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From 10 April 2024 to July 2025, Madrid will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the architect, Antonio Palacios, with an extensive programme of free activities for all ages to raise awareness of the man and his work. Guided visits, dramatised routes, conferences, concerts, children’s workshops and a major temporary exhibition are some of the initiatives to tempt the public to enjoy the architect’s legacy.

The commemoration offers citizens an extensive cultural programme focusing on Antonio Palacios (Porriño, 8 January 1874-El Plantío, 27 October 1945). His work in Madrid is characterised by a strong architectural personality, represented by a group of buildings that turned the old town of Madrid into a modern metropolis. His most emblematic buildings include the Communications Palace - now Cibeles Palace, headquarters of Madrid City Council-, Jornaleros de San Francisco de Paula Hospital - headquarters of Madrid City Council’s Department of Housing, Transport and Infrastructures-, the Banco Español del Río de la Plata building -headquarters of the Cervantes Institute- and the Fine Arts Circle (1919-1926).

The programme of guided visits has prepared seven routes around Palacios’ main buildings: the former Communications Palace, the Fine Arts Circle, the former Jornaleros Hospital , the Banco Español del Río de la Plata, the Metro Engine Depot and Casa Palazuelo. The cultural programme is rounded off with a route along the Gran Vía, which provides an insight into Palacios’ urban transformation work.

The central courtyard of the former Jornaleros Hospital will be the venue for a dramatised route focusing on the architect’s creative world, providing a full insight into his work and delving into the impact of his buildings on the city’s design and his social mission as an urban developer. The interactive routes designed for all the family enable participants to delve into the major milestones in the life and architectural work of Palacios, explaining basic architectural concepts, such as space, volume, lighting or structure.

The former Jornaleros Hospital will host the music festival: Sonando por Palacios A musical map for the architect that built Madrid. From chamber music to swing, this series of concerts will showcase the diversity of musical styles in Madrid in the first decades of the 20th century, from the architect's arrival in 1892 until his death in 1945.

From January to July 2025, the CentroCentro cultural space will host the major Madrid Metropolis. The dream of Antonio Palacios exhibition, which is a research and dissemination project on the concept of the metropolis that the architect designed for Madrid. The exhibition will provide an insight into his life, the characteristics of his unique architecture and his most noteworthy works in Madrid.

This exhibition is rounded off with a series of nine conferences at the Real Casino of Madrid, led by Professor Javier García-Gutiérrez Mosteiro. Experts of renowned academic prestige in the field of contemporary architecture will present and debate the essential aspects of the architect's work.

Programme:

Guided Visits