Seven Labyrinths from Madrid

Location: Architecture Forum Aedes am Pfefferberg, Christinenstr. 18-19, 10119 Berlin

Exhibition dates: 17. April – 4. June 2009

Opening: Friday, 17. April 2009, 20 Uhr

Opening hours: Tue-Fri 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Sat-Sun 1 p.m.-5 p.m.

In the installation entitled SEVEN LABYRINTHS FROM MADRID, curated by Spanish architect Begoña Diaz-Urgorri, the city is understood as a labyrinth-experience, where reality and fiction meld, where it is impossible to predict a possible sequence, where an image of unfoldedness and hiddeness appears.

Standing out from more traditional architectural exhibitions, the installation explores various attitudes toward the city, based on idea of the LABYRINTH. The exhibition stages a journey through the notion of the labyrinth from the perspectives of architects from Madrid with different approaches to the same original idea. The Labyrinth, just as the city, is not merely a spatial expression but a temporal one. Amid detours and turns, the duration of our sojourn depends on two factors: the complexity of the design as much as our intelligence or intuition. Inside the labyrinth/city, we are subject to a range of options with an unpredictable outcome.

Collectively, the spatial installations convey an impression of recent approaches in Spanish architecture and urban planning. Integrated in the Labyrinth are buildings and Projects of these selected offices from Madrid: Maria Jose Aranguren and Jose Gonzalez Gallegos, Dario Gazapo and Concha Lapayese, Carmen Martinez Arroyo and Rodrigo Pemjean, Jose Luis Esteban Penelas, Beatriz Matos and Alberto Martinez Castillo, Alvaro Soto and Javier Maroto, and Begoña Diaz-Urgorri

“Labyrinth on labyrinth, labyrinth of labyrinths, palimpsest of labyrinths concealing an earlier wisdom. Traces of other labyrinths on the same surface, erased specifically to make room for the contemporary. The city.” Begoña Diaz-Urgorri

The architects attend the opening.

An exhibition catalogue will be published.


Speaking at the opening reception will be:

Kristin Feireiss, Aedes Berlin

Prof. Begoña Diaz Urgorri, Madrid, Curator


The exhibition is kindly supported by:

Universidad Europea de Madrid, Cámara, COAM, Andria


We cordially thank our Aedes cooperationpartners:

Zumtobel, ArcelorMittal, Busch-Jaeger Elektro GmbH, carpet concept, Axor hansgrohe