UNIVERSITY OF GIJÓN IS BUILT

The Labour University of Gijón is located in the municipality of Gijón (Asturias, Spain), specifically in the parish of Cabueñes, just over three kilometres from the urban centre. Built between 1946 and 1956, it is the most important architectural work of the 20th century, so far, in Asturias. It is, with its 270 000 m², the largest building in Spain, for now. In the mid-1940s, as a consequence of a serious labour accident at a mine in the Caudal basin, Labour Secretary Carlos Pinilla Turiño met in Gijón with a group of local personalities such as Alejandro Pidal Guilhou or Álvaro Armada Ulloa, to promote the creation of a mining orphanage with the intention of supporting the affected miners.

We can say that this building pays homage to the victims of that accident.

THE BUILDING.

The building is have been built by the architect Luis Moya, who designed it so that it had a resemblance to the Parthenon of Athens. The door is located in the main facade and has a bow and a shield with the eagle of San Juan and the yoke and arrows of the Catholic Monarchs. The central courtyard is an uncovered courtyard, one hundred and fifty meters long and fifty wide, which serves as the main square of the enclosure.

The church is undoubtedly the most spectacular building of the architectural group of the Labour University. With an area of 807 m², it is the largest elliptical plant church in the world. The theatre has a façade of Hellenistic style and its capacity is of 1,756 localities, distributed among the 950 armchairs of the patio, the boxes and the amphitheatre.

The tower has a height of 130 meters and is similar to the model of the Giralda of Seville. An internal elevator allows access to the viewpoint. It is the tallest building in the Principality of Asturias and the tallest stone building in Spain.

Álvaro García Pérez