University City of Madrid
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University City of Madrid Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid |
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UCM Faculty of Medicine
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| Nickname(s): Campus de Moncloa | ||
 University City of Madrid
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| Coordinates: 40°26′38″N 3°43′34″W / 40.443772°N 3.726136°WCoordinates: 40°26′38″N 3°43′34″W / 40.443772°N 3.726136°W | ||
| Country | Spain | |
| City | Madrid | |
| District | Moncloa-Aravaca | |
| Website | www |
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The University City of Madrid (Spanish: Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid), also called the Campus de Moncloa, is a complex in the Moncloa-Aravaca district of Madrid, Spain, that holds buildings of two universities and several related organizations. The campus was built between 1929 and 1936, when the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) broke out. It was the scene of much fighting during the Civil War and was badly damaged. The original buildings were repaired or rebuilt after the Civil War and new buildings were added.
The project to build the Ciudad Universitaria in the northwest of Madrid had its origins in 1911, when a commission was formed to consider building a clinical hospital for Madrid. By the 1920s there were many problems with university education in Madrid. Faculties were scattered throughout the city in outdated buildings. With few exceptions these could not accommodate the needs of disciplines such as Science, Medicine and Architecture for laboratories, studios and so on. King Alfonso XIII of Spain developed the concept of the University City in the summer of 1924. On 17 May 1927 he signed a royal decree that established the Construction Board of the University City of Madrid. The king would preside over the board.
A planning committee was established under the technical supervision of architect Modesto López Otero. He formed a diverse team of young architects to design the various buildings, including Manuel Sánchez Arcas. José Casares Gil, Modesto López Oteri, Julio Palacios and Antonia Simonena were tasked with research of the most respected universities of Europe and North America. After studying several famous universities in Europe, they travelled to North America in November 1927 where they visited Yale, Harvard, M.I.T. and universities in Montreal, Toronto, Michigan, Rochester, Washington, Baltimore, Princeton, and New York City. The University City was planned in 1927–28. A final ideal perspective was created in December 1928. The plan was completed in 1929.
Land owned by the crown in La Moncloa was granted for the site and funding was obtained from the lottery, grants by the king and private donations. The campus covered 320 hectares (790 acres) on a site in the western margin of Madrid, on a plan that drew much from American models. The building designs were influenced by European avant-garde architecture of the period, and the overall layout kept the campus closely integrated with the city of Madrid. The concept was a self-contained urban area including buildings to house the academic faculties, administrative buildings, staff and student residences and sport and leisure facilities. In 1928 design began on the Science and Medical Group complexes.
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