COMUNICACIÓN Y PRENSA

“One of the men who best performance did and left a deep mark at the monument”. That´s how the director of the ‘Patronato de la Alhambra y el Generalife’, María del Mar Villafranca, characterized Leopoldo Torres Balbás, in the homage by the ‘Academia del Partal’ in 2005. The speech is published in the fourth issue of ‘Papeles del Partal. Revista de Restauración Monumental’ (journal for restauration of monuments), whose purpose is to provide support to knowledge dissemination and debate with regard to the different disciplines involved in restoration of monuments, understood as a methodologic multidisciplinary approach with the aim at preservation, revaluation and public use of the Architectural Heritage.
Villafranca emphasizes Torres Balbás’ modern idea of restoration of monuments, his great effort and permanent dedication, exceptional sagacity, willingness, and finally, his incomparable mastery. Also, the director of the ‘Patronato de la Alhambra y el Generalife’ stresses the time in which the architect worked in the Alhambra as one of the most interesting intellectual period of Granada in the first half of the 20th century, coinciding with Manuel de Falla, Fernando de los Ríos or the arabist Emilio García Gómez.
The fourth issue of ‘Papeles del Partal’, exclusively dedicated to Leopoldo Torres Balbás, was published in November 2008 by the ‘Academia del Partal. Asociación Libre de Profesionales de la Restauración Monumental’ (a free association for professionals of the restauration of monuments), and coordinated by Santiago Valera. It offers a comprehensive approach to the life and work of the architect from Madrid, including his research work as architect and curator or his political attitude.
Also the director of the Andalusian Historical Heritage Institute (IAPH – ‘Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico’), Román Fernández-Baca Casares, takes part in this issue of the journal ‘Papeles del Partal, the same as the architect Alfonso Muñoz; the historian Carlos Vílchez; the architect Miguel Ángel Martín Céspedes; the researcher and professor at the School of Arabic Studies (‘Escuela de Estudios Árabes’) Antonio Almagro; the architect Dr. Julian Esteban; the professor for Architectural Restoration at the Technical Faculty of Architecture of the University of Granada, Javier Gallego, and the architect Rafael Manzano.