1940-2014

Born in 1940 in Talavera de la Reina, where he built his very first work after graduating in 1964, De las Casas developed a fertile career in the professional, academic and administrative fields. As an architect, he designed important collective and social housing projects – particularly in the urban expansion areas of Madrid –, singular buildings like the school in Medina del Campo (1968) or the building for the Agriculture Department in Toledo (1989), as well as exemplary heritage restoration projects, including those carried out in Toledo’s cathedral (1979-1989). As a professor, De las Casas was a disciple of Sáenz de Oíza and De la Sota, and joined the department of Antonio Fernández Alba at Madrid’s School of Architecture, where we was chair professor of Architectural Design, before embarking on the adventure of creating a new School of Architecture in Toledo, which he directed until his death. Manuel de las Casas was also a diligent manager, and during the 1980s he held positions in Spain’s central administration like Inspector General of Monuments and Subdirector of Architecture and Building.