Sáenz de Oíza

Sáenz de Oíza is most famous for designing the Torres Blancas (White Towers), a striking cylindrical residential building in Madrid completed in 1969. The brutalist and organic architecture of the towers features massive, mushroom-like concrete balconies. It is widely considered a masterpiece of 20th-century Spanish architecture.

Yes, alongside architect Francisco Jabonero, Sáenz de Oíza was tasked with designing the modernist Basilica of Arantzazu in the Basque Country in the 1950s. The church is famous for its brutalist concrete forms and integration of avant-garde art by other famous Spanish artists like Jorge Oteiza. This project launched his career and reputation in Spain.

Oíza is heavily associated with a blend of modernist, organic, and brutalist architecture, often utilizing raw concrete to create flowing, natural forms. He believed in designing functional spaces for living rather than just aesthetic facades. His works successfully bridged the rigid International Style with more expressive, sculptural Spanish sensibilities.

The Torres Blancas complex is located on the Avenue of America (Avenida de América) in Madrid, Spain. It stands out prominently against the city skyline due to its towering, tree-like concrete structures and circular balconies. It remains a functioning private residential apartment building today.