Abelardo Lafuente García-Rojo

Life & Legacy

Abelardo Lafuente García-Rojo (30 April 1871 in Fuentidueña de Tajo (Madrid) – 1931 in Shanghai) was a Spanish architect and entrepreneur who had his own studio in colonial Shanghai. Between 1913 and 1931 he was the only Spaniard to have an architectural studio registered in the city; Lafuente collaborated with several contemporary architects. Lafuente blended the Mozarabic and Moorish styles from Spain into Chinese architecture. In 2009, the Spanish architect Álvaro Leonardo Pérez established the Lafuente Research Project. The findings of this project were first presented at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes. The Lafuente Research Project is ongoing. Alvaro Leonardo Perez earned a PhD Architect with his work about Abelardo Lafuente in 2019 at the Universidad de Alcala de Henares and launched the official website with all the information related to his work.