Rationalist Route II - 18. Speth House

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Routes · Subcategory: Rationalism route · Year: 1932 · Authors: Richard Ernt von Oppel, Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre

Speth House is configured as one of the most characteristic examples of the best single-family housing architecture of rationalist typology built on the island of Gran Canaria. This work arose at the end of 1932 from the architectural studio of Miguel Martín Fernández de la Torre, although the project has been quite confidently attributed to the German architect Richard Ernst von Oppel, a frequent collaborator of Miguel Martín at that time. 

The construction was built on land located in Tafira Alta, with magnificent views over the surrounding mountain and the city of Las Palmas. The plot was owned by the Dutch-born engineer Hans Speth, a person who at that time was directing the works of the Port of La Luz and Las Palmas.  

The house is characterised by a neo-plastic inspired volumetry with marked horizontality, very much in line with the avant-garde architectural postulates of that era. The house adapted, almost naturally, to the topography of the land, with an orientation towards the east, where the panoramic views are located.

Its exterior offers us the essentials: straight lines, glazed terraces and cantilevered balconies, all with geometric rigour where the plasticity is given by a wide repertoire of compositional resources and plays of planes.

The interior responds to a distribution of marked functional character. The ground floor houses the common service programme (dining room, living room, library, small lounge with bar, kitchen, pantry, bedroom and bathroom for the service), and the upper floor contains the bedrooms and services for the family. In addition, it featured finishes and furniture clearly illustrative of what was understood at that time as "modernity". 

The house, completed in 1934, has undergone various renovations over the years (glazing of the second floor, disappearance of original details, alteration of the magnificent interior decoration, change of furniture, etc.) that have devalued its interesting original appearance.

28.050998, -15.472234