Fourth Period (1930-1960):

Important Buildings of the Fourth Period:

Parliament Building (Palacio Nacional). Historically, this constitutes the highest expression of the emergency of the State under the dictatorial power of Trujillo. It was built by the mechanical and industrial engineer Guido D' Alessandro Lombardi, an Italian married to a Dominican and resident in the country. It took three years to draw up the plans and its construction was initiated on February 27, 1944, intended to coincide with the centennial celebrations of national independence. The building was inaugurated on August 16, 1947. The cost of the structure alone is estimated to be some five million pesos (in local currency at the time). It is crowned by a dome on a quadrangular drum and its facades present a rhythmic succession of large windows and stylized doors that serve to soften the orthogonal character that dominates the Neoclassicist ensemble. Internal decoration of the parlors corresponds to diverse influences, including: Victorian, Neoclassicism and Italian Renaissance, Barroque, Greco-Roman, and Luis XVI French. Architect Humberto Ruiz Castillo is thought to have been the design director for the group that drew up the plans for the building.

Courts of Ciudad Nueva (Palacio de Justicia de Ciudad Nueva). Designed by Mario Lluberes Abreu. Neoclassical style. Large cubic volume confers a sensation of solidity.

Modern Market or Mercado Moderno (known today as the Mercado Modelo de la Avenida Mella). Work on this market was directed by Guido D'Alessandro Lombarda, following a design by Henry Gazón Bona. Engineer José Ramón Báez López-Penha worked in its construction.

Copello Building. It is located on El Conde Street on the corner with Sánchez and was inaugurated in 1939. It was immediately regarded as an architectural milestone that would be "reproduced" throughout the city. Its design is the work of Mr. Guillermo González Sánchez, who is considered to be the father of Modern Dominican architecture, and birthday (November 3) was decreed the Day of Dominican Architecture. This building follows the trend of international modern architecture: undecorated floors and facades, extended windows curved to the upper body of the structure. Subsequently, during the civil war of 1965, it would serve as the headquarters of the constitutional government as it faced nationalist coup forces and the American Army. The impact of bullets on its walls is still visible.

Jaragua Hotel. Masterpiece of Mr. Guillermo González Sánchez, inaugurated in 1942. It took four years to complete and required an investment of about five hundred thousand pesos (RD$ 500,000.00) in local currency at the time. Of modernist style, it gained the attention of international architectural critics. Highlights of the structre were an Andalusian style Spanish patio that faced and "venerated" the sea. The ensemble was composed of three clearly distinguishable staggered volumes which gave it an air of roundness or rotation. Sadly, it was destroyed in 1985. Other buildings designed by the same architect include: the Hamaca Hotel, the Hispaniola Hotel, the Casino de Güibia, the Perla Antillana Racecourse, the National Brewery plant, and the Civil Firemen building.

Lope de Haro Building

Vapor House. Masterpiece of one of the official state architects, Henry Gazón Bona. Residence in the shape of ship, with the "bow" oriented toward the east, it is a "beauty in architectural boldness" which unites modernism with the principles of Art Deco. Immediately earned its place in the Dominican architectural vanguard. Located in Gazcue.

La Feria de la Paz y Confraternidad del Mundo Libre (" Fair of Peace and Confraternity of the Free World" - Centro de los Héroes). Built in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Dictator Trujillo's ascent to power (1955), it was ready in six months. At the time it marked the Western limits of the city. It was built along a North-South axis, and in this architectural ensemble of symbolic buildings two sculptural pieces signaled one's entrance into a place "of great symbolic content and strong presence": the Plaza de las Naciones, with its species of harp that intoned the winds, and the Atlante or Apolo (Atlas or Apollo), colossus with raised arms, holding a dove in one hand and the Universe in the other. Both disappeared during Hurricane David in 1978. Also emphasized are the City Hall and the National Congress, which were the responsibility of Guillermo González Sánchez, who was also assited by Leonte Bernal Vásquez, Margarita Taulé, and Amable Frómeta Preyra. The City Hall, whose Gothic Venetian exterior denotes great purity, remained unfinished in some of its aspects due to the rapidity demanded by the State for its completion. Another of the buildings that form part of the Feria is the Teatro Agua y Luz, gifted with a spectacular system of water and lights designed by Catalonian Carlos Buigas.

Obelisco del Malecón (Jetty Obelisk). Celebrated the change of name from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo. Built by engineer Rafael Bonnelly García.

Monumento a la Paz (Monument to Peace). Located in the city of Santiago, it is the work of Henry Gazón Bona. It was inaugurated in 1944.

El Castillo del Cerro. Located on the outskirts of San Christopher, it is the work of Henry Gazón Bona. The high cost of its construction did not please tyrant, and its creator ended up in voluntary exile in Canada.

The basilica Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia. An international contest of ideas for the design of the Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia in 1947 selecyed the French architects André J. Dunoyer de Segonzac y Pierre Dupré for the project. However, the building would not be erected until many years later.

Bibliographical sources:

La Ciudad del Ozama. 500 años de historia urbana. Eugenio Pérez Montás, Barcelona, Third Edición, 2001.

THE COPELLO BUILDING by Omar Rancier:
http://www.arquiteca.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=22

SOME IMPORTANT DATES IN DOMINICAN ARCHITECTURE by Emilio José Brea García, architect.

http://www.arquiteca.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=23

http://www.presidencia.gov.do/frontend/resena.php

http://www.arquiteca.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=28

VICISITUDES DE UN MONUMENTO - Emilio José Brea García
http://www.arquiteca.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=28&page=2

GUILLERMO GONZALEZ
http://www.arquiteca.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=30
Guillermo González Revisitado (Guillermo González Revisited) by Omar Rancier for Arquiteca, http://arquitecturadominicana.blogspot.com