The La Adriatica building stands on a privileged corner of Seville, between Avenida de la Constitución and Calle Fernández y González. It was built between 1914 and 1922, following a project by the architect José Espiau y Muñoz and is known by this name as it served as the headquarters for the insurance company La Adriatica.
Its design was chosen within the framework of a competition promoted by the city council to build “Sevillian style” buildings in the large axis that was being opened to link the surroundings of the City Hall and the Puerta Jerez area. Those were the years prior to the great Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 and it was intended to beautify and monumentalize the connection between the area of the María Luisa Park in which it would be held and the city center.
Thus, what is probably the most beautiful avenue in the city was created, full of jewels of regionalist architecture from the beginning of the 20th century, among which this magnificent property stands out.
To adapt to the plot, it shows a triangular shape in its plan, with a strong cylindrical body at the vertex as a tower, topped by a dome, probably its most characteristic element.
It masterfully gathers the main features of regionalist architecture. In this way, it looks towards the Sevillian past and combines elements of Muslim influence, such as the galleries of banked arches on the first floor, with typical Gothic characteristics, such as the pointed arches. To this he adds other artistic traditions such as Plateresque, as can be seen in the plant decoration of the moldings or in the arrangement of medallions with busts of characters on the ground floor.
As another typical characteristic of regionalism, the architect makes use of a multitude of materials and techniques typical of local industries and crafts, such as forging, glazed ceramics, woodworking or stone reliefs. All this harmoniously brought together in a set that stands out for the dual chromaticity of the smooth cream-colored surfaces combined with the exposed brick.
In short, a magnificent work by this architect, which together with others, such as the Hotel Alfonso XIII or the City of London on Cuna Street, justify the consideration of him as one of the most prominent figures of regionalism in Seville.