Madrid museums
The Reina Sofia Art Gallery Madrid
The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, the third but no less important temple to the arts, is situated by the Paseo del Prado in what was once Madrid's general hospital. It was opened by the Spanish queen in 1988. The glass lifts on the facade offering a fine panoramic view and the changing exhibitions of contemporary art recall the Pompidou Centre in Paris, hence the popular name for the arts centre, the Sofidu.
More things to do Madrid
The permanent collection on the first floor represents a cross-section of Spanish modern art. Representative samples of works by Jose Gutierrez Solana, Julio Gonzalez, Salvador Dall, Joan Miro, Antoni Tapies are displayed here. But the centre-piece is undoubtedly Pablo Picasso's Guernica in Room 7. This huge piece measuring 8m by 3.5m (26ft by 11 ft 6in), completed in 1937, depicts the horror of the night when German pilots bombed the small Basque town of Guernica Lumo. Picasso painted the picture at the request of the Republican government for the Spanish pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition. In his will he decreed that the painting should be hung in Spain only when democratic government had been restored. On what would have been Picasso's 100th birthday, Guernica returned to Madrid.
Opposite the museum, on Glorieta del Emperador Carlos V, the train station Estacion de Atocha is a redesign, carried out in 1993 by Rafael Moneo, of a late 19th century Art Nouveau glass and cast iron construction. The lush palm garden under the vaulting of the main hall is shrouded in a tropical mist created by air humidifiers. It has become a popular meeting place and not just on cold winter days. Both the old-style Tren de las Fresas or Strawberry Train and the highspeed AVE to Andalusia leave from here.
The colonial-style Samarkanda restaurant serves modern Spanish dishes. Situated beside the imposing Ministerio de Agricultura (1897), the Museo Nacional de Etnologia recalls the greatness of Spain as a colonial power. The ethnological exhibits originate mainly from Latin America, Equatorial Guinea and the Philippines.
[t is worth taking a short detour along Calle Fuenterrabia to visit the Real Fabrica de Tapices). Felipe V founded the Royal Tapestry Factory in 1721, and Gobelin tapestries and carpets continue to be knotted by hand or woven on looms. The company is still owned by the same Flemish family the Spanish king summoned to Madrid in the 18th century. Much of the company's work today involves restoring the original tapestries, but private commissions are accepted.
Madrid transport
The cheapest way to make a sightseeing tour is on the No. 27 bus (Atocha-Plaza de Castilla), which follows almost the full length of Paseo de la Castellana. To the southeast above a memorial to Isabella of Castile is the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales II, the Natural Sciences Museum.
This sand building, dating from 1887, is fronted by a pleasing neo- Renaissance brick facade. Based around the Royal Natural History Collection founded by Fernando VI, the museum was revived in 1994 after a long period of slum ber. Geology, mineralogy, zoology and palaeontology are the main themes, with the dinosaur skeleton proving very popular among visiting school parties. Reckoned to be 1.8 million years old, the bones from the late Cenozoic period were found in Argentina in 1788 by the Dominican monk, Manuel Torres.
Madrid architecture
The Torre BBV (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya), built between 1974 and 1982, was the most controversial element because the architect, Francisco Javier Sainz de Oiza, chose for the outer skin of the I 08m (354ft) high complex a steel alloy which oxidised over time into a rusty red colour.
With 43 floors and a height of 157m (515ft) the Torre Picasso is the tallest structure in Madrid. It was built in 1988 by the Japanese architect Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the New York Trade Center. The air-conditioning and security in this white giant made from glass and aluminium are computer-controlled. None of the 4,700 workers can enter their office without a pass.
Moda Shopping Centre and Torre Europa (with a clock incorporated into its exterior concrete supports, was designed by Miguel Oriol e Ybarra) and marks the northern edge of the AZCA complex. Despite the ambitious plans, the whole project has clearly not lived up to expectations. It was intended to be a lively meeting place for workers and shoppers, but once the offices have closed at night, the plazas become concrete deserts. Opposite rises the enormous concrete bowl of the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Since 1947 this stadium, which holds 105,000 spectators, has been the venue for the many triumphs of Real Madrid football club.
The Puerta de Europa Madrid
On Plaza de Castilla, directly behind a huge memorial to Jose Calvo Sotelo, a Republican politician murdered by the Falangists in 1936, stand what are probably the most striking examples of contemporary Madrid architecture, the twin towers of the Puerta de Europa (also known as Torres KIO). Designed by the top American architect, Philip Johnson, and his partner, John Burgee, and opened in 1998, the 27-storey high-tech towers, clad in steel and blue glass, lean towards each other at an angle of 15°, Situated at a busy junction of two northbound arteries, the resulting 'triumphal arch' reflects the restoration of Spain's role within a united Europe.
Palacio de EI Pardo Madrid
This palace, a hunting lodge for Castilian kings since the 14th century, is situated in the northwest outskirts. Converted under Carlos III by Francisco Sabatini and later a residence for General Franco, it is now used by guests of the state. It boasts a fine collection of Gobelin tapestries.
Fundacion Infante de Orleans Madrid
A collection of historic aircraft can be seen in Hanger 2 at the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome by National Highway V to Extremadura. A highlight of the collection is the De Havilland 'Dragon Rapide' in which Franco flew from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco in 1936 in the early stages of the Civil War. On the first Sunday in the month about 20 vintage flying machines built in the 1920s and 1930s take to the air for a flypast.
