BIG's 185,000-m² masterplan transforms the concert grounds into a temporary city of eight themed pavilions and a central plaza, seating 50,000 per show. Built in just 10 days with lightweight fabric structures, modular scaffolding systems, and reusable components, Macondo Park explores how temporary architecture can accommodate large-scale cultural events while minimizing the need for permanent construction.
Macondo Park for Shakira’s Madrid Residency by BIG. Photograph by Adrià Goulà.
“Our design for Macondo Park is conceived as an architectural manifestation of magical realism – a temporary town celebrating Latin culture as a fusion of Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Rather than a conventional concert venue, Macondo Park appears as an explosion of color: a carnival of pavilions, each offering an immersive celebration of a different dimension of Latin culture – its food, art, fashion, literature, cinema and, of course, music. Together, they form a cultural landscape that connects East and West, North and South, transforming the concert into a city and the city into a celebration.
It has been a great adventure to work with Shakira and her team to transform her Madrid residency into something larger than a series of performances: to turn twelve concerts into a cultural movement. Macondo Park becomes a temporary manifestation of Latin culture – its energy, diversity, imagination, and its extraordinary impact on Madrid and on the world.”
Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG
Macondo Park for Shakira’s Madrid Residency by BIG. Photograph by Adrià Goulà.
The Macondo Park experience begins at the Es Latina entrance arches. Draped in brightly colored fabric, each arch marks the start of a color-coded route that extends into the park, guiding visitors toward a pavilion in a corresponding hue. Along the way, visitors can explore reading rooms, screening spaces, performance art and exhibitions, fashion displays, food markets, open kitchens, and ‘Macondito,’ which provides dedicated spaces for children and families. Designed around reuse from the outset, the structures can be dismantled and repurposed, and the pavilion fabrics are intended for a second life beyond the residency.
Macondo Park for Shakira’s Madrid Residency by BIG. Photograph by Adrià Goulà.
"Rather than a collection of isolated festival events, Macondo Park is conceived as a masterplan of experiences, a holistic yet heterogeneous world to explore and discover. Conventional temporary structures are recombined in unconventional ways, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary and creating a utopian, ephemeral and vibrant Latin world."
João Albuquerque, Partner, BIG
More than 500 tropical and Mediterranean trees are distributed across the site, creating shaded routes and pockets of greenery that soften the scale of the event grounds. After the event, these trees will return to local nurseries, where they will continue to grow and be used in future landscapes.
Macondo Park will remain active through October 11, hosting Shakira’s concerts and additional daily programs across the site.
