Five teams of architects apply for the reorganisation of the entrance area of the Alhambra

The projects of five different teams of architects from Spain and Portugal have been preselected, aiming at reorganising the entrance/exit area of the Alhambra. The selected architects are as follows: Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra; the firm of architects Cruz y Ortiz from Seville; Álvaro Siza from Portugal, together with Juan Domingo; Antonio Tejedor and Manuel Aires and the team of Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas from Granada and the office JLCG Arquitectos.
These architects have been selected among 41 entrants in this international public call for ideas, sponsored by the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife. Now, they are given a deadline to submit the scale models of their projects, among which the jury will select the best proposal.
The aim of this call for ideas called ‘Alhambra Atrium’ is the selection of the most adequate submitted project in terms of the best architectural quality and technique of adaptation to the surroundings, included in the design of the entrance area of the Nasrid monument, which receives an average of three million visitors per year.
Improving the integration into the landscape
The area to be redesigned is the existing Entrance Pavilion dating from 1996, which also was the result of an international call for ideas. The object of the project is the new Alhambra Atrium offering an adequate modern service required by the visitors to the Monumental Complex. The winner project of the selection process, whose second stage has begun, must keep to the terms of the Master Plan of the Alhambra, in which 2015 is fixed as target date for the completion of the project.