The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, the third but no less important temple to the arts, is situated by the Paseo del Prado in what was once Madrid's general hospital. It was opened by the Spanish queen in 1988. The glass lifts on the facade offering a fine panoramic view and the changing exhibitions of contemporary art recall the Pompidou Centre in Paris, hence the popular name for the arts centre, the Sofidu.
More things to do Madrid
The permanent collection on the first floor represents a cross-section of Spanish modern art. Representative samples of works by Jose Gutierrez Solana, Julio Gonzalez, Salvador Dall, Joan Miro, Antoni Tapies are displayed here. But the centre-piece is undoubtedly Pablo Picasso's Guernica in Room 7. This huge piece measuring 8m by 3.5m (26ft by 11 ft 6in), completed in 1937, depicts the horror of the night when German pilots bombed the small Basque town of Guernica Lumo. Picasso painted the picture at the request of the Republican government for the Spanish pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition. In his will he decreed that the painting should be hung in Spain only when democratic government had been restored. On what would have been Picasso's 100th birthday, Guernica returned to Madrid.
Opposite the museum, on Glorieta del Emperador Carlos V, the train station Estacion de Atocha is a redesign, carried out in 1993 by Rafael Moneo, of a late 19th century Art Nouveau glass and cast iron construction. The lush palm garden under the vaulting of the main hall is shrouded in a tropical mist created by air humidifiers. It has become a popular meeting place and not just on cold winter days. Both the old-style Tren de las Fresas or Strawberry Train and the highspeed AVE to Andalusia leave from here.
The colonial-style Samarkanda restaurant serves modern Spanish dishes. Situated beside the imposing Ministerio de Agricultura (1897), the Museo Nacional de Etnologia recalls the greatness of Spain as a colonial power. The ethnological exhibits originate mainly from Latin America, Equatorial Guinea and the Philippines.
[t is worth taking a short detour along Calle Fuenterrabia to visit the Real Fabrica de Tapices). Felipe V founded the Royal Tapestry Factory in 1721, and Gobelin tapestries and carpets continue to be knotted by hand or woven on looms. The company is still owned by the same Flemish family the Spanish king summoned to Madrid in the 18th century. Much of the company's work today involves restoring the original tapestries, but private commissions are accepted.
Madrid transport
The cheapest way to make a sightseeing tour is on the No. 27 bus (Atocha-Plaza de Castilla), which follows almost the full length of Paseo de la Castellana. To the southeast above a memorial to Isabella of Castile is the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales II, the Natural Sciences Museum.
This sand building, dating from 1887, is fronted by a pleasing neo- Renaissance brick facade. Based around the Royal Natural History Collection founded by Fernando VI, the museum was revived in 1994 after a long period of slum ber. Geology, mineralogy, zoology and palaeontology are the main themes, with the dinosaur skeleton proving very popular among visiting school parties. Reckoned to be 1.8 million years old, the bones from the late Cenozoic period were found in Argentina in 1788 by the Dominican monk, Manuel Torres.
Madrid architecture
The Torre BBV (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya), built between 1974 and 1982, was the most controversial element because the architect, Francisco Javier Sainz de Oiza, chose for the outer skin of the I 08m (354ft) high complex a steel alloy which oxidised over time into a rusty red colour.
With 43 floors and a height of 157m (515ft) the Torre Picasso is the tallest structure in Madrid. It was built in 1988 by the Japanese architect Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the New York Trade Center. The air-conditioning and security in this white giant made from glass and aluminium are computer-controlled. None of the 4,700 workers can enter their office without a pass.
Moda Shopping Centre and Torre Europa (with a clock incorporated into its exterior concrete supports, was designed by Miguel Oriol e Ybarra) and marks the northern edge of the AZCA complex. Despite the ambitious plans, the whole project has clearly not lived up to expectations. It was intended to be a lively meeting place for workers and shoppers, but once the offices have closed at night, the plazas become concrete deserts. Opposite rises the enormous concrete bowl of the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Since 1947 this stadium, which holds 105,000 spectators, has been the venue for the many triumphs of Real Madrid football club.
The Puerta de Europa Madrid
On Plaza de Castilla, directly behind a huge memorial to Jose Calvo Sotelo, a Republican politician murdered by the Falangists in 1936, stand what are probably the most striking examples of contemporary Madrid architecture, the twin towers of the Puerta de Europa (also known as Torres KIO). Designed by the top American architect, Philip Johnson, and his partner, John Burgee, and opened in 1998, the 27-storey high-tech towers, clad in steel and blue glass, lean towards each other at an angle of 15°, Situated at a busy junction of two northbound arteries, the resulting 'triumphal arch' reflects the restoration of Spain's role within a united Europe.
Palacio de EI Pardo Madrid
This palace, a hunting lodge for Castilian kings since the 14th century, is situated in the northwest outskirts. Converted under Carlos III by Francisco Sabatini and later a residence for General Franco, it is now used by guests of the state. It boasts a fine collection of Gobelin tapestries.
Fundacion Infante de Orleans Madrid
A collection of historic aircraft can be seen in Hanger 2 at the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome by National Highway V to Extremadura. A highlight of the collection is the De Havilland 'Dragon Rapide' in which Franco flew from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco in 1936 in the early stages of the Civil War. On the first Sunday in the month about 20 vintage flying machines built in the 1920s and 1930s take to the air for a flypast.
posted by Fay at
2:19 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home