Rationalist Route I - 05 Wiot Building

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Routes · Subcategory: Rationalism route · Year: 1935 · Authors: Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre

The multi-use rationalist typology buildings by architect Miguel Martín Fernández de la Torre have not received the same artistic consideration as the single-family homes designed by the renowned architect. However, with the Wiot Building, we encounter one of those party-wall works that demands all our attention due to its complex formalisation.

The Wiot Building is a seven-storey construction, with a small basement, located in one of the most important commercial areas of the capital of Gran Canaria. It was designed by Miguel Martín in 1930 for the owner Federico Wiot Moreno. The work to complete it was delayed for nearly five years, finally finishing in 1935.

Conceived from the outset as a warehouse, shop, offices, and residences, Martín initially designed it with glass walls for the commercial area, highlighted volumes for the residential rooms facing the façade, and an external staircase with landings on the projections to direct the flow of movement.

But in the final model, the staircase on the façade was abandoned, while the glass wall intended for the first two floors (shops and offices) was limited in surface area. For the residences, enclosed balconies with tubular railings occupying the façade line and windows folding to form a concavity of three straight sides were finally devised.

In short, we find a work with a marked symmetrical character, emphasised by a superimposed finishing element on the rooftop, something quite unusual in Miguel Martín's work.

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