Lacasa began to study architecture in Barcelona, then moved on to Madrid, the only other city in Spain where the subject was taught.

At the Residencia de Estudiantes he became friends with Alberto Sánchez(es), Federico García Lorca, Luis Buñuel and others with whom he founded The Order of Toledo.

[2] His brother in law was Alberto Sánchez Pérez(es), a sculptor and painter who learned to read at the age of 15.

[2] In 1931 Federico García Lorca published a surrealist poem entitled Vaca dedicated to Luis Lacasa in the magazine Occidente.

[4] Lacasa won a number of competitions in architecture and urban planning, including:[2] During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) Lacasa was commissioned to design the Spanish Pavilion for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris.

[6] In a book he published in 1937 Lacasa laid out his architectural beliefs and criticized Le Corbusier, whom he considered an ideologue rather than someone who built habitable buildings.

The Director General García Lomas, who later became mayor of Madrid, responded by giving Lacasa 24 hours to leave Spain.

[1] In 1926 Lacasa designed a small residential palace for Valentín Ruiz Senén that was later occupied by the British Institute for many years.

[10] In 1932 Lacasa designed four residential colleges for Madrid University, Antonio Nebrija, Ximénez de Cisneros, Menéndez y Pelayo and Diego Covarrubias.

The complex of buildings and facilities was a grouping on linear and geometric blocks in an orthogonal and independent arrangement around a series of gardens, open spaces and sports areas.

Lacasa chose a modular design that allowed repetition of brick forms in pure rationalist orthodoxy.

[13] Josep Renau, head of the Directorate General of Fine Arts, made key decisions about the content, as did the Ministries of Propaganda and Public Industry.

[5] The temporary building was erected quickly on a small site in the Jardins du Trocadéro, with a very limited budget.

It was largely colored in shades of gray, although the red lines of the painted metal structure gave a Spanish touch.