Madrid: The Latest Architecture and News

+ 29

+ 29

Earlier this year the Plaza Mayor in Madrid awoke covered by a giant meadow of natural grass. A circle of 70 meters in diameter, without any restriction of access, allowed Madrilenians to take a break, sit down, read a book or simply take a picture, enjoying this urban landmark from a new perspective.

This seemingly simple, but impressive doing is the most recent intervention by the anonymous artist SpY was part of Four Seasons (Cuatro Estaciones), an urban art program run by the Madrid City Council to celebrate the IV Centenary of the Plaza Mayor.

+ 27

+ 14

After the first series of photographs revealing Madrid's architectural geometries, Joel Filipe shared his work with us again; this time the Into the Fog series. In these photographs, Filipe presents, through a layer of mist, well-known projects featuring the skyline of the Spanish capital.

+ 7

Madrid is unfathomable. If the city itself is immense, it´s examples of interesting architecture are overwhelming. For over a half a century, Madrid has been an experimental laboratory for modern and contemporary architecture in Spain. With numerous examples of innovative and experimental architecture, as well as many failures, few of which are valued and recognized. This selection seeks to show archetypal examples of architecture that have transcended time; it does not intend to be an exhaustive list of the city´s architectural works. Many will think that the list lacks important buildings and personally, I couldn´t agree more. That is perhaps the beauty of Madrid: there is a diversity of opinion, there are thousands of sites to see, the city surprises you with every step you take.

+ 16

Videos

The municipality of Madrid´s Area of Sustainable Urban Development, in collaboration with the Official College of Architects of Madrid, has announced a design competition to remodel eleven public plazas in the outskirts of the Spanish capital city as an urban regeneration strategy for the city´s periphery.

As part of the strategic plan, Regenerate Madrid, the competition, “Plaz-er”, seeks to “contribute to the creation of an upgrading program for the civic plazas located on the city´s periphery, understood as representative spaces with a singular and identifying character for the local areas population that should be reinforced through the new project."

+ 25

Videos

Earlier this month, the Norman Foster Foundation opened its doors in central Madrid. Inhabiting in an old residential palace, and having undergone extensive renovation works since, the Foundation have also constructed their own contemporary courtyard pavilion. Housing a treasure trove of artefacts from Lord Foster's personal collection, the structure—which is shaped like the wing of an aircraft—also exhibits a newly restored 1927 Avions Voisin C7 originally owned by Le Corbusier.

+ 8

Last month the Norman Foster Foundation, created to promote "interdisciplinary thinking and research to help up-and-coming architects, designers and urbanists to anticipate the future," coincided the opening of its new Madrid-based headquarters with an international conference. Future is Now pulled together a broad collection of professionals—including Sir Jonathan Ive, Marc Newson, Olafur Eliasson, Maya Lin, Alejandro Aravena, and Luis Fernández-Galian—who addressed an audience of 1,800 (including 1,100 students) in the Spanish capital's Royal Theater.

Watch the conference in its entirety, or read a summary, after the break.