Nautical School

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Civil architecture · Year: 1968 · Authors: José López Zanón, Luis Laorga

In a city so closely linked to the sea as Santa Cruz, there has always been a special interest in sciences related to the maritime world.

The first Canarian pilots were trained at the San Telmo seafarers' school in Seville. Tomé Cano (Garachico, 1545-Seville, 1618) was the first person from Tenerife to be certified as a pilot of the Indies route in 1569. During the 18th century, given the importance that the port of Santa Cruz had acquired, the need for a centre where future pilots could be trained became evident. The first promoter of this initiative was Lázaro Álvarez de Abreu, who informed the Island Council in 1757 that "he had a house built in the place of Santa Cruz with the intention of dedicating it to a mathematics chair, provided funds could be arranged to support it for the teaching of seafarers." Years later, in 1786, the Maritime Consulate of the Canary Islands was created, establishing the Nautical School in La Laguna.

At the beginning of the 19th century, this School was moved to Santa Cruz, located in the disentailed convent of San Francisco. A century later, in the early 20th century, Nautical classes, along with Commerce classes, were taught in the current Town Hall building, but from 1920 they moved to the Villasegura building on 25 de Julio Avenue.

In 1936, the Municipal Corporation, at the request of the director of the Nautical School, Benito Pérez Armas, approved the construction of a new building to be built by the sea, next to the hermitage of San Telmo, patron saint of sailors. Six years later, the teachings acquired the status of intermediate technical level. Finally, in 1968, the Nautical School moved to Anaga Avenue, where it is located today.

The current building was designed in 1963 by architect José López Zanón with the collaboration of Luis Laorga. On a trapezoidal plot facing the sea, the technicians proposed a solution of four volumes. Three of them, of similar heights, were intended for classrooms and administrative offices, organised by means of metal porticoes and concrete slabs. A fourth volume, of lower height, was intended to house workshops and storage. The complex is topped by a tower with two sets of terraces that evoke the command bridge of a ship.

Inside the building there are two sculptures by Lanzarote artist César Manrique: one titled Anatomy of a Ship, located in the assembly hall; and another named Machine for the Sea, situated in the cafeteria-restaurant.

In 1991, the Centre was recognised as a Higher Technical Education institution, integrating into the organisation of the University of La Laguna, under the name of Higher Centre of Nautical and Marine Studies.

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