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Antonio Lamela, 1926-2017

Practical Intelligence

30/06/2017


One of the last remaining masters of Spanish modernity died on 1 April in Madrid. A 1954 graduate of the Madrid School of Architecture, Antonio Lamela devoted his practical intelligence to creating a practice of the kind then unknown in Spain, driven by profit through large-scale projects but with creative rigor and exploration of new types (Lamela was the first in Spain ever to design a motel and a supermarket). Without a doubt his greatest contributions are in Madrid, from Hotel Meliá to Terminal 4 at Barajas Airport through the Torres de Colón, all of which helped form the city’s image through a modernity that was both visionary and corporate.


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