Spain - Expo Paris 1925
The Spanish pavilion, located in the Cours la Reine, covers an area of 160 square metres. The architect was Pascual Bravo, a professor at the Madrid School of Architecture.
It is in the classical Spanish-Moorish style with a modern twist. Tiles, ceramics and wrought iron, made in Spain, adorn the elegantly designed building.
Inside, the light is filtered through a stained glass window that forms a roof and represents the Spanish coat of arms surrounded by the Fleece, a work of art by the famous Canarian painter Nestor. In the middle is a ceramic fountain made in Seville. Other stained glass windows, designed by M. Muguruza, also a professor at the Madrid School of Architecture, decorate one of the rooms in the pavilion reserved exclusively for the province of Guipuzcoa. They represent a Basque "dragger", whose crew is a faithful interpretation of the types of this old race.
The roof and all the stained glass windows were made by the Maumejan factory in Madrid.
The wrought ironwork and grills of the windows and doors were done by Mr. Juan José, locksmith of Madrid, and by Mr. Julio Pascual, of Toledo.
In the Grand Palais, Spain has an elegant installation on the ground floor to house individual works by Spanish artists, mainly from Valencia and Seville. For the latter region, the Andalusian architect, Mr. Traver, has designed an original Sevillian kitchen that will certainly attract attention. Nearby is a rotunda decorated by the Masriera brothers from Barcelona, both of whom are well known, one for their goldsmith work and the other for their paintings and decorations.
In the Grand Palais, too, the Ecoles d'Arts Industriels and the Société Centrale des Architectes exhibited projects and study models.
Finally, the decor in the Saint-Dominique gallery of the Invalides, reserved for Catalonia, is by the decorator S. Marco, president of the Barcelona Decorative Art Association and one of the organisers of the Furniture Exhibition, which took place in that city in 1923, and in which the French furniture industry and related industries took part.
©La Science et la Vie - 1925