Respecting the Past While Building the Present. Juan Antonio Molina Serrano, an Architect

Abstract

This article aims to shed light on the unique and distinctive personality of Juan Antonio Molina Serrano (b. 1944), with the purpose of revealing some of the intentions, processes, and results of his over forty-year career. This study does not simply present a linear chronology of his works but instead seeks to identify the significant and defining principles of his architecture in both heritage interventions and the consolidated centers of the city. Firstly, this study distinguishes some of the theoretical foundations underlying his work before moving on to identify the most relevant and significant levels of intervention he has used. Ultimately, it identifies a structural value or principle that guides much of Molina Serrano's work: the idea that building from the present while respecting the past and understanding every proposal or action as an opportunity to city-building. This inquiry and the research outcome are assembled from architect Juan Antonio Molina private documents, and the Provincial Historical Archive of Murcia; the latter, where a large part of his production -project reports and others–are deposited.