The General Headquarters of the Air and Space Force (), also known in Spanish as the ''Ministerio del Aire'' (after the

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

it formerly hosted), is a building in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain.

History

Once the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

had ended with the Francoist faction's victory and after the requirement of a smallholding for the construction of the Ministry of the Air Force's headquarters in 1939 filed by Juan Vigón, the plot of land occupied by the Modelo Prison was chosen and ceded as the building site. In order to present the project, the architect, Luis Gutiérrez Soto, traveled to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to study buildings with a similar purpose, elaborating an initial draft reminiscent of Paul Ludwig Troost and

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...

's works. His project was reworked several times, discarding the neoclassicist elements, and ultimately, pandering to the imperial historicism sought by the Francoist regime, it adopted the

herrerian The Herrerian style ( or ''arquitectura herreriana'') of architecture was developed in Spain during the last third of the 16th century under the reign of Philip II of Spain, Philip II (1556–1598), and continued in force in the 17th century ...

elements, inspired by

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...

. The building was intended to be part of a wider effort to create the image of an "Imperial Madrid". Nonetheless the delusions of grandeur vis-à-vis the so-called "Imperial Cornice" caught up with reality and the scarcity during the Post-War and most of the individual projects ended up either filed, unfinished or mutilated, with the single clear success being precisely the Ministry of the Air. The formal beginning of the construction (undertaken by Huarte y Compañía) took place on 10 December 1943. Although building works did not fully end until 1958, parts of the building were already in use in 1954.

References

; Citations ; Bibliography * * {{coord missing, Spain Buildings and structures in Argüelles neighborhood, Madrid Government buildings in Spain Air force installations of Spain Neo-Herrerian architecture Barracks in Spain