At the same time, and as part of the ceremony, the exhibition Manuel
Altolaguirre and Concha Méndez was also inaugurated and it
will be open to the public at the Residencia de Estudiantes until the
15th of May. This exhibition includes a selection of documents from Manuel
Altolaguirre and Concha Méndez´s Archive that has just arrived from México
and has just been deposited in the Residencia de Estudiantes by Paloma
Altolaguirre.
The restoration works, in the charge of the Dirección General del Patrimonio
del Estado del Ministerio de Hacienda, respond to the projects elaborated
by the architects Estanislao Pérez Pita and Jerónimo
Junquera. For these works, they have respected the first function
of the buildings as well as the identifying marks of the original construction.
Thus, the historical garden has been recuperated with its
"Jardín de las Adelfas", planted by Juan Ramón Jiménez, its "Paseo
de las Acacias" and its "Canalillo". The latter had totally disappeared
so a part of its path has been symbolically retrieved and black poplars
and other species have been planted.
The Central and Twins Pavilions have been
restorated keeping the rooms and the historical auditorium as they were
in their origins. At the same time, a special care has been taken in order
to adequate the nowadays necessities (computer plugs in the rooms, audio-visual
facilities in the auditorium, air-conditioning, etc.).
The Residencia de Estudiantes has 90 rooms
assigned to researchers, artists and professionals of the cultural environment
and to a group of scholarship holders. The restoration includes a work
of an underground enlargement that consists of a passage to connect the
four buildings. Through this corridor you have access to the Documentation
Centre located at the Transatlantic Pavilion and to new shared rooms form
the Central and Twins Pavilions (cafeteria and lounge-room).
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