The Most Famous

ARCHITECTS from Spain

This page contains a list of the greatest Spanish Architects. The pantheon dataset contains 518 Architects, 20 of which were born in Spain. This makes Spain the birth place of the 6th most number of Architects behind Germany, and United States.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Spanish Architects of all time. This list of famous Spanish Architects is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Spanish Architects.

1. Antoni Gaudí (1852 - 1926)

With an HPI of 83.76, Antoni Gaudí is the most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 113 different languages on wikipedia.

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet ( gow-DEE, GOW-dee, Catalan: [ənˈtɔni ɣəwˈði]; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Spanish architect and designer from Catalonia, known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a sui generis style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the Sagrada Família church. Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations. His work combined crafts such as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging, and carpentry. He introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces. Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in a style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and moulding the details as he conceived them. Gaudí's work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Gaudí's Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images appear in many of his works. This earned him the nickname "God's Architect". His cause for canonization was opened in the Archdiocese of Barcelona in 2003.

2. Santiago Calatrava (b. 1951)

With an HPI of 69.53, Santiago Calatrava is the 2nd most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 67 different languages.

Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculptural forms often resemble living organisms. His best-known works include the Olympic Sports Complex of Athens, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Turning Torso tower in Malmö, Sweden, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City, the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas, and his largest project, the City of Arts and Sciences and Opera House in his birthplace, Valencia. His architectural firm has offices in New York City, Doha, and Zurich.

3. Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1850 - 1923)

With an HPI of 62.07, Lluís Domènech i Montaner is the 3rd most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Lluís Domènech i Montaner (Catalan pronunciation: [ʎuˈiz ðuˈmɛnək i muntəˈne]; 21 December 1850 – 27 December 1923) was a Catalan architect who was very much involved in and influential for the Catalan Modernisme català, the Art Nouveau/Jugendstil movement. He was also a Catalan politician. Born in Barcelona, he initially studied physics and natural sciences, but soon switched to architecture. He was registered as an architect in Barcelona in 1873. He also held a 45-year tenure as a professor and director at the Escola d'Arquitectura, Barcelona's school of architecture, and wrote extensively on architecture in essays, technical books and articles in newspapers and journals. His most famous buildings, the Hospital de Sant Pau and Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, have been collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As an architect, 45-year professor of architecture and prolific writer on architecture, Domènech i Montaner played an important role in defining the Modernisme arquitectonic in Catalonia. This style has become internationally renowned, mainly due to the work of Antoni Gaudí. Domènech i Montaner's article "En busca d'una arquitectura nacional" (In search of a national architecture), published 1878 in the journal La Renaixença, reflected the way architects at that time sought to build structures that reflected the Catalan character. His buildings displayed a mixture between rationalism and fabulous ornamentation inspired by Spanish-Arabic architecture, and followed the curvilinear design typical of Art Nouveau. In the El castell dels 3 dragons restaurant in Barcelona (built for the World's Fair in 1888), which was for many years the Zoological Museum, he applied very advanced solutions (a visible iron structure and ceramics). He later developed this style further in other buildings, such as the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona (1908), where he made extensive use of mosaic, ceramics and stained glass, the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona, and the Institut Pere Mata in Reus. Domènech i Montaner's work evolved towards more open structures and lighter materials, evident in the Palau de la Música Catalana. Other architects, like Gaudí, tended to move in the opposite direction. Domènech i Montaner also played a prominent role in the Catalan autonomist movement. He was a member of the La Jove Catalunya and El Centre Català and later chaired the Lliga de Catalunya (1888) (Catalan League) and the Unió Catalanista (1892) (Catalan Union). He was one of the organisers of the commission that approved the Bases de Manresa, a list of demands for Catalan autonomy. He was a member of the Centre Nacional Català (1889) and Lliga Regionalista (1901), and was one of the four parliamentarians who won the so-called "candidature of the four presidents" in 1901. Though re-elected in 1903, he abandoned politics in 1904 to devote himself fully to archeological and architectural research. He died in Barcelona in 1923 and was buried in the Sant Gervasi Cemetery in that city.

4. Ricardo Bofill (1939 - 2022)

With an HPI of 61.18, Ricardo Bofill is the 4th most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Ricardo Bofill Leví (Catalan: [riˈkaɾðu buˈfiʎ ləˈβi]; 5 December 1939 – 14 January 2022) was a Spanish architect from Barcelona, Spain. He founded Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in 1963 and developed it into a leading international architectural and urban design practice. According to architectural historian Andrew Ayers, his creations rank "among the most impressive buildings of the 20th century."

