Coser los recortes

Year: 2022

Location: Madrid, Spain

Typology: Residential/Cultural

Cuesta de la Vega is a sloping area behind the Cathedral of the Almudena in Madrid which connects the city centre with the river Manzanares. Historically it was the main access from west through Puerta de la Vega, one of the gates in the city wall. Nowadays it is a place that feels uncompleted: it has lost its historical function of access because of the city expansion further to the west, whilst the main connection happens through the nearby Calle de Segovia. Furthermore, after the construction of the cathedral, the public space of Cuesta de la Vega has turned into an overlooked backyard, despite hosting the only visible part of the ancient arab wall. The project aims to solve the three problems of the area: the connection between the two part of the city through a difficult topography, the presence of archaeological rests within an uncompleted manzana (the Spanish block) and the relationship of the area with the adjacent monumental buildings which form the west skyline of Madrid. Coser los recortes, or rather to stitch the cut-outs of the city. The programme consists in a research centre related to arab wall and in three different types of housing: one for tourism, one for researchers and one for hospitality.