Architecture week in Madrid

Architecture week in Madrid from 1-7 Oct offers the chance to see some of Madrid’s most distinctive buildings, as well as some that are not usually open to the public.

Throughout the week architecture students present six buildings a day along the city’s metro network. The 30 buildings selected are all by top architects, many of them no longer living.

Highlights are 1 Oct the Torre Picasso in the financial district by Minoru Yamasaki (who was responsible for the Twin Towers); 4 Oct Edificio Beatriz by Eleuterio Población Knappe, responsible for about 20,000 buildings all over Spain; 5 Oct the Royal Collections Museum by Madrid-based architects Emilio Tuñón and Luis Moreno Mansilla, who died suddenly at the age of 52 in February this year.

An exhibition called Towers and Skyscrapers is showing at CaixaForum from 10 Oct to 5 Jan.

The week, now in its seventh year, comes at a time when many architecture practices in Spain are closing and young and talented architects are emigrating.

The images are in the order they appear in the text: Torre Picasso, Edificio Beatriz and Royal Museums.