On the 10th September 1992, their Royal Highnesses King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofía inaugurated the Reina Sofía National Museum Art Centre with a permanent collection which came to substitute the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art. To date, the artistic ground exhibited there has been constantly growing.
Perhaps it was the transferring of Picasso´s "Guernica" to the Reina Sofía for its permanent collection, which was the decisive milestone in it now being considered one of the most important contemporary art museums in the world.
The building which houses the collection was designed in the 18th century by the architect Francisco Sabatini to be built as a hospital, and which was later modified and extended on numerous occasions. At one point, it was the object of urban planning which included its demolition. In 1977, after much debate, this was declared an artistic historic monument. Its geographical situation in the city of Madrid - beside the Atocha roundabout, opposite the botanical gardens and close to the Prado Museum - makes this building an ideal headquarters for a national museum. The old Museum of Contemport Art was situated in the university area, far from the historic-cultural centre of Madrid. It was vital that if they wanted to house a painting as emblematic and famous as Picasso´s Guernica - exhibited temporarily in the Casón del Buen Retiro, attached to the Prado Museum - the headquarters of the museum would have to be more central.
Between 1980 and 1988, restauration work was started by Antonio Fernández Alba and finished by José Luis Iñiguez de Ozoño and Antonio Vázquez de Castro. Its three famous transparent lift towers were designed in collaboration with the English architect, Ian Ritchie, and which now give a modern image to the building.
The museum has been extended in 2005, with new exhibition areas. The area devoted to the permanent collection has been extended by more than 50%, making the Reina Sofia one of the largest contemporary art museums in the world today. The extension comprises three buildings, mainly dedicated to temporary collections. They also house one auditorium with capacity for 500 people and another smaller one with 200 seats, along with a large arts and humanities library.
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