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Utopia, University and Architecture: A Journey that Changed the Design of Contemporary Universities

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Abstract

In 1927, a group of advisors to King Alfonso XIII of Spain, led by the architect Modesto López-Otero, set out for the United States and Canada. Previously, they had visited a number of European cities where they examined the medieval architectural form of some famous universities. Inspired by a Utopian vision, the journey to the New World studied the American University as a possible model — in terms of lifestyle and physical layout — for the design for the new University City in Madrid. Searching for inspiration, the group visited New Haven, Boston, Ann Arbor, Rochester, Washington, Baltimore, Princeton and New York, as well as Toronto and Montreal in Canada. The outcome of so significant a journey was the establishment in Spain's capital of the first University campus in Europe to be planned along American lines. This article focuses on the Utopian origins of this inspired quest, the results of which created a new bridge between the university cultures of Europe and America.

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Notes

  1. Daniel D. Burnham, when explaining the 1909 Chicago urban development scheme to his colleagues. Burnham, D. and Bennet, E. (1993) Plan of Chicago 1909, New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

  2. King Alfonso XIII: Before the Construction Board of the University-City, June 1, 1927, Minutes of Meeting 1 June 1927 (handwritten), Volume of Minutes 1927–1932, in Historical Archives of the City of Madrid, Complutense University: collection ‘Construction Board of the University-City of Madrid’.

  3. Alan Gregg to American Universities Presidents, Personal Letters (typewritten) August 1927, in Historical Archives of the City of Madrid, Complutense University in collection ‘Construction Board of the University-City of Madrid’ Carton 1596/14.

  4. Junta Constructora of the University-City of Madrid. Memoire of the First Year, 1927-1928 (handwritten), in Historical Archives of the City of Madrid, Complutense University in collection ‘Construction Board of the University-City of Madrid’, Carton 1767/4.

  5. López Otero, M., Biografía de la Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid — A la grata memoria del Rey D. Alfonso XIII. (typewritten), 1963, in Personal Archive of the family López Otero. Madrid, Spain.

  6. López Otero, M. La Ciudad Universitaria y la Arquitectura Biotécnica (typewritten), 1959, in Personal Archives of the family López Otero. Madrid, Spain.

  7. ‘The Campus’ — University of Rochester — (Newspaper), November 11, 1927, in Archives of the University of Rochester, USA.

  8. Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Thomas Cooper, August 14, 1820, Archives of the University of Virginia, Carton L&B. 15.264.

  9. López Otero, M. (1959) La Ciudad Universitaria y la Arquitectura Biotécnica, (typewritten), in Personal Archives of the family López Otero, Madrid, Spain.

  10. López Otero, M. (1963) Biografía de la Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid—A la grata memoria del Rey D. Alfonso XIII, (typewritten), in Personal Archive of the family López Otero. Madrid, Spain.

  11. Charles Edouard Jeanneret aka Le Corbusier. (1937) Quand les Cathédrales étaient blanches. Paris: Plon

  12. López Otero, M. (1927) Report to the Construction Board of the University-City, Minute of November 23, 1927 (handwritten). Volume of Minutes 1927–1932, in Historical Archives of the City of Madrid, Complutense University: collection ‘Construction Board of the University-City of Madrid’.

  13. Thomas More (1961) Utopia, Louvain (First Ed., 1516), in The Yale edition of the complete works of St. Thomas More. New Haven/London: Yale University Press.

  14. Roa Bastos, Augusto (1995) La Ciudad del Saber como Utopía. La Ciudad del Saber-Ciudad, Universidad y Utopía. Madrid: COAM.

  15. H.R.H. King Alfonso XIII, 1927, as described in the conference by López Otero, M. (1959). Alfonso XIII, Santander y la Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid April 22, 1959. (typewritten), in Personal Archives of the family López Otero, Madrid, Spain.

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Archive Sources

  • Archives of the University of Rochester, New York, USA.

  • Archives of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urbanización Villagolf, 25, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, 28691, Spain

    Pablo Campos Calvo-Sotelo

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  1. Pablo Campos Calvo-Sotelo
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Archive Sources

Archives of the University of Rochester, New York, USA.

Archives of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.

Historical Archives of the City of Madrid, Complutense University: collection ‘Construction Board of the University-City of Madrid’.

Personal Archive of the family López Otero, Madrid, Spain.

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Calvo-Sotelo, P. Utopia, University and Architecture: A Journey that Changed the Design of Contemporary Universities. High Educ Policy 19, 251–267 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300112

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