Alhacena

Designed by Jorge Penadés in 2026, Alhacena (Pantry) comes into being in response to these questions. Inspired by the kitchen as the heart of domestic life — a place to come together, learn, work and share — this room introduces, for the first time, a domestic facet into the exhibition route of the Museo Reina Sofía’s Collection. Contemporary Art: 1975–Present, offering a space in which to stop, converse and inhabit the museum differently.  

Built from discarded wooden boards, this intervention transforms surplus material into a continuous, twenty-nine-metre structure combining storage, encounter and rest. The panels have been worked upon to recover and leave the characteristic texture of poplar wood visible, stressing the beauty of a material customarily hidden on wooden panels.   

Developed by the Museo Reina Sofía and MANERA Magazine, this project comprises materials, furniture, lighting and textiles from Spanish companies, showing the potential of contemporary design as a tool of innovation, sustainability and circularity.