Page 57 - Norman Foster Foundation Re-materializing Housing Workshop

2021 Re-materializing Housing Workshop
Contents Report
Museo Reina Sofía
Friday, 19 November 2021
The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is Spain’s national museum of 20th century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on 10th September, 1992 and is named for Queen Sofía of Spain. It is located near the Atocha train and metro stations, at the southern end of the so-called Golden Triangle of Art (located along the Paseo del Prado and also comprising the Museo del Prado and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza).
The museum is mainly dedicated to Spanish art. Highlights of the museum include excellent collections of Spain’s two greatest 20th century masters, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. The Reina Sofía Museum also hosts a free-access library specialising in art, with a collection of over 100,000 books, over 3,500 sound recordings and almost 1,000 videos.
The central building of the museum was once an18th century hospital. Extensive modern renovations and additions to the old building were made starting in 1980. In 1988, portions of the new museum were opened to the public, mostly in temporary configurations and that same year it was decreed by the Ministry of Culture as a national museum. Its architectural identity was radically changed in 1989 by Ian Ritchie with the addition of three glass circulation towers. An extension and renovation of the existing museum, two temporary exhibition spaces, 500-seat auditorium, bookshop, cafeteria, restaurant and administration offices designed by French architect Jean Nouvel opened October 2005.
The scholars participated in a private guided visit to the museum highlights such as Guernica (1937), Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece, to get an insight of Spanish art and culture from the last century, as well as some art pieces related to the use of new technologies of present times.
Patio of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía connecting the old Sabatini building and recent Nouvel extension
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