Saturday, April 12, 2008

Creative Squat


In the neighborhood of Malasaña in Madrid there's a pizza-shaped area that includes Ballesta and the streets around it. It is the "red neighborhood" of the city, a place where prostitution and crime was not something rare.

Till not too long ago, the area housed several brothels, an area that was also one of the most beautiful of Madrid because is located in the old part of the city, where places and houses are really old (some are centuries old) and full of history.

Now some of those brothels have been bought by Triball (Triangulo Ballesta.- Ballesta Triangle) and donated for a month, under the name "Okupación Creativa Ya" (Creative Squat Now), to different artists and designers to promote the culture and bring fresh air to the area.
A total of 13 locations, among them old brothels, a dry cleaner and a meat shop, has been transformed into art galleries and upcoming designers' stores. A project that will last until May 10th.

These are some images from the improvised opening party at Maxluz (C/ Puebla, 13. Madrid) the artistic space by Lujan, Letoy and 100.000 Luciérnagas.

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En el barrio de Malasaña en Madrid existe una zona que tiene forma de pizza y que incluye la calle Ballesta y alrededores. Esta zona digamos que es considerada el "barrio rojo" de la ciudad, donde prostitución y delincuencia eran el pan nuestro de cada día. De hecho, hasta no hace mucho, la zona albergaba unos cuantos prostíbulos y lugares de mala muerte, y esto en una de las zonas más impresionantes de la ciudad, en el Madrid de los Austrias, donde las casas y las calles tienen siglos de historia.

Ahora se quiere revitalizar la zona y sacarla un poco del estado en el que se encuentra. La inmobiliaria Triball (
Triangulo Ballesta) ha comprado diversos locales, entre los que se incluyen antiguos prostíbulos, una carnicería y una tintorería, para la venta a artistas y diseñadores y así de esta forma traer aire fresco al barrio.
Durante un mes se han donado 13 locales a diferentes colectivos y diseñadores para que se haga lo que se quiera con ellos. La propuesta durará hasta el 10 de Mayo.

Estas imágenes son de la fiesta improvisdao que se montó en
Maxluz (C/ Puebla, 13. Madrid) el espacio cedido a Lujan, Letoy y 100.000 Luciérnagas.










silvia from potipoti




Letoy toys


14 comments:

Ashe said...

What an amazing idea! I love seeing an area with a notorious past being revitalized and transformed in to a creative and energetic space.

BeautyPopStar said...

I love Le Toys...

Ane said...

Oh, cool.

Mónica said...

Es genial para promocionar el arte en los sitios poco privilegiados!

Anonymous said...

I tagged you!

Anonymous said...

ahora
I tagged you!

roybot said...

wow that is bananas. i wish toronto had something like that.

modedorf said...

the letoy toys are great.

Elizabeth said...

This is a really cool idea!

Anonymous said...

Nothing like that in Barcelona! Cool idea ...

la femme said...

Wow.

I'm dying to see Madrid!

dreamecho said...

seems like such a creatively stimulating place to visit!

i think converting these brothels into positive places like these is a good thing. though...i wonder if that eventually leads to gentrification/mainstream commercialization of an area...?

Bobble Bee said...

dreamecho: the gentrification is definitely something the people behind Triball was thinking about. It seems they will take care on who they rent/sell, or that's what they're selling.

Someone told me in Pasarela Abierta that one of the people behind Triball is supermodel Almudena Fernandez... isn't it amazing?? a fashion head on this project!! :)

NATRIBU said...

Los juguetes son muy chulos!