Parc de la Villette may have risen from Paris' old slaughterhouse and meat market, but in Madrid its old meat district has had a slow evolutionary transformation. Firstly some of the disused buildings were turned in to offices and administrative buildings in the 1880s. From around 1990 work began on the Ballet Nacional de España and Compañía Nacional de Danza and was completed about 6 years later.
The most recent conversion by the architects Churticaia + Quadra-Salcedo has created the Cineteca Matadero. The building provides a centre for all aspects of audio visual production and hopes to become a centre for documentary film making in Spain.
At the heart of the proposal is a glowing basket that clads the central staircase connecting the floors of the building. It gives a dramatic orientation to dimly lit spaces lined in dark wood. Black painted woven walls also surround the auditoria admitting some light but not enough to detract from the cinema screens.
Facilities include an exhibition space for work in film and TV professionals, a multi purpose hall, an document archive, the Plató, the Cantina and, finally, the Cineteca Patio where screenings can occur of a more experimental nature.
