1957-2017

After a long illness, Luis Maldonado Ramos passed away in Cádiz on 29 August. Chaired professor of Architectural Construction and Technology at Madrid’s Universidad Politécnica, Maldonado was a referent in the fields of architectural refurbishment and a staunch supporter of traditional architecture, in particular of construction with earth, a field which he significantly helped to reinstate and systematize. His heritage projects testify to this condition, with projects like the refurbishment and restoration of San Cosme y San Damián Church in Burgos, Santa Catalina Church in La Solana, the Asunción de Calatravas Convent in Almagro, the Cañada del Hoyo Castle in Cuenca, or the Fernando de Castro Foundation in Madrid, as well as a series of new buildings like the Spanish Embassy in Amman. Maldonado wrote a long list of published articles and books, including De Arquitectura y Arqueología (1998) or Diccionario tradicional de construcción con tierra (2002), and developed a long career as professor at the ETSAM (Madrid School of Architecture), which he directed between 2008 and 2017, the difficult years of the crisis.