An international festival will open the doors and secrets of these 20 emblematic buildings in Zaragoza

It has been held in 60 cities around the world, from London to Mexico City, and now the international Open House festival is landing in Zaragoza from 24 to 27 October to open its 20 most emblematic buildings and reveal their secrets in an event that brings together art, heritage, culture and artistic experiences. From CaixaForum to Pablo Serrano, the State Library, the Teatro Principal or the offices of the Oboria Digital company (in charge of the impressive The Sphere in Las Vegas), 20 buildings, some new and others familiar, in the city will host guided tours, musical shows, discussions, film screenings, interactive workshops and, in short, unique experiences (all of them free) in the first edition of this festival.

For example, you can take a night-time visit to Mobility City and enjoy the 15 Rolls Royce cars in the exhibition “The story behind the myth” for free, discover the secrets of CaixaForum (discover where the works of art are kept or what the centre’s kitchen is like) and enjoy the screening of “Our Lovers” with a talk and discussion by the director himself, or take a guided tour of La Zaragozana.

All activities are free and take place in different sessions from Thursday to Sunday. However, it is necessary to register on the Open House website (www.openhousezaragoza.org) and select the ticket to guarantee a place.

GUIDED TOURS TO TORRERO, GIESA, THE EXPO SITE AND THE SEO

Among the “unseen” buildings is, for example, the old Giesa factory where you can learn about the building’s ins and outs up close. In addition, there is also a guided tour of the Torrero Cemetery, the Expo site or the Mudejar tower of the Church of San Pablo, which includes a Mudejar ceramics workshop held in the Parroquieta of the Cathedral of La Seo, with a visit to the crypt and a concert with the instrument “Las Bilas”.

There will also be a discussion at the Pablo Gargallo Museum with film directors Ignacio Estaregui and Gaizka Urresti.

SENSORY EXPERIENCE IN THE WATER TOWER

“Danzaqua and Torre de La Luz” is the sensorial proposal that can be enjoyed at the Torre del Agua within the Open House festival. It is a performance that combines vertical dance, ambient music and a lighting design that will highlight the interaction between light, shadow and architecture. In addition, as a complement, there will be a natural fragrance inspired by the elements present in the environment.

NIGHT VISIT TO THE MOBILITY CITY BRIDGE PAVILION

The guided night tour will take visitors into the Mobility City pavilion  designed by Zaha Hadid, where they will learn about the three height levels of the bridge and its three sections spread across its width. They will also be able to see the internal structure that supports the building, revealing some areas hidden from the public. In addition, the museum will be able to see the 15 Rolls Royce cars that are part of the new exhibition “The story behind the myth”, a journey through the evolution of the vehicle and its link to famous figures in history.

THE SECRETS OF CAIXAFORUM

In the activity “The hidden face of CaixaForum Zaragoza” , the secrets of the avant-garde building will be revealed. Visitors will be able to discover where the works of art are kept when they arrive at CaixaForum Zaragoza, what route they take to get to the exhibition hall, where the artists change before going on to perform, what the restaurant kitchen is like, as well as anecdotes and secrets of the centre. In addition, another activity will be held under the title “Film locations and staging”, with the screening of the film “Nuestros Amantes” (Miguel Ángel Lamata, 2016), which will include a presentation and discussion with the director himself, who will be accompanied by the producer Raúl García Medrano and the costume designer Arantxa Ezquerro, all moderated by Vicky Calavia.

FROM THE WAREHOUSES TO THE LIGHT OF THE PABLO SERRANO MUSEUM

Four guided tours, each lasting 50 minutes, will be organised to discover the Iaacc Pablo Serrano, where they keep the pieces that have never been released, the pieces that are never released or those pieces that we cannot see. It is a visit to the back of the warehouse, where a part of the city’s artistic history is hidden.

There will also be a discussion with Pedro Balaguer, lighting designer, to reflect on the functional and environmental value that light brings to architecture and how it is capable of determining the aesthetic interplay of forms at the IAAC Pablo Serrano.

MASTER CLASS AT THE STATE PUBLIC LIBRARY

The State Public Library in Zaragoza, located on Doctor Cerrada street, will host a guided tour by its director to discover the hidden face of the institution (the services it offers, the collections, the bibliographic and audio heritage, the historical press and those collections notable for their age and uniqueness). But it will also be the setting for a master class by Carlos Puente, co-author of the architectural project.

THE RATIONALISM OF THE CHE BUILDING

The secrets of the CHE, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, will also be revealed in several guided tours where, among other things, the control room of the Automatic Hydrological Information System (SAIH), the fundamental tool for decision-making in the management of the Ebro Basin, will be shown.

MUSIC AND RENAISSANCE IN THE PATIO DE LA INFANTA

The Patio de la Infanta is a treasure of Renaissance Zaragoza. It was the central part and the only thing that remains today of Casa Zaporta, the palace that the Jewish banker and nobleman from Aragon ordered to be built in 1549 for his wife and which has been housed in the central building of Ibercajá since 1980. Visitors will be able to take part in a guided tour of the patio. In addition, on October 27 there will be two performances of a very special concert by Pilar Almalé, which will incorporate the body language and dance of Laura López.

