José Luis de Oriol y Urigüen, 2nd Marquis of Casa Oriol (1877–1972), was a Spanish businessman, architect and politician. As an architect he designed few historicist residential buildings, some of them very prestigious today. As a businessman he was the moving spirit behind Hidroeléctrica Española and Talgo. As a politician he served as Conservative and Traditionalist MP, growing into a local Álava tycoon.
Family and youth
José Luis Valentin Oriol was bornmost sources claim his birth year is 1877, see the Geneanet genealogical service here, though the Geneallnet web claims 1888, see here to a distinguished Catalan landowner family, his first ancestors recorded in the 17th century.Alfonso Ballestero, José Ma de Oriol y Urquijo, Madrid 2014, , 9788483569153, chapter Antecedentes familiares, p. 1 (first page of the chapter, original pagination not available; all subsequent page references are marked as subsequent page in chapter) The brother of his paternal grandfather, Buenaventura de Oriol y Salvador, was a prominent Carlist; in return for his service to the cause, Carlos VII made him marquis of Oriol in 1870.Ballestero 2014, p. 1 José's father, José María de Oriol y Gordo (1842-1899),José María de Oriol y Gordo entry at Geni service available here pursued a military engineer careerABC 20.04.72 available here and as a colonelAinhoa Arozamena Ayala, José Luis Oriol Urigüen, [in:] Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia available here, also La Vanguardia 09.08.1967 available here sided with the legitimists during the Third Carlist War.Ballestero 2014, p. 1; some sources claim he was Segundo jefe del Estado Mayor de Dorregarray, ABC 20.04.72 available here Briefly on exile in France,some sources claim he spent many years on exile and Jose Luis received his education in Paris, see Oriol y Urigüen, José Luis (1877-1972) entry at mcn.biografias available here while the war was still ongoing he married Maria de los Dolores Tiburcia Urigüen Urigüen.on February 19, 1876, Ballestero 2014, p. 1; they met in the French San Juan da Luz, ABC 20.04.72 available here A native of Portugalete and daughter of a prominent member of the emerging Biscay bourgeoisie, Lucien Urigüen,Gorka Pérez de la Peña Oleaga, Los Ensanches del muelle nuevo de Portugalete: (1869-1917), [in:] Cuadernos de sección. Historia-Geografía Donostia 21 (1993), p. 189, available here she was heir to a commercial fortune and descendant to a Liberal, anti-Carlist family.Ballestero 2014, p. 1; he took part in defense of Bilbao against the Carlists, ABC 20.04.72 available here, Ainhoa Arozamena Ayala, José Luis Oriol Urigüen
The couple settled in Bilbao, where both José Luis and his younger sister María were born.Ballestero 2014, p. 4; Geni claims there was also one more sister, Isabel María de la Concepción Bárbara de Oriol y Urigüen see here José studied architecture in Madrid, graduating as the first in class in 1903,Ballestero 2014, p. 4, ABC 20.04.72 available here to continue with his studies later on in Paris.Some sources claim he spent all his youth in Paris, see El Pais 05.11.85 available here In 1904 he married an alavesa,Virginia López de Maturana, La construcción del imaginario simbólico en Vitoria durante el Franquismo: La alcaldía de Luis Ibarra (1957-1966), [in:] Sancho el sabio: Revista de cultura e investigación Vasca 36 (2013), p. 233; Ainhoa Arozamena Ayala, José Luis Oriol Urigüen describes her as Bilbaina Catalina de Urquijo Vitórica. Her father, Lucas Urquijo Urrutia, made his name as a highly successful Basque entrepreneur, co-founder of Hidroeléctrica Española,set up in 1907 jointly with Juan Urrutia, an engineer and heart and soul of the technical dimension of the project, Ballestero 2014, p. 4 co-owner of Banco Urquijoset up by his brother, for details see Onésimo Díaz Hernández, Los primeros años del Banco Urquijo (1918-1931) [University of Navarre paper], available here and a number of other companies;like La Salobreña in Granada or Compañía Minero-Metalúrgica Los Guindos, Ballestero 2014, p. 4 also Catalina's mother owned an immense fortune.it consisted of a number of rural properties in Álava and urban estates in Madrid, Ballestero 2014, p. 5 From 1905 to 1924 the couple, residing in Madrid, enjoyed birth of 8 children, José María, Lucas, Fernando, Antonio María, Sacramento, Teresa, Catalinaa carmelistan nun in Cerro, see El Pais 05.11.85 available here and Ignacio.< see José Luis Valentín de Oriol y Urigüen entry at Geni available here Four of their five sons enlisted later as the Carlist military volunteers, Requeté (the youngest one as a 13-year-old could not enlist).Julio Aróstegui, Combatientes Requetés en la Guerra Civil española, 1936-1939, Madrid 2013, , for Antonio Maria see pp. 444, 718, 798, 800, for Fernando see p. 444, for José Maria see p. 718, for Lucas María see pp. 718, 720, 800, 802, 804 Except Fernando, who died in combat,Luis Fernando de Oriol y Urquijo entry at Geni available here all of them became well known figures in the Francoist Spain, either as public servants and politicians or businessmen and entrepreneurs. Many of their numerous offspring are currently present in various areas of public life in Spain, be it politics,Monica Oriol Icaza, the first woman to lead Circulo de Empresarios, dubbed “la empresaria de hierro” is José Luis’ great-granddaughter, see here businessInigo de Oriol y Ybarra was a CEO of Iberdrola, see El Pais 08.10.11 available here, or arts.Miquelo Oriol worked as architect and set up a design studio, see here , see also El Pais 28.01.00 available here
