Joaquín Otamendi Machimbarrena (1874-1960)
Joaquin Otamendi, born 1874 in San Sebastian, was a Spanish architect who met very young Antonio Palacios. Both architects submitted to the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1904, which won the Medal Second Class. The same year they reached great success. The draft submitted by Joaquin Otamendi, Antonio Palacios and engineer Angel Chueca Sainz, was the winner in design contest that had convened the Ministry of Public Works for the construction of the Palace of Communications at the Cibeles square. Since then Otamendi and Palacios collaborated closely for fifteen years, built up a brilliant career at the helm of the works of the Palace of Communications and the monumental building for the Bank of the River Plate in the streets of Alcala, then owned by the Central Bank (Building of the “Cariátides”). In 1918 Joaquin Otamendi was hired by the Directorate General of Posts and Telegraphs and alongside Luis Lozano built several locations of this entity in various provinces of Spain, highlighting the Post and Telegraph building of La Coruna.
Important Buildings:
- Post and Telegraph building, La Coruna
- Cariátides, MAdrid
- Palace of Communications, Madrid
- Plaza Espana with Edificio de España and the Torre de Madrid
