Pedro Muguruza Otaño. (1893-1952). Born in Madrid on May 25, 1893, his family came from Elgoibar (Gipuzkoa). He graduated as an architect from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid in 1916, where he coincidentally coincided with other future prominent architects such as Secundino Zuazo, Leopoldo Torres Balbás or Luis Gutiérrez Soto.
In 1917, shortly after graduating, Muguruza began working as a professor at the School of Architecture thanks to a proposal from Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, and in March 1920 he obtained the Chair of "Projects of Architectural and Ornamental Details".
Among the projects he carried out in the 1920s: the Estación de Francia in Barcelona (1923), the Palacio de la Prensa on Gran Vía (1924), the 40-meter-high monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bilbao (topped by a sculpture by Lorenzo Coullaut Valera) or the housing project for the square by Rubén Darío (1929). He also led the restoration projects for the El Paular Monastery and the Prado Museum.
He projects, with Casto Fernández Shaw, the Coliseum Building on the Gran Vía in 1931 and is in charge of the reconstruction of the Lope de Vega House on Cervantes Street in 1932 and the following year he would carry out the reforms of the Ice Palace and the Automobile to convert it into the Center for Historical Studies. During that period he is the author of some markets, such as Santa María de las Cabezas (1933) or Maravillas (1935).
After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936, Muguruza joined the Francoist side. The General Directorate of Architecture, which the Falange would take over, was under the direction of Pedro Muguruza, who maintained very good relations with the dictator. In June 1939 he presided over the Madrid Assembly of Architects, laying the ideological foundations for the architecture of the new regime. As Head of the Architecture Services of FET and of the JONS, he was responsible for the leadership of the General Directorate of Architecture, structured along totalitarian lines. Muguruza held the position from September 30, 1939 to March 8, 1946.
Muguruza was also, along with his disciple Diego Méndez, one of the two author architects of the Valley of the Fallen; the goal behind the design was for the site to become an eternal metaphor for the regime's ideology. He directed the construction works until 1949. He died on February 3, 1952 in Madrid.
In 1917, shortly after graduating, Muguruza began working as a professor at the School of Architecture thanks to a proposal from Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, and in March 1920 he obtained the Chair of "Projects of Architectural and Ornamental Details".
Among the projects he carried out in the 1920s: the Estación de Francia in Barcelona (1923), the Palacio de la Prensa on Gran Vía (1924), the 40-meter-high monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bilbao (topped by a sculpture by Lorenzo Coullaut Valera) or the housing project for the square by Rubén Darío (1929). He also led the restoration projects for the El Paular Monastery and the Prado Museum.
He projects, with Casto Fernández Shaw, the Coliseum Building on the Gran Vía in 1931 and is in charge of the reconstruction of the Lope de Vega House on Cervantes Street in 1932 and the following year he would carry out the reforms of the Ice Palace and the Automobile to convert it into the Center for Historical Studies. During that period he is the author of some markets, such as Santa María de las Cabezas (1933) or Maravillas (1935).
After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936, Muguruza joined the Francoist side. The General Directorate of Architecture, which the Falange would take over, was under the direction of Pedro Muguruza, who maintained very good relations with the dictator. In June 1939 he presided over the Madrid Assembly of Architects, laying the ideological foundations for the architecture of the new regime. As Head of the Architecture Services of FET and of the JONS, he was responsible for the leadership of the General Directorate of Architecture, structured along totalitarian lines. Muguruza held the position from September 30, 1939 to March 8, 1946.
Muguruza was also, along with his disciple Diego Méndez, one of the two author architects of the Valley of the Fallen; the goal behind the design was for the site to become an eternal metaphor for the regime's ideology. He directed the construction works until 1949. He died on February 3, 1952 in Madrid.
