PASAJE MUTUALIDAD - MUTUALIDAD ARCADE

1952 - 1955 Architects: Manuel Muñoz Monasterio / Manuel Manzano Monis Manzebo

The passage mutuality is a singular space, a rare jewel out of his time, in addition to being endangered.
This is a beautiful shopping arcade built out of time. The "arcades" born in France in the eighteenth century and were building during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In Madrid had several of those, of which very few remain .

This place born  in an unusual time (50´s) and their forms are very different from the usual.It was built by the Montepio Nacional de Previsión Social de los Productores de la Dependencia Mercantil (an insurance company) . It was called: ”Pasaje Mutualidad"  ("Mutualidad Arcade”).It is a most advanced aesthetic Spanish architecture of the 50s. It is divided into a large shopping area on the ground floor and offices on the rest, with a central square with plant cover V.

 

It seems the new materials available at the time, as cover glass block and tile reliefs on black stone.

The set of curves in the walls, as the great central panel in contrast to rectilinear geometries expressionist elements create an original space and disconcerting, with the addition of the mysterious atmosphere.

The vanguard showcases contrast with the classic streetlights. Modern materials with expressionistic curves, sometimes reminding the '20s and art deco.

 The gallery has two entrances, in Fuencarral street, and othe in Corredera alta de San Pablo street, each with a different treatment. Fuencarral facade has two different volumes (with different materials).Vertical tower with balconies and a horizontal grid of stone.

Corredera Alta de san Pablo street facade

Fuencarral street facade

This is a space with disappearing risk.Only open thanks when "Relojeria Monge" is open, who clean and kept in good condition the gallery. When is open, the "Mutualidad Arcade is a passage between the two streets.

 

We hope this unique space survive. 

For more information:

-Arquitectura de Madrid. Tomo 2 .Casco histórico. Edit: fundación COAM. (2003)

- Los pasajes comerciales de Madrid (2011).Carmen del Moral Ruiz, Edit:  

 text: Álvaro Rey

Photos: Manuel y Álvaro Rey