What used to be the Helga de Alvear Visual Arts Center, inaugurated in 2010 and whose headquarters were limited to a renovated modernist building, has been transformed and expanded and renamed the Helga de Alvear Museum of Contemporary Art.

The new building, designed by the architecture studio of Emilio Tuñón, has been awarded various international awards and is nominated for the 2022 Mies Van der Rohe Award.

One of the most anticipated and significant museums at an international level this year, it will house a cultural institution that allows to fulfill the dream of its promoter: to bring contemporary art closer to current society and future generations. The creation of this museum has been possible thanks to the support of the Junta de Extremadura and other Extremadura public administrations.
“To think that this has been achieved gives me a joy that I cannot describe. I want Cáceres and Spain to be able to enjoy this museum. I am happy”, declared in Cáceres the gallery owner and collector Helga de Alvear. From the Museum that bears her name, she has expressed her gratitude to all the actors involved in the project who have made it possible.

“I am delighted that this Museum is finally finished. We have been exhibiting works from my collection in Cáceres for ten years, but now many of these works will be seen for the first time. It is a collection that comes from many years of traveling, which has been made little by little”, she explained.
 
Helga de Alvear. Photograph by Luis Asín.

Through video conference, Emilio Tuñón has described the new building as "a magic box", congratulating himself that the project has finally come to fruition. Tuñon has described the project as an example of discreet architecture,
 
"that thinks that the important thing is not to attract attention, but to carefully welcome the pieces it has inside, in this case the very beautiful, very important Helga de Alvear Collection, but also to the people who will be able to visit it”.

For the opening exhibition, José María Viñuela, curator of the Collection and general curator of the opening acts, has had the challenge of selecting some 200 works: approximately 5% of the total Collection that Helga de Alvear will donate to the institution.

“The first problem was to solve the question of capacity: what fits and what has to fit. I have been introducing and defining specific spaces that also revolve around video rooms and large-scale works. What is inside the museum has never been seen in Cáceres”, said the curator.

During this year the Museum will offer free access, guided tours, accessible activities and other proposals to bring contemporary art to all audiences with hygiene measures that guarantee a safe culture.

More information

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Venue / Adress
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Helga de Alvear Foundation Visual Arts Center. C/ Pizarro,8. Cáceres - 10003. Spain.
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Opening
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February, 26th of 2021.
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Schedule
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T.- +34 927 62 64 14
e.- general@fundacionhelgadealvear.es
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Emilio Tuñón Álvarez (b. Madrid, January 1, 1959) is an architect from ETSAM since 1981, PhD in Architecture since 2000 and a Professor of Architectural Projects at the School of Architecture of Madrid since 2016. In 2022 he was awarded the National Architecture Prize. In 2014 he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts by the Spanish government, the Mies van der Rohe Prize 2007, the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture 2007, the Spanish National Architecture Prize 2003 and the FAD Awards 2001, 2007 and 2011.

In 1992 he founded, with Luis M. Mansilla, Mansilla + Tuñón Arquitectos, whose most representative works are: the Gastropabellón in Zurich (2017), the Museum of the Royal Collections in Madrid (2016), the Relaix Chateaux Atrio in Cáceres (2012), the MUSAC in León (2007), the Documentary Center «El Águila» in Madrid (2003), the Auditorium of León (2003), the Museum of Castellón (2000) and the Museum of Zamora (1996).

In 1993, Emilio Tuñón founded the CIRCO cooperative of thoughts together with Luis Moreno Mansilla and Luis Rojo, editing a publication of the same name, which was awarded the prize of the III Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Engineering, the C.O.A.M prize and the special FAD 2007 critics' prize.

After the death of Luis M. Mansilla (February 22, 2012), Tuñon worked in his studio as Tuñon Arquitectos, going on shortly thereafter (2015) to found the Tuñón y Albornoz Arquitectos studio together with Carlos Martínez Albornoz.

Emilio Tuñón is currently Professor of the Department of Architectural Projects at the School of Architecture of Madrid (E.T.S.A.M) and has been a visiting professor at numerous universities: Jean Labatout Professor at the Princeton University School of Architecture, Eliot Noyes Professor at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, visiting professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, and the Städelschule in Frankfurt.

Emilio Tuñón's work has been recognized, among other awards, with the following prizes: National Architecture Award 2022, RIBA International Fellowship 2019, Eduardo Torroja Award 2018, Community of Madrid Award 2018, Spanish Architecture Award 2017, International Spanish Architecture Award 2017, FAD Award 2017, COAM Award 2016, Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts 2014, Mies van der Rohe Award 2007. Since 2007 Emilio Tuñón has been a patron of the Arquia Foundation, awarded the CSCAE Gold Medal in 2015.

With Tuñón Arquitectos and Mansilla + Tuñón Arquitectos, he was the winner of various public architecture competitions: First prize in the competition for the Masterplan of Kalaja e Turres Port, Albania (2014). First prize in the Down Town District Residental Tower competition in Dubai (2013). First prize in the competition for the Neubau Gastro-pavillon at the ETH Zurich (2013). First prize in the competition for the Wine Dome in Valbuena de Duero (2012). First prize in the competition for the Museo Territorio de Migraciones in Algeciras (2008). First prize in the competition for the Museum of Visigothic Art in the Vega Baja de Toledo (2010). First prize in the competition for the Energy Dome in the Ciudad del Medio Ambiente in Soria (2008). First prize in the competition for the International Congress Centre of the City of Madrid (2007). First prize in the competition for the Helga de Alvear Foundation in Cáceres (2005). First prize in the competition for the new building for the Lalín Town Hall (2004). First prize in the competition for the remodelling of the Valbuena area in Logroño (2003). First prize in the competition for the Museum of Royal Collections (2002). First prize in the competition for the Museum of Cantabria (2002). First prize in the competition for the Architectural Complex dedicated to the Sanfermines (2001). First prize in the competition for the Centre for Contemporary Art in Brescia (2000). First prize in the competition for the Museum of Fine Arts in Castellón (1997). First prize in the competition for the Auditorium of the city of León (1996). First prize in the competition for the Cultural Centre of the Community of Madrid in the old factory «El Aguila» (1995).

His projects and articles have been published in numerous national and international indexed journals, and his work is collected in numerous monographs, among which should be highlighted those published by AV Proyectos 65 in 2014 and the magazine El Croquis 161 in 2012, Mansilla + Tuñón Architects published by Edil Stampa in 2012, AV Monografías magazine 144 in 2011, Mansilla + Tuñón published by Electa in 2007, el Croquis 115-116 (II) in 2003, 2G magazine 27 in 2003.

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Published on: February 25, 2021
Cite: "Helga de Alvear Museum, ready to open its doors to the public tomorrow" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/helga-de-alvear-museum-ready-open-its-doors-public-tomorrow> ISSN 1139-6415
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