2017_10_24_ARQ_homenaje_joaquin_lorda

Last Saturday, October 7, the School of Architecture University of Navarra held an Academic Tribute to the beloved Professor Joaquín Lorda, who passed away on June 17, 2016, in Pamplona.

The event, which was attended by Mr. Pablo Sánchez-Ostiz, Vice President of Office of Academic Affairs, began with the intervention of Mr. Juan Luis Lorda, doctor and professor of Theology at the University of Navarra and twin brother of Professor Lorda. He highlighted some of his brother's personality traits, making an endearing journey through his childhood and youth. Don Juan Luis recalled that Gombrich himself, about whom Joaquin did his doctoral thesis , declared that it was the best thing that had been written about him. Speaking of his willingness to connect with students, he acknowledged:"I admired his ability to bring students together".

María Antonia Frías, Doctor Architect of the School and, for 24 years, director of department of Theory and History to which Joaquín belonged, when considering the figure of the great professor he was, alluded to the supernatural sense that governed his whole life with the spirit of the Founder of this University. Hence, so many testimonies about his submission and generosity, and the affection of his students and friends corresponding to that which he himself dedicated to them: with a personalized interest that marked their lives. Endowed with a multifaceted natural genius, Frías continued, he taught to learn with the same passion with which he did it; Professor Joaquín Lorda is recognized as a true teacher, awakening extraordinary gratitude. He taught to appreciate the glimpses of the Beautiful, True and Good wherever they were found, and by continually updating himself, he paved the way for those who followed him. Recognized early on as a Member of the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi in Barcelona, his teaching continues to live on both in individuals and through his intellectual bequest .

María Angélica Martínez, Doctor of Architecture and professor at the School, collaborated with Professor Lorda for 20 years, and in discussing his work as researcher, she said: "The breadth of his curiosity led him to investigate and delve into a multitude of topics. Thanks to his entertaining, light and intelligent pen we were able to understand Architecture and design from a different approach ". His last work was the research exposed in the Symposium organized by the School of the Alhambra in the Palace of Charles V, in October 2014, and published posthumously by the International University of Andalusia, "The elusive perfection. Problems of centralized architecture: Granada and Cadiz", which will be released this coming November.

From the intervention of Professor Martínez it is worth mentioning the grade sent by Professor Richard Woodfield, prestigious expert on E. H. Gombrich and member of The Barber Institute of Fine Arts of the University of Birmingham, in which he considered very positively the work of Professor Lorda for the contributions he made in two of his books: Gombrich on Art and Psychology (1996), and Framing formalism: Riegl's work (2001). In his grade, Richard Woodfield corroborated the high esteem in which E. H. Gombrich's high esteem for Professor Lorda's work and recalled that the historian thought that Joaquín Lorda truly understood, and made the most intelligent use of, his ideas. Knowing the project of the English translation of his thesis : Gombrich: a theory of art, he fully supports the initiative as there is no similar study in language English, and being the best tribute, both for the work of Gombrich, as for Professor Lorda.

José Antonio Terán Bonilla, PhD Architect, professor researcher of the high school National Anthropology and History of Mexico, professor of postgraduate program at the UNAM and corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando added his recognition to the work of the honoree as researcher international. He fondly recounted how he met him in Puebla de los Angeles at a congress on cathedrals in Spain and Latin America, 20 years ago. He joined them in the history of architecture and treatises on architecture. With great emotion he continued his exhibition on thecontribution of Dr. Joaquín Lorda to the study of the portals of the Cathedral of the city of Puebla, pointing out the most relevant aspects of the professor's work and his findings, unknown until then, in Mexico.

Finally Mr. Julio Calle, coordinator at classroom Mentor (Ministry of Education Culture and Sport), professor and director of the SketchUp Course (high school Arquitectura. COAM) and representative of SketchUp in Spain, distinguished Professor Joaquín Lorda by publicly recognizing his extraordinary work professor in introducing new technologies in the creation of Fantastic Architectures, and teaching the History of Architecture using compositional formulas and resources with this program; also, SketchUp, as part of its recognition, has given the School one hundred licenses to contribute to its methodology professor.

Taking the floor at the end of the tribute, the director of the School, Miguel A. Alonso del Val recalled some aspects during the years of study at the degree program of Architecture of the honoree, and the beginnings of his interest in Spanish-American architecture; he also highlighted Joaquín's passion and dedication as well as the intensity and strength of his work at the School. He concluded the ceremony by thanking God for Professor Joaquín Lorda.