Neo-Mudéjar


The Neo-Mudéjar is a type of Moorish Revival architecture practiced in the Iberian Peninsula, and a far lesser extent Ibero-America. This architectural movement emerged as a revival of the Mudéjar style. It appeared in the late 19th century in Madrid, and soon spread to other regions of the country. Such architects as Emilio Rodríguez Ayuso perceived the Mudéjar art as characteristical and exclusive Spanish style. They started to construct buildings using some of the features of the ancient style, as horseshoe arches, arabesque tiling, and the use of the abstract shaped brick ornamentations for the façades.

History

The first examples of Neo-Mudéjar style were the bullring constructed in 1874 on Plaza de Toros in Madrid, the Aguirre School designed by Rodríguez Ayuso, and Casa Vicens by Gaudí. The style became then a strong, almost "compulsory" reference for the construction of bullfight rings all around Spain and beyond the borders, to Portugal and the Hispanoamerican countries. In Madrid it became one of its most representative styles, not only for public buildings, like Aguirre School or the bullring of Las Ventas, but also for housing. The use of cheap materials, mainly brick for exteriors, made it a popular style in the new neighborhoods.
Neo-Mudéjar was often combined with Neo-Gothic by architects such as Francisco de Cubas, Antonio María Repullés y Vargas or Francisco Jareño. After the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 in Seville, another stream of Neo-Mudéjar features appeared: the Andalusian Architectural Regionalism. The Plaza de España or the ABC newspaper headquarters are examples of this new style that combined traditional Andalusian architecture with Mudéjar features.

List of notable Neo-Mudéjar buildings