TRIBUTE TO PÉREZ LATORRE IN THE MAIN STATION

Among the activities, one of the most special will be the one hosted by the Teatro Principal in Zaragoza, with a tribute to the architect José Manuel Pérez Latorre. With this excuse, the COAA (Official College of Architects of Aragon), in collaboration with Open House, has organized a round table discussion entitled “Integration of the arts. Synesthesia between Art and Architecture in the work of José Manuel Pérez Latorre”.

The conversation will also refer to four buildings designed by him, places where different artists have produced their plastic works: Jorge Gay, in the Teatro Principal and the La Zaragozana factory; Fernando Sinaga, in the Auditorium; José Manuel Broto, in the Teatro Principal and the Aragón Pavilion at Expo’92 in Seville; and Pablo Pérez, in the Quema restaurant at the Pablo Serrano museum.

SALDUBA RESIDENTIAL

The Residencial Salduba social housing complex will have a guided tour with an audio guide. In this complex, 13 blocks of five floors were conceived, with two apartments per floor, of which only 10 blocks were finally built, since the three that were located in the central area of ​​the garden were eliminated.

The layout of these blocks creates large interior spaces with extensive green areas and ponds. Access to all the houses is via the interior green areas; general access is via Fernando de Antequera Street, where there is a small concierge building for the entire group.

LA ZARAGOZANA, A JOURNEY IN TIME

The La Zaragozana factory in La Cartuja opens its doors to the public in two stages. The bottling plant is located in the rural Zaragoza neighbourhood, outside the historic facilities founded in 1900, in the San José neighbourhood. Going from one to the other is like taking a trip back in time. If the beer is made slowly, respecting the most traditional times and processes, in the bottling plant a dizzying pace prevails, led by agile mechanical arms and modern conveyors that transport the beers.

THE MAGIC OF MUNICIPAL BRIGADES

During various visits, citizens will be able to discover all the work carried out by the Architecture Brigades of Zaragoza City Council, which play an essential role in the maintenance and conservation of the city’s architectural heritage.

The warehouses store the Cabezudos and Gigantes, the image of the Virgen del Pilar from the Ofrenda structure, and the floats that later go out in different parades. They are made up of technical teams and specialized workers who are responsible for carrying out interventions in municipal facilities, guaranteeing their good condition and functionality. The Municipal Architecture Workshops are structured in several sections that cover different areas of work, such as carpentry, masonry, electricity, plumbing and painting, among others.

FROM THE LAS VEGAS SPHERE TO THE NEW ROMAREDA

How are large projects such as The Sphere in Las Vegas or the new La Romareda stadium developed and conceived? Citizens will be able to find out the answers in direct conversation with their creators. In this way, the Zaragoza-based company Oboria Digital will open its doors to explain the development of architectural projects through programming and artificial intelligence, and its experience in designs in the field of large-scale digital architecture, including the video façade of the Burj Khalifa (Dubai) or The Sphere (Las Vegas).

Likewise, the architects behind the New Romareda project will explain their development as an example of intervention in a multidisciplinary space, with a very unique ‘atmosphere’. The discussion with IDOM professionals will then move to the “old” Romareda, to understand the scope of the project in situ. The IDOM consulting team, made up of César Azcárate, Diego Rodríguez, Eduardo Aragüés and Antonio Lorén, will carry out four visits of around 90 minutes and a visit to the current stadium.

TEMPUS FUGIT AT DELICIAS STATION

The artist Néstor Lizalde will create the work “Tempus fugit” at Delicias Station, which is an audiovisual installation that plays with the perception of time, inviting the spectator to dissolve its linearity in favor of a surrealist experience. Upon entering Delicias Station in Zaragoza, travelers will encounter eighteen spheres that serve as projection supports where a series of clocks will be displayed that seem to move of their own free will, accelerating and decelerating their movements, even moving backwards in time. These spheres, beyond their physical presence, become canvases where time comes to life.

THE PARANINFO AND THE DIGITALIZATION OF HERITAGE

For its part, the Unizar Chair “Digital Places” will organize a conference on digital heritage and culture. The objective will be to focus on the city as an interface or intelligent surface. To this end, two working tables will be held with expert speakers in the fields of digital heritage (table 1) and digital culture (table 2).

THE DOME OF SAN JOSE

Rosin de Palo, several percussionists and Miguel Ballester, with his analog visual project ‘Maresía Lightshow’, will be in charge of exposing all the potential sounds through a concert, activating the materiality of what is built, in the Geodesic Dome of La Granja Park, in the San José neighborhood. In this case, the musicians and visual artists will function as expanders of the artistic dimensions of the dome, expanding its sound and visual properties, in an event that will be held on Saturday, October 26, with a maximum capacity for 1,000 people until full capacity is reached.