I Premio de Arquitectura Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre

Presentation
Vicente Boissier Domínguez
Dean of the Official School of Architects of Gran Canaria
First and foremost, I would like to thank each and every person who participated
in this first edition of the Miguel Martín Fernández de la Torre architecture award,
organised by the Official School of Architects of Gran Canaria, for their great interest
and enthusiasm.
The call was limited to projects completed between 2008 and 2017 (both included), a
period in which architecture awards were not celebrated in the Canary Islands due to
the crisis pressing down on the field of architecture, the difficulties that the School of
Architects was going through, and the transformation of the structure of the Canary
Islands’ School of Architects, finally completed in 2017 with the creation of the
Canary Islands’ Council of Schools of Architects.
The high participation –90 projects were submitted for the 5 proposed categories–
and the quality of the work submitted represent the best instances of architecture
throughout this decade of crisis, where economic difficulties meant being creative
and sensitiveness to carrying out excellent architecture projects.
For culture, and in particular, architecture, a decade is a long time, and even more so
with the numerous and fast changes so common nowadays. This, together with the
lack of demand of new building projects during the last decade, has meant that the
number of works submitted are an important and illustrative representation of the
architecture developed between 2008 and 2017 in Gran Canaria. Therefore, it could
be stated that this is a representative selection of the architecture projected during a
difficult period of time on the island.
The different typologies and scales of the projects submitted have created a diverse,
complex and wealthy architectural map, which reflects an accurate image of the
moment in history in which it takes place.
This is why we believe that by bringing all these projects together under a single
publication, we are committing ourselves with our architects and the society of
Gran Canaria, and it is the opportunity to create an illustrated guide of architecture
representing a whole decade.
Finally, I would like to congratulate the authors for all the projects submitted, which
demonstrate the quality and capacity of our architects; the promotors who have
made this possible, their staying power and the trust deposited in them; and lastly, I
would like to thank the public and private institutions who have backed the initiative
to publish this book, which will no doubt become a reference and a document with a
huge cultural value.
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