of the Cathedral of Seville .
Death
He died in Córdoba on April 18 , 1975 . Unfortunately, he did not personally write the synthesis of his enormous and extensive work in the palatine city, although his notes were published posthumously, lacking graphic support, under the title of Madinat al-Zahra. Architecture and decoration ( Granada , 1985 ).
disclosure
He has published the book Minaret of Abd-al-Rahman III in the Great Mosque of Córdoba. (1975). Master Conception Publisher. ISBN 84-85133-05-6
Honorary recognitions
- Architect, Doctor Honoris Causa from the Universities of Berlin( 1964 ) and Granada ( 1975 )
- Full Academician of the Royal Academy of Córdoba.
- Correspondent of the Royal Academies of History and Fine Arts of San Fernando of Madridand of Good Letters of Barcelona .
- Commendation of the Order of Alfonso X El Sabio 1966.
- Gold Medal for Tourist Merit.
- Member of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin.
- Gold Medal of Fine Arts ( 1972) and of the College of Architects of Córdoba , plus other Spanish and foreign decorations.