Architect
José Luis started his architect career mostly by work on family projects, usually large residential estates. The best known designs of this category are grand villas known as Palacio Oriol in Santurtzi (1902),its style is described as eclectic, combining Romanticism and English-style architecture, see here; currently it hosts a hotel, see here Palacio Arriluce in Neguri (1911)Francisco Vera Sempere, Notas históricas para el diseño de la exposición realizada con motivo del centenario del edificio de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Valencia 1909-2009, [in:] Acto académico y Exposición Conmemorativa 1909-2009. Centenario del Nuevo edificio de la Facultad de Medicina, Valencia 2009, p 9; some sources indicate its construction date as 1904, see here; some sources claim the building was co-designed by Oriol and Manuel Maria Smith Ybarra, see Manuel Maria Smith Ibarra, diseñador en Getxo, [in:] Memorias de Getxo service 20.04.12, available here; its style is described as having medieval references with elements of Victorian British style and Palacio San Joséren in Getxo (1916),Palacio San Joseren is now part of Patrimonio Cultural de Getxo, its style summarized as medievalist here or eclectic here all overlooking the Bay of Biscay and having been very esteemed locations until today, currently hosting luxurious hotels or prestigious social events.see official site of Palacio San Joseren here Their style is usually described as various breeds of historicism, with most common references to quasi-medievalism, Romanticism and British Victorian style.
Probably Oriol's most impressive design is a monumental complex of the Medicine Faculty of the University of Valencia (1908), its façade described as eclectic in styleMariano Torreño Calatayud, Arquitectura y urbanismo en Valencia, Valencia 2005, , 9788496419087, p. 137 and spanning 300 yards. With the construction cost estimated at 4.4m pesetas and esthetical controversies raised, it was nevertheless applauded as a masterpiece of its time, combining technical innovation and high functionality.Vera Sempere 2009, p. 7 Especially the large hospital, an elaborate system of pavilions and rooms accommodating 250 beds, with subterranean passages and open galleries, attracted general praise. Enormous scope of the project prolonged the construction work, plagued by a number of misfortunes, like strikes, fires and political instability; the complex was eventually officially opened in 1949.Vera Sempere 2009, p. 13
The best known Oriol's work, however, is casa de Montalbán, known today as Palacio del Retiro (1914). It was designed in the centre of Madrid as a family residence and office;the building used to host the Talgo offices, see europeforvisitors site here currently it hosts a luxury hotel.see official Marriott page here The building, its style described as eclectic or neo-baroque, gained recognition and indeed notoriety for its lavish finishing, including stained-glass windows, fountains and frescos;europeforvisitors guide here some of its features bordered extravagance, like elevators which carried horses to and from the rooftop exercise ring.Fodor's Travel tourist service available here
Oriol went also beyond architecture, trying his hand in urban planning. He designed a never executed project intended to channel the Manzanares river in Madrid,El Pais 05.11.85 available here though it was dwarfed by polemics raised by another of his schemes. At that time Madrid was changing into the modern metropolis and kept struggling to cope with the rapidly increasing traffic; to this end, in 1919 Oriol presented his plan, named Reforma interna de Madrid, featuring a proposal to rebuild a section of the Gran Via.Ballestero 2014, p. 4, Miguel Cabañas Bravo, Amelia López-Yarto, Wifredo Rincón García (eds.), Arte, poder y sociedad en la España de los siglos XV a XX, Madrid 2008, , 9788400086374, p 270. Original document is available here His design, discussed also in public,El Sol 03.01.20 available here was eventually rejected by the municipal authorities.some sources claim the project was opposed by commercial tycoons like Horacio Echevarrieta, fearing an adverse impact on their business, Ballestero 2014, p. 4 Also his other designs did not escape criticism, charged with verbosity and grandiloquence.Torreño Calatayud 2005, p. 137
Businessman