Antoni Bonet Castellana

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Although he was born in Barcelona, Antoni Bonet Castellana lived a large part of his life in Argentina. His professional career began in 1935 in Barcelona, at the studio of Josep Lluís Sert and Josep Torres Clavé, where he collaborated on the design for the Roca jewellery shop on Passeig de Gràcia. During those years, he was an active member of the GATPAC. After completing his architecture studies, in 1936 he entered Le Corbusier’s studio in Paris. From there, he continued collaborating with Sert for the construction of the Pavilion of the Spanish Republic and Catalonia’s stand at the 1937 Paris International Exhibition. He also attended the 5th CIAM Congress that same year.

With the worsening of the Spanish Civil War, he emigrated to Latin America, where he lived in Río de la Plata, Buenos Aires and Punta del Este, Uruguay. Back in Argentina, together with two former collaborators from Le Corbusier’s office, Jorge Ferrari Hardoy and Juan Kurchan, he founded the Grupo Austral. In 1939, they published the manifesto Voluntat i Acció [Will and Action] to disseminate the principles of modern architecture and to connect it with avant-garde artistic movements like Surrealism. He also organized the group OVRA (Organization for Comprehensive Housing for the Republic of Argentina) in 1943, for which he acted as secretary, and in 1957 he founded the magazine Mirador.

His American production spans every scale in the work of an architect, from furniture design, like the famous BKF chair, to large urban plans such as the Punta Ballena residential development. He also designed significant architectural works such as the Rinconada House and the building for artists’ studios on calle Paraguay in Buenos Aires. In this last project, he incorporated new elements into the language of architectural rationalism, including the timbrel vault (also called the Catalan vault) and latticework made from prefabricated ceramic elements, which came from popular architecture – a characteristic that was repeated in other buildings from this period. Also notable among his works in Argentina and Uruguay are the restaurant La Solana and the house for Rafael Alberti.

In 1948, he attended the 7th CIAM Congress in Bergamo as a delegate for Argentina. This trip helped him to consolidate some of the projects and commissions that he had already begun in Spain. However, it was not until 1963 that he definitively returned to Spain, opening offices simultaneously in both Madrid and Barcelona and allying himself professionally with Josep Puig Torné. This return to his native country was preceded by the success of several works that played a key role in his career and which he designed from South America: the Mur House and the Gomis House (La Ricarda).

His main projects in Catalonia span a range of typologies, many of them linked to the tourist development that took place in the coastal municipalities of the provinces of Girona and Tarragona.  Between 1960 and 1970, he built single-family homes which, together with La Ricarda, became icons of Spanish rationalist architecture, including the Rubió House, the Castanera House, and the Cruylles House. He also designed apartment complexes such as the Cyprus, in Salou, as well as others in La Manga del Mar Menor (Murcia) and in Puigcerdà.

During the years of so-called desarrollismo, his connections with the administration of Mayor Porcioles in Barcelona led to unique works that stand out amid the urban landscape of the Catalan capital: especially the Meridiana dog racing track and the post office skyscraper in Plaça Urquinaona. On a commission from the Barcelona City Council, he designed some of what would have been the most significant urban plans for the city: the Montjuic Plan (with Bohigas and Martorell) and the Plan for La Ribera, which radically transformed the seafront and was met with strong opposition from citizens and fellow architects.

He designed three large multi-family building projects for the construction company La Llave de Oro: the Mediterrani building, which reinterpreted the volumes of Cerdá’s Eixample and its characteristic chamfers, the Cervantes Tower on Avinguda Diagonal, and the aforementioned tower in Plaça Urquinaona. One of his most relevant achievements in Catalonia was the series of projects associated with the Vandellòs nuclear power plant, including the construction of a new town (with housing, services and facilities) for its workers: El Poblat Hifrensa. The process for its declaration as a cultural and heritage site of national interest (BCIN) was recently begun.

From his office in Madrid, he took on important commissions from the public administration such as the General Council of Physicians (today the Constitutional Court building), corporate commissions, such as the Bank of Madrid on carrera de San Jerónimo (with Josep Maria Bosch i Aymerich), and residential developments for large construction companies, including Barrio Retiro II and the building on calle Ponzano.

His prolific career resulted in magnificent works on all architectural scales, from furniture to urban planning, and he is considered one of the most important figures in contemporary architecture in Argentina. In Spain, the legacy of his career was associated with a kind of city making that fell out of favour after the 1980s. However, the indisputable quality of his work has led to a reconsideration of his figure in recent years, and buildings like La Ricarda are now considered among the most relevant examples of late 20th-century architecture in this country. Recently, two of his works, the aforementioned Gomis House and the HIFRENSA Village, have been declared Cultural Heritage. Among rationalist architects in Catalonia, only Josep Lluís Sert and Josep Antoni Coderch designed more works that have been listed with the highest heritage protection.

Bibliography

RUIZ CABRERO, Gabriel, El moderno en España. Arquitectura 1948-2000, Tanais, Madrid, 2001.

ÁLVAREZ, Fernando, ROIG, Jordi, Bonet Castellana, Colección Clásicos del Diseño, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Santa&Cole, Barcelona, 1999.

ÁLVAREZ, Fernando, ROIG, Jordi, eds., Antoni Bonet Castellana 1913-1989, Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya, Barcelona, 1996.

MONTEYS, Xavier, La arquitectura de los años cincuenta en Barcelona, MOPU/ETSAV/COAC, Barcelona, 1987.