Tabacalera, located on Paseo de las Artes and considered a cultural landmark and a symbol of free expression for Madrid's people, has been forgotten. This project shows the metamorphosis of industrial heritage by transforming the 18th-century tobacco factory into a new multifunctional arts centre.
The proposal approaches the building, improving its urban character without diminishing its historical presence, the most evident exterior alteration being a 35 m high scenic tower that rises above one of the old galleries that configured the interior space in an orderly fashion.
At first view, the building appears to be what it was, conserving its industrial façades intact. However, a small cube emanates from the interior, announcing that Tabacalera is back in operation.
By intervening in the central courtyards to create a large multifunctional space, the building becomes a living organism.
Through two plazas connected by an urban gallery that crosses the building and invites pedestrians to enter, the building becomes urban, and the art extends outwards, becoming public and accessible.
The squares, designed as organic, stepped topographies that bridge the natural slope of the land, are capable of accommodating a wide audience, providing space for large outdoor cultural/sporting social events.
Inside, on either side of the scenic tower (formerly occupied by the Tabacalera courtyards) are two large multifunctional rooms capable of working together or separately. The intervention is carefully inscribed in its place, but with a certain autonomy according to its internal configuration laws.
This space is covered by a large three-dimensional structure strategically designed to be accessible and to generate large skylights, which gives great possibilities to its interior (dark rooms, illuminated rooms, hanging of technical or exhibition material...) Moreover, thanks to its system of dynamic topographies using the Spiralift - a system of mobile seats - it allows the space to be configured according to the activity.
Two equipped walls attached to the main hall structure the rest of the building's uses, which are directed outwards according to public and private gradients: artists' residences, classrooms, exhibition spaces, a restaurant, training rooms...
Thanks to the versatility of the solutions proposed, the building becomes a living, multifunctional organism capable of accommodating different publics and functions. The old tobacco factory of Madrid takes up life again inside it to become a space open to change where life does not stop, it transforms itself.
