No. 17 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

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GET TO KNOW GRAN CANARIA I CONOCE GRAN CANARIA Nº 17
Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre (Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria, 1894 -1980) was an architect whose extensive
work shaped the capital, uniting the old town with the
emerging port and tourist city, reflecting the evolution
that the island would undergo during the 20th century of
the introduction of architectural rationalism in the Canary
Islands. There are hardly any places in the lower part of the
island's capital that do not feature the work of this internationally
renowned architect, brother of the symbolist and
modernist artist Néstor, the precursor of the tourist model
that would turn Gran Canaria into one of the most original
destinations in Spain, with projects such as the Pueblo Canario
that his brother would execute.
The urban development plan presented by Miguel
Martín-Fernández de la Torre responded to the bipolarity
of the urban settlements and the disorder so prevalent up
to that point. The new city, capital of the island and international
port, presented two separate centres, with the Old
City (Vegueta and Triana), far away from the New City, with
the neighbourhoods that emerged from the development
of the Port of La Luz as the island's economic driving force,
together with tourism that settled in a no-man's land between
the two urban centres, with an area known as Ciudad
de Jardín that maintains its beauty and singularity.
Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre
The capital’s architect
In the surrounding area, next to the Pueblo Canario, is the
Hotel Santa Catalina, a historic tourist centre built at the
end of the 19th century which suffered the successive war
crises that the world and Spain went through. It was during
the Franco dictatorship that the Economic Command
commissioned Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre to
restore this iconic building, which today is the city's emblematic
tourist establishment. But it is not the only iconic
building in the capital of Gran Canaria that carries the signature
of the illustrious architect, there are many more, as
is illustrated by the four routes or areas around which most
of the works are located. The City Council promotes their
awareness among residents and tourists through a web
portal containing pedestrian routes, his biography, emblematic
works and a video detailing the impact his work
has had in the capital.
Casa del Marino
‘The look of an architect’ is the slogan given to the project,
promoted by Turismo LPA Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, to
spotlight the figure of the most important representative
of the architectural avant-garde in the Canary Islands after
the First World War. Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre
is considered to be the main driving force behind the rationalist
movement in the Canary Islands. These self-guided
tours also offer an extended bibliography on his work
and details of three of the capital's emblematic buildings
that bear his signature: the headquarters of the Cabildo de
Gran Canaria, the Santa Catalina Hotel and the Casa del
Marino, the first multidisciplinary building in Spain.
The website includes 125 buildings in 6 urban routes: Vegueta;
Triana (and the San Telmo hotel); Ciudad Jardín (parks
and buildings, housing and colonies; Mesa y López (Canteras
and Tafira Alta) as well as 5 buildings located off route.
The architecture adds to the visiting choices available
in the city, with routes that are reminiscent of great film
scenes, passages that lead us to Galdosian quotes, unique
beaches, a great commercial and cultural capital, with its
landscapes and nature reserves such as the Jardín Canario,
the largest botanical garden in Spain. Everything is part of
an urban fabric in which we can recognise the signature
and vision of Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre.
Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre
Parque Doramas
Pueblo Canario