The proposal of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos and Gustafson Porter + Bowman is the winner in the invited competition to revamp the AZCA area in Madrid, a private initiative promoted by Renazca, an association formed by companies such as Merlin Properties, GMP, Monthisa and Alba Patrimonial, which own buildings in this financial complex. 

AZCA is the site of Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza’s BBVA and Minoru Yamasaki’s Picasso Tower, among others, and serves as a hinge between Madrid’s central neighborhoods and Chamartín. The Castellana Norte district is just a few metro stops away.

The other finalists in the contest to renovate and reactivate the important and complex place in Madrid were: Heatherwick Studio with CLK Arquitectos; MVRDV with GRAS Arquitectos; Rem Koolhaas–OMA with NEXO arquitectos and Battle i Roig; and West 8 with Porras Guadiana Arquitectos.

The winning scheme transforms the urban space to accommodate cultural and leisure activities, integrating it with a green expanse featuring native plant species as well as reviving old channels, which will work in combination with rainwater collection and storage systems to irrigate vegetation and fill fountains.

The competition was organized by Martha Thorne, dean of the IE School of Architecture Design, and Edgar González, who teaches there, with the architect Odile Decq and La Vanguardia architecture critic and deputy director Llàtzer Moix as advisers.