Rationalist Route I - 01. Casa Machín

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Routes · Subcategory: Rationalism route · Year: 1927 · Authors: Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre

A building of great importance within the field of architectural history in the Canary Islands, as it is the first in the Islands constructed under rationalist premises.

The house was designed at the end of 1927 by Miguel Martín Fernández de la Torre for the owner Antonio Machín. It shows, for the first time, the adaptation of the Gran Canarian architect to the aesthetic ideals of the new architectural currents that were then in vogue in much of Europe.

In this work we can observe the first glimpses of modern architecture, with expressive resources belonging to the international avant-garde movements of the time: corner windows, flat roofs, detached cantilevered bodies, tubular railings, etc.

The play of planes defining the chamfered corner topped by a moulding like a cornice is interesting, with an iron gate that emphasises the effect of the meeting of the two side façades. The windows enhance the horizontal sense and the two symmetrical blocks of balconies, covered by curved slabs at their ends, give the composition an evident originality.

Although the plan offers nothing new and its construction structure is not very innovative either, this work has enough "modern" elements to be considered the first "proto-rationalist" construction in the Canary Islands. It opened a new and interesting path in Canarian architecture that continued until a few years after the Civil War.

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