Docomomo International wishes to convey the most sincere condolences at the passing of the Spanish professor, researcher and architect Fernando Álvarez Prozoróvich, to his family and friends.
On April 3, the architect Fernando Álvarez Prozoróvich died in Barcelona, at the age of 67, as a victim of the coronavirus pandemic. He was born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina in 1952 and completed his undergraduate studies at the Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo – Universidad Nacional de la Plata, graduating in 1978. During the 1980s he settled in Barcelona where he pursued a brilliant career as a professor, researcher and specialist in Modern Heritage. Since 1987, he has been a continuous professor of History of Art and Architecture at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura of Barcelona, a school where he also obtained a doctorate in 1991. He subsequently coordinated the Doctoral Program of the Department of Architectural Composition (UPC). He was also director of the Master in Monuments Restoration (FPC-UPC) and director of the electronic portal-magazine “Historia en obras” [“History at works”]. He currently worked as director of the Department of Theory and History of Architecture and Communication Techniques of that School.
His work as a researcher focused on topics of History and Restoration of Modern Architecture in Spain and Latin America. He was always interested in the links between Architecture, Art and Politics, especially in relation to Catalan or Catalan-trained architects who worked in the region; among them are his various works on the work of Antonio Bonet in Argentina, Uruguay and Spain. It also should be highlighted his constant reflections on the issue of Modern Heritage, as well as his contribution to the volume “Arquitecturas del exilio español” [“Architectures of Spanish exile”] and the project “Archivo Crítico Modelo Barcelona 1974-2004” [“Critical Archive Barcelona Model 1974-2004”], carried out together with Josep María Montaner and Zaida Muxi, in which reflects on the scope of the management experience of that city, its achievements and failures.
He was curious, restless, full of vitality and with an ironic sense of humor. It should be remembered Fernando’s generosity with all the graduates of this Faculty who approached him in Barcelona, as well as his constant enthusiasm to propose new paths in the teaching of History, as he does not show in his “Historia en obras”, a thoughtful review of how to teach architectural culture through a canon of the best works and projects of Modernity in which, of course, there is no lack of Latin American works. His role in the field of praxis of the conservation and restoration of Modern Heritage in relation to the work of Antonio Bonet was also a protagonist, where he had a central participation in the restoration of “La Ricarda”, in Barcelona.
He also collaborated with the Centro de Documentación de Arquitectura Latinoamericana (CEDODAL) since its creation in 1995, providing bibliography for its library and newspaper archive, as well as in the continuous dissemination of the task of heritage preservation.
Information from FAU’s website.
Please go to the vitruvius website to know more about the “La Ricarda” house’s restauration. [Portuguese]
