SPLENDID ARCHITECT MIGUEL FISAC
A Glimpse of Life and Work
Today if anyone of you is in search of a person who has done marvelous work in the field of Architectural Designing and Engineering, then you should have an idea of a Great Architect Mr. Miguel Fisac.
Hey Architects, yes Mr. Miguel Fisac is a great personality who has made a very recognized work in the Architectural world. From the beautiful lands of Spain, the impressive and remarkable addition of architectural services to this beautiful earth was a great contribution of this person and during his long lifetime which is almost 92 years, he has provided a lot of fascinating concepts of Building Design especially in the exteriors. He has done hundreds of projects during his lifetime and some top-of-the-line projects of this personality will be discussed over here in the coming paragraphs.
So, let’s start to explore more about Mr. Miguel. We will uncover cover the following things about him:
- Who was Mr. Miguel and where he belongs?
- What are his major projects?
- How was his life and why he moved to France for some time of his life?
- A glimpse of the work of Mr. Miguel Fisac and also of his life goals and objectives.
Mr. Miguel Fisac (1913 to 2006) was a Spanish Architect, Urban Planner, and painter. His most recognized services are in the Architect Design of the Exterior Designing of the buildings. He was born on 29 September 1913 in Daimiel, Spain. So he is a person who belongs to Spain and almost all his work is for Spain, which can be recognized as a Patriot spirit as well. His father’s name was Joaquin Fisac and his mother’s name was Amparo Serna, he had two elder brothers.
At the age of 1, he moved to Madrid for studying Architecture but due to Civil War, he fled to France to protect his life. After the war ended he returned to Madrid and completed his graduation from the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM) in 1942.
He was also a member of Opus Dei and his membership tenure was around 20 years. So, this all was the introduction of a great personality and a splendid Architect of the 20th Century.
Now we will discuss the things which are the main interest of many of the Architects who want to know about his projects. The projects that come to mind when someone takes the name of Mr. Miguel are given below with details and some pictorial views:
1. Laboratorius Jorba (La Pagoda), Madrid.
This building is present in Spain and it is considered as the Icon of Spain as it promoted the Modernism of Spain and it was built at the time when the Civil War was ended and there was a need to raise the standards of Spain in the eye of the world. So Miguel Fisac along with the members of Opus Dei in the 1950’s started this project of Pagoda building and this building worked very well in raising the modernism standards of Spain.
2. Edificio Moroder, Valencia.
Moroder is located in Valencia, Spain and its design was started in1961 and in the year of 1965 this building was completed and ready for use. In the present time, this building is used as Housing Building.
3. Indonesian Embassy, Madrid.
This building is also one of the most beautiful works of Miguel Fisac and this is again a building like a Pagoda and here it is visible that all the floors are in the same orientation and this is still modern as compared to the designs that are present these days. So it will be very fine to say that this project still has the capacity to meet the design of modern requirements.
4. Iglesia de San Pedro Martir, Madrid.
This building was constructed in 1959 and 1960 and the purpose of building this building was to fulfill the religious demands of the inhabitants of Spain. This building is also known as the Church of San Pedro, Madrid.
5. Edificio de Viviendies del Parterre, Daimiel.
This project was built in the mid of 20th Century and this is also a housing building and it is located in Daimiel and here Miguel Fisac has used the technique of Flexible Concrete and this is one of the most beautiful representations of the Concrete Structure. This is a 5 storey building and the Padded appearance of the Facade is very much visible in the attached picture.
6. Santa Ana Church 1965, Madrid.
This is also a mid 20th Century Project and this was built in 1965 and the purpose of this building was the spiritual need of the people of Madrid and this Church is still used.
7. Center of Hydrographic Studies, Madrid.
During the time 1960, there was a need for a Hydrographic Studies Center in Madrid, and for that, the services of Miguel Fisac were hired and he proposed the attached concept for the building which was then accepted and built during the time of 1960 to 1963 and it fulfilled the Study needs in quite an appreciable way. He used many Pre-Fabricated elements during the construction of this Hydrographic Studies Center and a glimpse of such Pre-Fabricated members is present with the Center picture.
