The project carried out by José Manuel Sanz arquitectos, undertook the renovation of the Tourism Centre at the Plaza Mayor in Madrid on the ground floor of the the Bakery House. The architects redesigned the inner space, with a better visual connection between the courtyard and the central zone, which is cleared, allowing an easier movement of the visitor through the place, and is reconfigured with a special furniture designed together with Hi-Macs.
Description of the project by José Manuel Sanz arquitectos
Considering the historical space as a demanding heritage, the aim of this project was precisely to recover the nature of the inherited historical space perception, barely altered since the intervention of Gómez de Mora and Tomás Román after the fire of 1672.
Thus, it was fundamental to understand two basic points that define the intervention. Firstly, keep the space defined by the granite columns mainly empty. Secondly, introduce a contemporary piece which would set a constant dialogue with the classical structure, not keeping the classical geometry. In this way it was important to value the mentioned classical building structure through a modern piece which was not formally and materially related to the classical building.
This modern twisting piece, made with Hi-Macs, works as an argument for the generation of different kind of spaces which define the necessary program of a tourist information office and connect, at the same time, the two existing spaces in the historical building; the columns room and the courtyard.
