Horacio Acosta y Lara, “leader” of the professional cause in Uruguay in the first half of the 20th century

Abstract

This article analyses the architect Horacio Acosta y Lara (Montevideo, 1875-1966) as an important figure in the profession: first president of the Society of Architects, first dean of the Faculty of Architecture, first president of the Pan-American Congress of Architects and a personality of international renown. But the interest is not in summarizing his biography but in examining his function within the professional organization. It is argued here that his figure was constructed, by his colleagues and by himself, as that of a professional hero.
The objective of the article is to provide guidelines to understand the recognition obtained by Acosta and Lara and, more importantly, to understand how he built that recognition and what links it had with what the profession wanted. It is then argued that, beyond his personal merits, the accumulation of symbolic capital was linked to the needs and self-perception of the architectural profession, which saw in his figure the embodiment of its own ideals, even if the actions of Acosta and Lara It was not without contradictions.
The method chosen for this study is based on the qualitative review of a series of selected written sources. In particular, emphasis will be placed on the double issue of Arquitectura magazine, publication of the Society of Architects, from July-August 1929, which pays tribute to the figure of Acosta y Lara. This document not only allows us to delve into his career, but also shows the characteristics of the character that are exalted (and those that are not), which allows us to glimpse the clearest features of the “professional ideal” sought by architects.