Alejandro de la Sota Biography

Alejandro de la Sota

(Pontevedra, 1913-1996) Spanish architect.He studied high school in Pontevedra and two years of mathematics at the University of Santiago de Compostela.He moved to Madrid to study architecture at the Higher Technical School of Architecture; in 1941 he graduated and in 1965 he would obtain a doctorate.In 1956 he began his teaching task at this university as a professor of Projects and Composition Elements; He served as professor of this last subject from 1969 to 1972.

He was one of the most significant figures in Spanish architecture of the time.He belonged to the post-war generation of 1940, made up of Cabrero, Fisac, Coderch, Moragas, Fernández del Amo and Sostre, among others, who received the title around that year and present a certain homogeneity of style due to social and political conditions of the moment.

Among his works stands out the Gymnasium of the Maravillas School (Madrid, 1961), considered one of the most important works of recent Spanish architecture.In this building he dispenses with the accessory to take care of the essential, seeking the minimum, with a desire to dematerialize the construction, following the maxim "Less is more " of Mies van der Rohe, who praised the work on a visit he made to Spain.

The building for the Civil Government of Tarragona (1954-57), which consists of different blocks that house a housing program and a main building, is another of his outstanding works.Other works of his are the César Carlos Residence Hall, in the University City of Madrid (1967) and the Post Office and Telecommunications building in León (1981).

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