Airport entrance

During his lifetime, César Manrique had a fundamental influence on the island of Lanzarote. A world renowned artist and sculptor, he was able to exert his unique skills to numerous projects throughout the island. He even helped ensure that the growth of the island was controlled, to avoid the mistakes made on neighbouring Tenerife. As a designer, he created the stunning tourist spots of Los Jameos del Argua, Mirador del Río and the visitor centre/restaurant at the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya, to name just a few. As an artist his unique style is present in the many sculptures dotted around the island. Such as at roundabouts and the entrance to the airport, where the terminal building was also constructed to his design.

Main road roundabout

Such was his influence on construction on the island, that only one skyscraper has been built in the capital, Arrecife. It is said that Manrique was in New York while it was being built and described it as "a crime against the spirit of the island". His desire to live with the lava, is clear in the house that he built to his own design across seven lava bubbles. These bubbles are incorporated into the design of the house, forming many of the rooms therein. He lived here from 1968 to 1987, when the house was converted into a visitor centre by Manrique. In 1992 he donated the house to the people of Lanzarote along with all his other projects on the island for which he took no commission. He died in 1992 at the age of 73, just 6 months after the opening of the "Fundación César Manrique", his home for 19 years.