Thursday 30 April 2009

Monuments I.

This sculpure(s) from 1977 called >The monument of the discovery of America< by Joaquín Vaquero Turcios is one of two situated at Plaza Colón (Colombus Square). It consists of three concrete blocks and pedestrials with inscriptions by philosophers and indigenous leaders.
I will go out to discover London once again.

Tuesday 28 April 2009

Iron and stone.


Detail of the building of the old "Banco Español de credito" (Spanish Credit Bank) - now Banesto. Its actual appearance it had since 1882, last rehabilitation. It is one example for eclectic style you find a lot near Sevilla street.

Friday 24 April 2009

Lightstripes.


Calle Alcalá - spoken Alka-la - is one of Madrid's largest streets. It joins the citycenter with the most famous square Sol ("Sun"), and the suburbs of the town, 15km far apart from Sol. The towerbuilding in the centre of the image houses the Circulo of Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Academy). For an entrance fee of 1 Euro you can both enter in the fantastic turn of the century cafeteria and visit lots of extraordinary fine arts expositions.

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Noise.

Gran Vía (literally "Great Way") is one of Madrid's most famous and most crowded streets. It leads from the Metropolis-Building to Plaza España, passing Callao where is the heart of it. Because of the elevate number of cinemas and musicals it is called sometimes the Broadway of Madrid.

>In the mid 19th century, Madrid's urban planners decided that a new thoroughfare had to be created, connecting the Calle de Alcalá with the Plaza España. The project required many buildings in the center of the city to be demolished, earning it the name of 'an axe blow on the map'. Decades after the first plans were made, construction still had not started and the media ridiculed the project, cynically calling it the 'Gran Vía'. Finally in 1904 it was approved and construction started a couple of years later. The last part of the street was completed in 1929.< (Wikipedia)

Friday 17 April 2009

Silence.

Leaving main streets there are lots of them with silence and poetic urbanism. Like in this picture nearby the opera.

Tuesday 14 April 2009

Markets (IV)

The dissapperance of houses lets pass the sunlight through the town.

Thursday 9 April 2009

Red clock.

The clock of the Telefonica (Spanish Telecom) Building and the building itself are two important landmarks of the city. Built between 1926 and 1929 by the architect Ignacio de Cárdenas Pastor it was the highest building in Europe at this moment with a height of 89,30m.

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Cityscape.

Last floor. I go out of the elevator. There is no closed staircase in my house. All open. Madrid's air is passing through. I can see the Telefonica's Building with its clock, red lighted at night. I see the disorder of roofing that is a texture of tiles, tubes and stacks. There is chaos in front of the grand white open of the blue omnipotent sky.

Friday 3 April 2009

Nineteenfourtynine.

The Government-Department of Health and Consumers Protection in Prado's promenade and in front of the eponymous museum was designed by the architect Francisco de Asis Cabrero in 1949. Yes, 1949. And it is always an icon of spanish modern architecture although built in time of Francisco Franco's dictature. Once elevated to house the trade-union, in the democracy it became building for the ministry. Its perfect cubic volume stands for the perfection architects are looking for since ever.