Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain. A crown of thorns in Madrid

In 1961 the Director of Fine Arts, Gratiniano Nieto, held a competition to give national awards. Were offered to participants project a National Center Restorations. presents Fernando Higueras, who signed the plans in collaboration with recent graduate working in his studio and his name was Rafael Moneo.
 

The project won the National Prize of Architecture, said Alberto Humanes architect who worked precisely in this building from 1987 to 2012 and is now secretary of the Higueras Foundation.

In 1965, Higueras and Miró presented a project that kept the circular structure but replacing the buildings staggered by a 40 meters radius building, comprising basement and four floors, divided into 30 segments to be doubled to reach the outer bay. Two years after construction began. In view of the terrain, the architects decided to make the narrowest ground floor to set back the structure, which allowed cement to 8 meters deep instead of 20, as planned. This also allowed to finish the first floor cantilevered and give the whole a lighter look.

In 1970, when there were four months to complete and had already invested 92 million pesetas, 17 million more than originally budgeted, the works were interrupted. Then the general manager was already Florentino Perez Embid who raised dedicate the building to the National Center of Arts and Culture, forcing Higueras and Miró to make changes to the plans, in what would be a long succession of proposals. The building would be so affected by 13 different plans.

The huge building situation was paradoxical. The structure of 24,000 square meters, visible from the road to La Coruña, remained abandoned and protected by two guards while his fame grew. In 1970 he released the Center for Restoration drawing, drawn up by Antonio Lopez; in the following years, the building was visited by various groups of Architecture professionals coming from different countries, and in 1975 Congress of the International Union of Architects regarded him as one of the most interesting 24 Madrid.

During the 16 years it remained abandoned, they change the construction company and were considered for the destinations building as diverse as Central Library of the Complutense, Rector of the Complutense, Casa de Cultura, Open University, Constitutional Court, NATO headquarters and building annexed to the Moncloa Palace.

Finally, the draft devote to restoration center was recovered in 1984 and, two years later, the works that had paralyzed 16 years were awarded. By twist of fate, the contractor was again the same as it was built and, again, it was decided to dedicate it to host the newly formed Institute for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. We had to change the skylights as these had suffered from the abandonment of the building; also got glass covers the central cloister and five side yards; It was equipped with air conditioning, the entrance floor and first became the vertical walls so that the entire building remained open and communicated withdrew.

A granite sculpture that he would instruct Eduardo Chillida to place it on a sheet of water that would be in the central cloister was replaced by a bronze called Francesco, by Francisco Lopez, who stood on the steps of entry. On October 25, 1990, with Jorge Semprun, Minister of Culture, the building could be opened.

Higueras used a similar structure beams at the College Study Aravaca and in the city of Ciudad Real. "It is remarkable body of interlocking beams, especially on the second floor, which has been called the 'belly of the whale', where the skylights are doubled. On a visit I made a hundred Japanese officials, when we got to this point and without saying a word, began to clap," says Humanes. All these values were recognized in 2001 when the building was declared of Cultural Interest.

The Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain has such diverse services as architecture, archeology, conservation, Materials Analysis, Biodeterioration, preventive conservation or restoration of works of art, Archaeological and Ethnographic Heritage, Bibliographical Heritage Documentary and Graphic Work. Documentation Service has a photo library that includes the photographic archive Vernacci Ruiz, with the negative of J.Laurent and Moreno or Villanueva Loty or files, among others. This allows it to participate in such diverse projects as the restoration of the cathedrals of Segovia, Tarragona and Seville; preventive conservation architectural elements such as the cloister of Santa Maria del Paular or the facade of the National Library; the recovery of some examples of industrial or defensive architecture such as the castle of Buitrago de Lozoya or the walls of Toledo, or valuable works as the gate of the chapel Doncel Sigüenza or mural paintings of San Antonio de la Florida.