Not many know this, but Pérez-Guerras, the renowned Alicante architect who designed Benidorm 47-storey Intempo—completed in 2021— had once been commissioned by Libya’s leader, Colonel Gaddafi to build the word’s second largest mosque.
But the project never materialised because Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011.
The fact came to light this summer with the publication of Building Strong: Roberto Pérez-Guerras by the Gil-Albert Institute of Culture. Its Spanish title is Construyendo Fuertes.
Appropriately, the lavishly illustrated biography was launched at the pinnacle of the tower block at a ceremony attended by the architect and Benidorm’s Mayor, Toni Pérez, pictured above gazing out on the magnificent vistas from the viewing platform.
The biography was penned by journalist Martín Sanz Moros.
The President of the Diputación de Alicante, Carlos Mazón and the Vice President and Deputy for Culture, Julia Parra were also present at the launch.
Mazón used the occasion to highlighted the importance of Intempo, which he described as being “one of the icons of Benidorm.
Parra described Pérez-Guerras as ” one of the great names in architecture ” and said that the publication is:
An invitation to reflect on a very interesting topic: the existence of Alicante architecture with its own stamp and what better than to do it in a setting like the Intempo building, one of its most emblematic works and a milestone for Benidorm, for the province of Alicante and for the Valencian Community.
A long-time resident of Alicante, Pérez-Guerras welcomed the book ” as a gift with an incredible value.” He recalled that, from the age of nine, he aspired to be an architect.
Moros revealed in the biography that among the architect’s many projects was the planned Libyan mosque.
• You view examples of the architect’s spectacular projects on his website.
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