CaixaForum Madrid

About the museum

CaixaForum Madrid opened in 2008 as a 21st-century sociocultural centre on the Paseo del Prado, very close to the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofía Museum. It occupies the former Mediodía power station, an industrial building that the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron transformed into a cultural space. Its design gives the complex the appearance of a building floating above the entrance square.

One of its hallmarks is the vertical garden of about 460 m², the work of the botanist Patrick Blanc, which can be seen from the square. The centre has more than 2,000 m² of exhibition rooms, an auditorium with 322 seats and several multipurpose rooms for lectures and activities.

CaixaForum Madrid is devoted mainly to temporary exhibitions and complements its programme with concerts, lectures and educational activities. It also has a shop, a restaurant-café and a service of guided tours of the building and the exhibitions. What can be visited on a permanent basis is the building itself and its vertical garden.

Highlights

• Former Mediodía power station building remodelled by Herzog & de Meuron
• Vertical garden by Patrick Blanc, about 460 m²
• More than 2,000 m² of exhibition rooms
• 322-seat auditorium and multipurpose rooms
• Laie shop and restaurant-café in the centre

Permanent exhibition

• Jardín vertical y edificio de Herzog & de Meuron – Patrick Blanc's vertical garden of about 460 m² and the architecture of the former Mediodía power station can be discovered on a guided tour of the building.

Founded

2008

Operated by

Fundación Bancaria «la Caixa»

Admission & discounts

Free admission: 15 May (San Isidro), 18 May (International Museum Day) and 9 November (Nuestra Señora de la Almudena).

General admission gives access to all the exhibitions and can be bought in advance on the website. CaixaBank customers and holders of the European Youth Card also enter free.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Step-free access to all spaces, with wheelchairs lent (subject to availability), adapted toilets and reserved spaces in the auditorium. Lifts with Braille buttons and an induction loop in the auditorium. Sign-language tours and cognitive-accessibility tours require prior registration. Guide dogs and assistance dogs are admitted.

Kids & families

• Baby changing facilities

Children under 16 enter the exhibitions free. There is a baby-changing table and a nursing room.

Getting there & parking

Nearby BiciMAD stations: Calle de Almadén, 38 and Cuesta de Claudio Moyano, 5. The centre is on the Paseo del Prado, next to the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofía museums.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Wi-Fi

Free Wi-Fi. Laie shop and restaurant-café in the centre. Cloakroom, information service and nursing room.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit