Tour of the city of Lleida with visits to five works by Estudi SDP, formed by architects Laureà Sabater, Lluís Domènech and Ramon Maria Puig. These works were completed between 1964 and 1975, from the beginning of their professional careers to the dissolution of the studio. The firm had two offices, in Lleida and Barcelona, although most of the projects were developed around the western capital. Oriol Bohigas places the work and attitude of Estudi SDP within the group of realist architects—as opposed to idealist architects—as part of a possible “Barcelona School”.
The article “Lérida, ciudad colina” (Lleida, city on a hill), published in Destino in 1965, marked the beginning of the studio’s activism to vindicate the artistic personality of Canyeret, between the plain the river and the hill of La Seu Vella, the geographical constituents of the city. In 1969, they drafted the first Special Plan for Canyeret, which they revised in 1974. In 1982, Domènech i Puig, together with Roser Amadó and Joan Busquets, drew up the Special Plan for the Historic Centre of Lleida, which was recognised with the National Urban Planning Award.
The residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor (1965-1968), the parish premises of the Church of Santa Maria Magdalena (1966-1970), the headquarters of the Lleida Tennis Club (1972), the Club Ronda apartments (1970-1974), and the Banco Condal (1472-1974) with ambiguous languages in search of their own architecture.
The itinerary allows us to relate the architecture of the 1960s and 1970s to the orchards and landscape surrounding the city of Lleida, taking us through the city’s expansion neighbourhoods and reaching Canyeret, the historic neighbourhood located between the hill of La Seu Vella and the Segre River.
5
