Initiated the procedure to declare the house of Nobel Vicente Aleixandre of Heritage Interest | Madrid Gazette

The Community of Madrid has initiated the procedure to declare Asset of Patrimonial Interest (BIP) the house of the Nobel Prize Winner for Literature Vicente Aleixandre, in the Chamberí district, in order to guarantee its “correct protection, perception and cultural understanding”.

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the regional Executive makes this decision based on a June report issued by the General Directorate of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, which indicates the need to declare BIP this good because ” without having exceptional value ”, it does stand out“ for its special historical significance ”.

In this way, the Community of Madrid proceeds to initiate the file through a resolution that will be published soon in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid (BOCM) and that, in accordance with the regulations, must be concluded within a maximum period of six months from its publication.

As explained by the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, when the declaration as BIP of Vicente Aleixandre’s house is concluded, the “symbolic value that this house has in the history of Spanish literature” will have been protected. . In this sense, the counselor has underlined her “satisfaction” at concluding a “long and arduous process” in which, “always following the criteria of the technicians”, the Community of Madrid has taken “a step forward to protect this cultural space ”.

The property is a single-family building in which the poet lived with his family from 1927 until his death in 1984. Also known as Velintonia from the old name of the street where it is located, the house consists of three floors – basement, ground floor and first- and a garden. It is divided into two houses, one high and the other low, and, at present, it is in disuse and empty, so it does not house any furniture, library, or archive of the author.

As the Community of Madrid points out in its resolution, the symbolic value of the house is justified by the fact that it was the scene of the life and place of the literary production of the Nobel Prize, as well as a meeting place for the poet’s friends, prominent members of the Generation of 27, such as Dámaso Alonso, Gerardo Diego or Rafael Alberti, artists, writers, intellectuals and politicians.

After the Civil War, figures such as Carlos Bousoño, José Luis Cano, José Hierro and the so-called Novísimos would continue to frequent the space, reaching its greatest value when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1977, which was a universal recognition of his work. , but also, in a certain way, of the entire Generation of ’27, a poetry that captivated the young generations and changed the Spanish poetic reality.

Simple and sober architecture

All this makes Velintonia a significant building in the history of 20th century Spanish literature, but also of universal literature, which justifies its consideration as a cultural and historical landmark for its enhancement, to ensure the adequacy of the future urban and architectural interventions, thus avoiding the alteration of the environmental values ​​associated with the perception of the property, in addition to the possible disturbances of its correct protection.

From an architectural point of view, it constitutes one of the few conserved elements of the Metropolitan Colony, an area urbanized between 1920 and 1925 for the construction of isolated single-family houses in which each owner acquired his plot and the building was his responsibility, which that caused a lack of stylistic unity.

The one that belonged to Vicente Aleixandre is a construction that follows the guidelines of simplicity and sobriety, with some popular notes, characteristics of the rationalist architecture of the time, currently surrounded by few buildings for residential use, with the predominant use as institutions of other examples of the colony: schools, clinics, university residences, religious, among others.

The interventions on the architectural complex in the future will be aimed at preserving the values ​​that justify the declaration as BIP of the property.