FISAC FROM WITHIN: Bones and Skins

An event exploring structural innovation, material and form in the architecture of Miguel Fisac

Miguel Fisac (1913–2006) was a fundamental and endlessly inventive figure in twentieth-century Spanish architecture, distinguished by his extraordinary technical and creative abilities, as well as by a way of thinking profoundly engaged with the concerns of his time. Through the legacy preserved by Fundación Miguel Fisac – an exceptional archive of drawings, documents, photographs and working materials – it is possible to reconstruct in detail the intellectual and structural processes that shaped his work.

Throughout his career, Fisac challenged formalist conventions, focusing instead on technical solutions to human and spatial needs. From his early explorations in the post–Spanish Civil War period to the mature development of his celebrated prestressed-concrete “bone beams” (vigas-hueso) and his innovative concrete façades created with flexible formwork (“skins”), his architecture evolved like a living organism in a constant state of transformation.

In this event, we delve into the architect’s world to explore how his research into prefabricated elements, light and materiality not only provided solutions to complex challenges but also confronted the fear of creative freedom in times of change.

Speaker

David Gª-Manzanares Vázquez de Agredos is an architect and President of Fundación Miguel Fisac. He is the author of Cuaderno en blanco (2009), Laberintos y ratones. Marcados por una meta (2021), Fisac. Obra completa (2023; selected for the 2024 CSCAE Architecture Award and awarded a Special Mention in the 2024 Castilla-La Mancha Architecture and Urban Planning Awards), Puedes esconder los cuadros, puedes evitar la música (2025; selected for the 2026 CSCAE Architecture Award), and Miguel Fisac. Urbanismo (2026). He is also co-author of ¡Nosotros proponemos!: Ciudadanía, sostenibilidad e innovación geográfica ante los desafíos educativos de la sociedad (2017) and Miguel Fisac. Vivienda (2023).