5. Rafael Moneo (b. 1937)

With an HPI of 59.26, Rafael Moneo is the 5th most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

José Rafael Moneo Vallés (born 9 May 1937) is a Spanish architect. He won the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1996, the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2003, and La Biennale's Golden Lion in 2021.

6. Alonzo Cano (1601 - 1667)

With an HPI of 59.07, Alonzo Cano is the 6th most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Alonso Cano Almansa or Alonzo Cano (19 March 1601 – 3 September 1667) was a Spanish painter, architect, and sculptor born in Granada.

7. Juan de Herrera (1530 - 1593)

With an HPI of 58.03, Juan de Herrera is the 7th most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Juan de Herrera (1530 – 15 January 1597) was a Spanish architect, mathematician and geometrician. One of the most outstanding Spanish architects in the 16th century, Herrera represents the peak of the Renaissance in Spain. His sober style reached full development in buildings like the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The Herrerian style was named after him, and was representative of the architecture of the Spanish Empire of Philip II and his Austrian successors. Herrera was interested in many branches of knowledge. His Discurso sobre la figura cúbica (Discussion of the Cubic form) tells us about his notable knowledge about geometry and mathematics. He participated in the military campaigns of Charles V in Germany, Flanders and Italy.

8. Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867 - 1956)

With an HPI of 57.96, Josep Puig i Cadafalch is the 8th most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Josep Puig i Cadafalch (Catalan: [ʒuˈzɛp ˈputʃ]; 17 October 1867 in Mataró – 21 December 1956 in Barcelona) was a Catalan Modernista architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona, and a politician who had a significant role in the development of Catalan institutions. He was the architect of the Casa Martí (also known as "Els Quatre Gats"), which became a place of ideas, projects and social gatherings for such well-known Catalans as Santiago Rusiñol and Ramon Casas. Although Puig i Cadalfach's style separated him significantly from his contemporary Gaudí, their relations were neither tense nor problematic, as demonstrated by the participation of both architects in the construction of the Cafe Torino. Another of his significant buildings was the Casa Terrades (also known as "les Punxes"), which is known for its medieval castle style from the north of Europe. Puig i Cadalfach was actively involved in politics. He was a Barcelona City Councillor from 1901 to 1903, served in the Spanish Parliament from 1907 to 1910 and was the second president of the Commonwealth of Catalonia from 1917 to 1924. From 1942 to his death in 1956, he was the president of the academic institution of the Catalan language, the Institut d'Estudis Catalans. He was also a great defender of Catalan culture and history which he hoped to see fully restored. He published studies of language, legal order and political organisation in the 11th-12th centuries. Amongst his important legacies is also the documentation and photographing of the culturally important buildings and art works the Vall d'Aran and Alta Ribagorça (including the Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí) during an expedition sponsored by the Institute for Catalan Studies in 1907.

9. Josep Lluís Sert (1902 - 1983)

With an HPI of 55.61, Josep Lluís Sert is the 9th most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Josep Lluís Sert i López (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛb ʎuˈis ˈsɛɾt]; 1 July 1902 – 15 March 1983) was a Catalan architect and city planner established in the USA after 1939.

10. Félix Candela (1910 - 1997)

With an HPI of 55.50, Félix Candela is the 10th most famous Spanish Architect. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Félix Candela Outeriño (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈfeliɣs kanˈdela owteˈɾiɲo]; January 27, 1910 – December 7, 1997) was a Spanish and Mexican architect who was born in Madrid and at the age of 26, emigrated to Mexico, acquiring double nationality. He is known for his significant role in the development of Mexican architecture and structural engineering. Candela's major contribution to architecture was the development of thin shells made out of reinforced concrete, popularly known as cascarones. He was Santiago Calatrava's icon who has had a great influence on his works. At the end of his career he worked with the architect Fernando Higueras, designing inverted umbrellas with 12-meter cantilevers, and with the young and innovative Emilio Pérez Piñero.

People

Pantheon has 21 people classified as Spanish architects born between 1339 and 1961. Of these 21, 3 (14.29%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Spanish architects include Santiago Calatrava, Rafael Moneo, and Patricia Urquiola. The most famous deceased Spanish architects include Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, and Ricardo Bofill. As of April 2024, 1 new Spanish architects have been added to Pantheon including Arturo Soria y Mata.