Desiderio Pernas: His School architecture in Vigo. Modernity through the use of materials

Abstract

A revision of the importance and prevalence of the use of granite in the urban expansion of Vigo throughout over a century allows us to delve into the turning point brought about at the end of the 1950s by the arrival of a new generation of architects, determined to propose a new language which incorporates new materials into their projects. As is also the case with other exceptional architects, Desiderio Pernas’ work is not sufficiently well known due to the fact that the work of the Galician architects of this period has usually been presented in a rather simplistic way. A detailed analysis of his designs for school buildings will help us to understand the meaning of the idea of modernity in the use of a language linked to the international style by means of the material used.