8. La Moraleja House, Madrid.
This is the house project and Fisac designed this house for an engineer and this was constructed in 1973 near Barajas Airport Madrid. This house is a kind of Pop-age country cottage and it is present in the bizarrely pastoral landscape with a lot of Air Traffic. The white appearance is looking like a cushion or some acoustic sheets but in actuality this is merely concrete and this is a representation of flexible concrete technique, one more important thing about this building is its windows which are specially designed to control the noise of the Air Traffic.
9. Hotel Tres Islas.
The work of Miguel is present in almost all of Spain and this building is present in Fuerteventura, Spain. This project seems like every apartment or floor is divided into separate entities, the thing which Miguel Fisac tried to introduce in this building was a design for the Balcony which will be available for all apartments, and also there will be some sort of privacy along with that the design was kept to get the maximum daylight benefits.
10. IBM Office Building, Madrid.
This is the IBM office building located in Madrid Spain and this is also a very beautiful project of Miguel Fisac and we can see that the building exterior is similar on all floors which may be said to be a building which is designed by using the Array feature of the present time software. This building was constructed during the time period of 1966-67.
11. Municipal Theatre of Castilblanco de los Arroyos, Seville.
Another addition of the great Architect to the beauty of Spain is the Theatre and this theatre is located in Seville and this was constructed in 2003. The special thing about this Theatre is that it is completed after the death of Miguel Fisac and this can be said to be the project which he designed when he was close to leaving the world. The design of this building is quite Castle type in which there is a combination of vertical walls and with that, the texture of the Facade is quite Stone type which gives a glimpse that this building is present in an area in which there are rocks in the Landscape. But this all is Concrete Structure and one can see that this project is also one of the best use of Flexibility of the Concrete to construct more beautiful buildings.
So, that was all about some major projects brief introduction of Miguel Fisac and now we will discuss the most discussed project of him which is the building La Pagoda and we will unveil about it in detail and we will also discuss the reason which was behind the demolition of this building.
All the works of Miguel Fisac are worthy enough to be discussed in detail but all of the Architects have an idea that there is always one special project which may be considered as the top-of-the-line project. The same is the case is for Miguel Fisac and his top-of-the-line project was the La Pagoda, whose official name is Laboratorios Jorba, Madrid. This building was also considered as the face of Spain and it served as the Headquarters of a Pharmaceutical Company. As is already mentioned that the popular name of this building is La Pagoda which has a visible design similarity with Pogada (a tiered tower with multiple eaves commonly present in China, Japan, Vietnam, and Korea). The interesting thing about the building is its every floor is rotated at 45 degrees from the lower one and joined with a Hyperboloid ruled surface.
As we have already discussed that Miguel Fisac was a member of Opus Dei which is a lay Catholic organization. This organization was in good power during the mid of 20th Century and have a lot of persons who had a good influence on the government of that time. The technocrats and the Judicious Pragmatists of the organization supporting person determined to open Spain to the world beyond the Pyrenees which was known as the continent. This Architectural project was part of that determination because at that time after the War Spain was trying to raise its standards in the eye of the world and also they want themselves to be Internationally Recognized as a sort of normality.
This building helped a lot in raising the modernism of France and the beautiful Pogada of the Fiscac’s was very unique and was very modern during the times of 1950 and whenever some person comes at the Airport of the Madrid and drives to the city and look at this beautiful building got an idea that Spain is a Modern Country which is the representation of the agenda success of the Miguel Fisac and also its organization which is Opus Dei.
Three decades after the construction of this building in 1999 the building was demolished and it is said that the building became a victim of Fascism.
This was all the brief elaboration of the Iconic Project of Miguel Fisac. Now we will discuss more of his works and also some more features of his life.
Miguel has spent a very long career and in his lifetime he spent almost 60 years in the Practical Architectural Service and his long career is arranged here with three movements which are linked to Strength, Ambition, and Love, which is chosen so that the dialogue between nature and the history may encompass the three stages of his work which is related to organs, bones, and skins in the period of Spanish Life. One can also divide the career into various decades and in which from the 40s to 50s there is the isolation time and in 60s the time was the takeoff time and 70s to 80s was the Time of Changes. Thus, his life is a combination of Ups and Downs and his life taught him great lessons and during his lifetime he worked for the betterment of Spain and he put his best efforts to raise the standard of Spain in the eye of the world and it will be not wrong to say that he is very much successful in his goals and missions.