Palacio de Velázquez and Palacio de Cristal
The Museo Reina Sofía’s two galleries in the Retiro Park, the Palacio de Velázquez and Palacio de Cristal, were designed by Ricardo Velázquez Bosco (Burgos, 1843 — Madrid, 1923) in the late nineteenth century as exhibition spaces within the context of the universal exhibitions, maintaining that purpose ever since.
Details of the main façade of the Palacio de Cristal, 2023
External view of the Palacio de Velázquez from one side, 2023
The Universal Exhibitions
Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, Europe was submerged in a rapacious expansionist and colonial race in Africa and Asia, with the universal exhibitions playing a decisive role in showcasing the “achievements” and discourses of the colonial powers. In addition to this end was the competition for technological and industrial development, the advances of which would also be displayed at these events.
The Universal Exhibition in London, also known as the Great Exhibition, was the first of its kind. It was held in 1851 in London’s Hyde Park and represented a landmark at the time as much for its content — industry’s cutting-edge creations and technology — as the building that housed the event: the Crystal Palace, designed by architect Joseph Paxton (Bedford, UK, 1803 — Chatsworth, UK, 1865).
The Crystal Palace was conceived as a kind of large-scale greenhouse made from iron and glass and was built in just six months owing to the prefabrication of modular elements, allowing for a new way of conceiving and constructing. In addition to its exterior, at once imposing and light in appearance, was the suitability of its interior, an open-plan, continuous space that was ideal for housing a multitudinous display such as this one.
With all eyes on the success of the London event, Spain, following other European countries, sought to hold two major exhibitions and build its respective venues: in 1883, the National Exhibition of Mining, Metallurgical Arts, Ceramics, Glassware and Mineral Waters took place, followed by the General Exhibition of the Philippines four years later, in 1887.
The Palacio de Velázquez
And the National Exhibition of Mining, Metallurgical Arts, Ceramics, Glassware and Mineral Waters
Spain was renowned during the nineteenth century for its industry and mineral production. With the goal of promoting and raising awareness of the development of this sector, both nationally and internationally, the National Exhibition of Mining, Metallurgical Arts, Ceramics, Glassware and Mineral Waters was organised and promoted by the then minister of Development, José Luis Albareda y Sezde, who appointed Luis de la Escosura y Morrogh as chairman of the organising committee.
The chosen location for the exhibition venue was Madrid’s Retiro Park, specifically an area surrounding the Estanque Grande (Great Lake). Ricardo Velázquez Bosco designed the official pavilions and the arrangement of the ensemble. Only one building, the main pavilion, today known as the Palacio de Velázquez, named after the architect, was conceived as permanent, with the intention that it would continue to host similar events. For the project, Velázquez Bosco turned to a team comprising the engineer Alberto de Palacio Elissagüe (Sare, France, 1856 – Getxo, 1939), the constructor Bernardo Asins y Serralta (Madrid, 1840–1897) and the ceramicist brothers Germán (Madrid, 1855–1886) and Daniel Zuloaga (Madrid, 1852 – Segovia, 1921).
La Ilustración Española y Americana, year XXVII, No. 21.
Madrid, 8 June 1883
View of a room in the General Exhibition of the Philippines, 1887. Photograph: J. Laurent y Cía.
Museo Nacional de Antropología
Within the site, in the form of a scaenae frons, the pavilion was located at one of the ends and was preceded by English-style gardens and a broad avenue, crossed by temporary wooden structures leading to a waterfall and artificial ponds topped off by a golden-domed pavilion. Velázquez Bosco’s design was clearly based on references — visual and constructive — of the work of British architect Joseph Paxton, as well as nods to other contemporary buildings such as La Rotunde, built in conjunction with the Universal Exhibition of 1873 in Vienna, and modern train stations.
As well as drawing from the technical and material possibilities afforded by the architecture of the time, Velázquez Bosco employed traditional mediums and languages, resulting in an eclectic work which threw into relief the use of iron for the structure, glass for the skylights and two-tone brick from Zaragoza for the façades, which also bear the striking ceramic covering that was designed by the aforementioned Zuloaga brothers.
