As noted in my post on the Madrid airport, I didn’t think I would have much time to do any exploration. This first visit to Madrid was to collaborate with Telefonica on the FirefoxOS project. Being surprised not just once but twice is really tough to beat.
Traffic in Madrid is really something special- perhaps the worst I’ve experienced in any European city so far. And accordingly, we approached the Telefonica campus at a very slow snail pace which gave me a lot of time to appreciate the campus from many angles before setting foot.
The soaring planes above and between the buildings framed the sky around the campus to give a sense of place to what otherwise might just be an office park. The extra shade was welcome as the weather was already sweltering at this time of year.
I hope that more companies invest in these types of campuses. I was recently reminded about the upcoming Facebook Gehry project and I’ll be curious to check that version out as well.
Website: ArchDaily write-up from 22 April 2009
Address: Telefónica Headquarters, Ronda de la Comunicación, Madrid, Spain
ofallthespaces 