Expansion of the Prado Museum

Rafael Moneo (1)
Rafael Moneo
Rafael Moneo Vallés

In 1996 a competition was announced for the extension of the Prado Museum in which the limits of the plot were not precisely defined and were left in the hands of the architect. A total of 776 projects entered the competition, of which ten were selected for a second phase. The jury did not wish to commit itself to any of these ten projects, although one of the projects was awarded a runner-up prize (Matos, Castillo) and another (Dürig) was distinguished with a mention.

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Perhaps the uncertainty about the availability of land explained the indecisiveness of the jury, which felt that it was necessary to define the address and location - something that was only guaranteed by the ownership of the land - in order to choose a project. Wishing to carry out the extension, the Administration reached an agreement with the Church to be able to use the Cloister of the Hieronymites, an area that was considered to be more favourable for the future of the museum.

Michael Moran
Michael Moran

Once the ministry had the land at its disposal, it invited the ten architects selected in the first phase of the competition to participate in another one with more precise guidelines. It was in this second competition that the winner was the project presented by Rafael Moneo under the slogan "Buen Retiro", unanimously chosen by the jury.

Michael Moran

Having given this brief account of the project selection process, this does not seem to be the time to describe it, but it is worth saying that the New Prado has freed Villanueva's building from many of its obligations and that the new transversal axis that begins at the Velázquez door has allowed the Claustro de los Jerónimos to be colonised and a whole series of constructive episodes to unfold that facilitate and favour uses not directly related to the exhibition of works that the museum so badly needed. Again, not a building but an intervention in the city.

Michael Moran

General information

Expansion of the Prado Museum

YEAR

2007

Status

Built

Option to visit

Visit by appointment

Address

St. Ruiz de Alarcón, 23

28014 Madrid - Madrid

Latitude: 40.413919023

Longitude: -3.692068322

Classification

Built area

más de 20000 m²

Involved architects

Rafael Moneo Vallés

Collaborators

Mariano Molina (architect - project team)

Carmen Díez (architect - project team)

Jacobo García Germán (architect - project team)

Belén Hermida (architect - project team)

Christoph Schmid (architect - project team)

Borja Peña (architect - project team)

Involved architectural firms

Rafael Moneo

Information provided by

Rafael Moneo

Website links

Prado Museum

Rafael Moneo

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Location

40.413919023 -3.692068322 bab2cc76-2274-41c1-9598-977297a788eb Built
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Built
Temporary
Lost
Unbuilt project

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