Matadero Madrid: ruina moderna, ciudad de las artes

Elva Araceli González Juárez

Authors

Elva Araceli González Juárez Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Keywords:

Matadero Madrid, performing space, modern ruin, reuse of spaces, non-theatre space, city of the arts

Abstract

In the mid-20th century theatre creators such as Artaud, Grotowski and Brook, driven by a different vision of the mise-en-scène, developed major reflections on the performing space, which took them to use abandoned spaces for their productions. In some cases, this led to the recovery of those places for the city because multiple aesthetic, functional and social qualities were found in them. Today the phenomenon of modern ruins, spaces which in their time were epitomes of the ideals of modernity and are now in a state of abandonment, is being defended by contemporary architecture. The article explores how these notions fuse with the history of Matadero Madrid to forge a new paradigm that goes beyond the idea of an urban site devoted to theatre activity: the city of the arts.

Author Biography

Elva Araceli González Juárez, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Architect and master’s degree holder in Habitat Sciences from the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Mexico. She has undertaken studies in classical and contemporary dance and in theatre; hence her interest in analysing the phenomenon of the performing space. She is currently a doctoral student in Theory and History of Architecture at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.