ARCHITECTURE WEEK 2020: OPEN HOUSE MADRID

One more year, Madrid foster the broadcast of architecture and the teaching of it. After 16 editions, on this occasion, the "Madrid Architecture Week 2020" will take place without face-to-face activities due to the current situation, postponing them until it can be celebrated without any risk. Along with this event, Madrid also hosted the "Open House Madrid" from September 25th to 27th, an event that allowed free visits to the most interesting buildings of the city. A real luxury for architecture lovers.

Which buildings could be visited during the Open House Madrid?

The festival has made available to the public the visit of many emblematic buildings of Madrid. Among them:

• Complex "El Águila" Archivo and Biblioteca Regional de Madrid: The complex belonged to the old El Águila brewery, before the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of Madrid called for a competition for the building rehabilitation, giving rise to the almost 30,000 m2 of surface area of the Regional Archive.
• Estación de Delicias Museo del Ferrocarril: Inaugurated in 1880, it was the first station of Madrid. The station project was based on the design of a functional passenger building with monumental proportions for the time.
• Matadero Madrid: Matadero Madrid concentrates, together with Madrid Río, some of the interventions that have given name to the new architecture of Madrid. These interventions have the common characteristic of preserving the envelope of the buildings.
• Círculo de Bellas Artes: In the heart of the capital city, we find one of the most important private cultural centers in Europe. Inaugurated in 1926 by King Alfonso XIII and declared a "historic-artistic monument", today it is one of the most emblematic buildings in Madrid.
• Palacio del Senado: The upper chamber of Spanish Parliament now occupies the space of two old buildings. The transformation into a parliamentary palace began in 1814.
• La Casa Encendida: An open and dynamic space where some of the most avant-garde artistic expressions take place. Located in a neo-Mudejar style building, it does not respond to the typology of banking architecture that was given in the first quarter of the 20th century, being a singular example for this reason.
• Casa Museo Lope de Vega: The building where the writer lived the last 25 years of his life has still some original structures.
• Sala Equis: It is a set of spaces that are gathered in the structure of the old cinema Duque de Alba. The Contemporary Culture has turned it into a new concept of cinema.
• Casa de México: The existence of this building is dated in 1885, as a shelter for the former Military Hygiene Institute. In 2018, Casa de México became a space for the promotion of Mexico in Spain, in economic, social and cultural matters.
• Residencia de Estudiantes: Since its foundation, it became the first cultural center in Spain, where some of the most fruitful experiences of artistic creation in interwar Europe took place. Many prominent figures of Spanish culture emerged among its residents, such as Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel and Severo Ochoa.
• Hipódromo de la Zarzuela: Declared a Property of Cultural Interest in 2009, it is considered one of the architecture masterpieces of 20th century in Madrid, since it meant an advance, both from the point of view of the materials used in its construction and on a structural level.

Open House 2020 Registrations

Due to the situation caused by the Covid-19, it was necessary for all those who wanted to visit some of the buildings, to register in advance. Reservations were made for a maximum of two tickets per person, including the data of the holder and the accompanying person. Children under 6 years old were not allowed to enter and wearing a mask was mandatory during all activities. Here you can check the COVID protocol implemented during all the activities developed during the festival "Open House Madrid".

Master in Collective Housing UPM/ETH