The rectangular-floored Palacio is arranged into three quadrangular sections joined by stretches of galleries, with arches skirting the outside. The central section, rounded off with a barrel vault with a skylight at the top, is accessed via a portico entrance with semi-circular arches on ionic columns, preceded by a white marble staircase crossed by two effigies. The corners of the two side sections are finished with four advanced turrets covered with cloister vaults.
As reflected in the news columns of the time, the building was warmly received, and after the show had concluded it was used to house other exhibitions, among them the General Exhibition of the Philippines in 1887, for which another of the Museo’s sites was built in the Retiro: the Palacio de Cristal.
Exterior detail on the Palacio de Velázquez, 2023
Museo Reina Sofía
The Palacio de Cristal
And the General Exhibition of the Philippines
The General Exhibition of the Philippines was unveiled in 1887 in the Palacio de Cristal and supervised by the minister of Overseas Affairs with a target that was clearly propaganda-driven: strengthen the image of the Spanish Empire in colonised territories in the Pacific amid a period of decline.
The exhibition was ambitious in scope, and reverberated in the newspapers of the time, displaying not only objects from the islands, but also a group of between forty and fifty people from the region. Thus, the show would become the first example of a “human zoo” in Spain, a format of great popularity among the European colonial powers.
The Palacio de Cristal was conceived as a form of greenhouse to house vegetation from the Philippines. Velázquez Bosco would once again draw on references from the Crystal Palace in its construction, but this time more overtly by employing a similar classicist language, and with the same team that worked on the Palacio de Velázquez. The outcome is one of the most representative examples of iron-and-glass architecture in Spain.
View of the Palacio de Cristal, 1887
Biblioteca Nacional de España
The Palacio de Cristal was built in just five months on account of prefabrication, similar to the London building. It is noteworthy for its iron-and-glass structure and its spacious, open interior. It is arranged on a type of Greek-cross plan, from which one of the arms was replaced with the entrance portico. The crossing is rounded off with an eye-catching glass dome with a height of twenty-four metres, rising above the other parts of the roofing which are structured via cloister vaults, also made of glass. The building sits on a stone and brick base, adorned with ceramic friezes designed by the Zuloaga brothers.
Historical Development
The naming ceremony of Manuel Azaña as president of the Second Republic in the Palacio de Cristal, 1936
The exhibition activity and appearance of the two Palacios would remain unchanged in the early decades of the twentieth century, with the biggest event to take place within being the proclamation of Manuel Azaña as president of the Second Spanish Republic on 10 May 1936 in the Palacio de Cristal. For such an occasion, the glass walls were covered with curtains, turning the building into a chamber for the Electoral Assembly.
In the wake of the Spanish Civil War, different events were held to repair the damages caused by the conflict, and the back part of the Palacio de Velázquez was extended in the 1940s.
In the 1970s, coinciding with their declaration as National Historic Monuments, major restoration and remodelling work got under way on both buildings to remove affiliations and recover their original essence, in addition to consolidating and strengthening their structures. On the Palacio de Velázquez, for instance, the work took place in two stages, the first, from 1971 to 1973, carried out by Ángeles Hernández-Rubio Muñoyerro and Alberto García Gil, and the second in 1978, overseen by Fernando Chueca Goitia (Madrid, 1911–2004). Hernández-Rubio Muñoyerro was also in charge of work carried out on the Palacio de Cristal in 1975.
In the 1990s, the two Palacios became Museo Reina Sofía galleries after having been previously under the Centro Nacional de Exposiciones. At that time, architect José de la Dehesa Romero drew up plans to carry out new restoration work and to preserve their spaces: in 1990 work got under way on the Palacio de Velázquez and, between 1994 and 1998, on the Palacio de Cristal. Work to conserve, adapt and improve the structures and facilities of both buildings has been a constant ever since.
With both buildings, declared National Historic Monuments and sitting in a prime location, the Retiro Park, the Museo Reina Sofía completes it valuable architectural heritage and is committed to its ongoing modernisation and conservation.
External view of the Palacio de Velázquez, 2023
Museo Reina Sofía
External view of the Palacio de Cristal, 2023
Museo Reina Sofía