CaixaForum Madrid

Story

Right on Paseo del Prado, in Madrid, a brick building seems to float above the ground. Unstable, suspended. But let me tell you: it's not an illusion.

Herzog and de Meunoron cut its base not just for aesthetics. They solved a problem: the streets around were narrow, no perspective.

By removing the granite plinth, an open space appeared underneath. A covered plaza where the building seems to levitate. But let me tell you what was here before.

In nineteen-oh-one, the Mediodía Power Station started here. Coal, steam, dynamos. Three decades feeding electricity to southern Madrid.

Herzog and de Meuron gutted the interior, demolished a gas station next door, and created a public plaza. The building floats, suspended on strategic pillars.

The plant closed in nineteen thirty. It passed through the hands of ONCE, the National Organization of the Blind. In two thousand one, the la Caixa Foundation bought it to turn it into a museum.

On the neighboring wall, botanist Patrick Blanc designed a twenty-four-meter vertical garden. Fifteen thousand plants from two hundred fifty different species. No soil, just water and nutrients.

It opened in two thousand eight. From coal and dynamos to art and conversation. The energy keeps flowing. Listen to the full guide and I'll tell you more.