Dome

Interior, organic curving staircase clad in stainless steel with unfinished industrial looking ceiling; A modern art gallery (museum) in the center of Madrid, sponsored by the Catalan-Balearic bank la Caixa. It combines an old abandoned electrical station (Central Eléctrica Power Station built 1899) with new construction of floors which are encased with oxidized cast-iron, which was meant to be of a similar color and weight as the brick below. The removal of the base of the building left a covered plaza under the brick shell, which now appears to float above the street level. Next to it is an art installation of green plants growing on the wall of the neighboring apartment building by French botanist Patrick Blanc. This borders a 650 sq. meter plaza created by the destruction of a gas station. Beneath the plaza is space for a theater/auditorium, service rooms, and several parking spaces. Source: Herzog & de Meuron [firm website]; http://www.herzogdemeuron.com/ (accessed 8/9/2013)