Plaza de España (Seville, 1929)

This week, we are going to take a walk through one of Seville's most famous sites. The Plaza de España! This plaza is a very interesting architectural set located in the María Luisa Park. It was built between 1914 and 1928 and was a project proposed by the architect Aníbal González. The plaza was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and is a great example of Regionalism architecture. It is definetly a site you can not miss if you ever visit Seville!

González's goal was to combine different artistic movements in one place like Spanish Renaissance revival, Spanish Barroque revival, etc. The complex is a big half circle with four bridges to access from the center of the plaza, where we can find the Vicente Traver fountain, to it´s outside. Something that I have always found fascinanting are the tile murals going around the plaza that each reprensent a different Spanish province. 

In 1915, the then king Alfonso XIII suggested for the plaza to be a permanent complex, that could have a use after the exhibition. The building was then renovated and, today, we can find some offices inside of the building for government purposes. It is also said that the plaza's plan is highly related to some of Andrea Palladio's villas. 

The complex covers about 50000 square meters, where 31000 square meters are an open space. Moreover, the North and South towers are 70 meters high.

Another fascintaing vision to have towards the Plaza de España is to think about how in other countries, during the same years, architecture was so different. In countries like France or Germany, that time in history was when modernity and modernism were the biggest artistic influence for architects. We can see a huge contrast, since these movements were made to create a new and innovative art, while breaking away from historical architecture. They were meant to create new and functional art. However, as we talked about previously, Aníbal Gonzáles made the Plaza España, in some way, bringing back the most influential historical architecture movement. 

What do you think?? Have you ever been to the Plaza de España? We will see you in the comments!!