1.
Madrid
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile
2.
Community of Madrid
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The Community of Madrid is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and its capital is the city of Madrid, which is also the capital of the country. The Community of Madrid is bounded to the south and east by Castile–La Mancha and to the north and west by Castile and it was formally created in 1983, based on the limits of the province of Madrid, until then conventionally included in the historical region of New Castile. The Community of Madrid is the third most populous in Spain with 6,369,167 inhabitants mostly concentrated in the area of Madrid. It is also the most densely populated autonomous community, Madrids economy is of roughly equal size to Catalonias, which remains Spains largest. Madrid thus has the highest GDP per capita in the country, some notable discoveries of the region the bell-shaped vase of Ciempozuelos. During the Roman Empire, the region was part of the Citerior Tarraconese province, except for the south-west portion of it and it was crossed by two important Roman roads, the via xxiv-xxix (joining Astorga to laminium and via xxv, and contained some important conurbations. The city of Complutum became an important metropolis, whereas Titulcia, during the period of the Visigothic Kingdom, the region lost its importance. The population was scattered amongst several small towns, Alcalá de Henares was designated the bishopric seat in the 5th century by orders of Asturio, archbishop of Toledo, but this event was not enough to bring back the lost splendor of the city. The centre of the peninsula was one of the regions of the Al-Andalus until the 11th century when it became important. The Muslim governors created a system of fortresses and towers all across the region with which they tried to stop the advance of the Christian kingdoms of the north. The fortress of Mayrit was built somewhere between 860 and 880 AD, as a walled precinct where a military and religious community lived, and it soon became the most strategic fortress in defense of the city of Toledo above the fortresses of Talamanca de Jarama and Qal-at-Abd-Al-Salam. In 1083, king Alfonso VI of Castile conquered the city of Madrid, Alcalá de Henares fell in 1118 in a new period of Castilian annexation. The feudal and ecclesiastical lords came into constant conflict with the different councils that had granted the authority to repopulate. Specifically, Alcalá de Henares was under the hands of the archbishopric of Toledo, Castilian monarchs showed a predilection for the center of the peninsula, with abundant forests and game. El Pardo was a region visited frequently by kings since the time of Henry III, the Catholic Monarchs started the construction of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. In the 16th century, San Lorenzo de El Escorial was built, besides its growing political importance, it also became a cultural center with the foundation of the University of Alcalá de Henares in 1508. In 1561, King Philip II made Madrid the capital of the empire, the surrounding territories became economically subordinated to the town itself, even beyond the present day limits of the Community of Madrid
3.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
4.
Torre Picasso
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Torre Picasso is a skyscraper in Madrid, Spain designed by Minoru Yamasaki. From 1988 until 2007 it was the tallest building in Madrid, measuring 515 ft, Torre Picasso is located next to the Pablo Picasso Square, within the commercial complex AZCA along the Paseo de la Castellana. The Torre Picasso was part of a plan to build a block of modern buildings in the expansion area of northern Madrid. In 1980, Yamasaki received a license to building the highest office complex of Madrid, construction began late 1982, and the building opened in December 1988. In 2002, Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas regained control of the building through a purchase of Portland Valderrivas, FCC owned the tower until December 2011 when Pontegadea Inmobiliaria, a division of Industria de Diseño Textil, S. A. purchased the structure for €400 million. PER Gestora Inmobiliaria, S. L. manages the building, at its opening in 1988, Torre Picasso was surpassing the elder office tower Torre de Madrid. However, it was not Madrids tallest building, as the television tower Torrespaña completed in 1982, was higher with its 231 m, notable surrounding skyscrapers are Torre Europa, Banco de Bilbao Tower and Windsor Tower, now demolished after a fire. A wide round arch, resting on a steel structure for support, serves as the entrance. The opening under this arch is covered by a special security glass named STADIP, windows on floors 3 through 43 are grouped in twos divided by a slender pier. The groupings are divided by piers into 15 bays across the front of the building and 11 bays on the sides. The façade is covered in aluminum and the corners of the structure are chamfered. The top two floors are also windowless and the flares to form a cornice. Elevators, in three groupings, occupy a bay in the rear of the structure along with stairways, the tower was previously home to the Canal+ TV studios. It was featured in the last scenes of Alejandro Amenábars 1997 movie Open Your Eyes, lead character César commits suicide by jumping from the Torre Picasso. It was featured in the Crisis pilot as the Porter Pearce HQ though the action is supposed to happen in the DC area, media related to Torre Picasso at Wikimedia Commons Official website of Torre Picasso Torre Picasso at Google Maps Torre Picasso at Flickr
5.
Minoru Yamasaki
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Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century and he and fellow architect Edward Durell Stone are generally considered to be the two master practitioners of New Formalism. Yamasaki was born in Seattle, Washington, a second-generation Japanese American, son of John Tsunejiro Yamasaki and he grew up in the slums of that city and was bullied for his ethnicity. The family moved to Auburn, Washington and he graduated from Garfield Senior High School in Seattle and he enrolled in the University of Washington program in architecture in 1929, and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1934. During his college years, he was encouraged by faculty member Lionel Pries. He earned money to pay for his tuition by working at an Alaskan salmon cannery, in 1945, Yamasaki moved to Detroit, where he was hired by Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. The firm helped Yamasaki avoid internment as a Japanese-American during World War II, Yamasaki left the firm in 1949, and started his own partnership. One of the first projects he designed at his own firm was Ruhls Bakery at 7 Mile Road, in 1964, Yamasaki received a D. F. A. from Bates College. His firm, Yamasaki & Associates, closed on December 31,2009 and his first internationally recognized design, the Pacific Science Center with its iconic arches, was constructed by the City of Seattle for the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair. His first significant project was the Pruitt–Igoe housing project in St. Louis, despite his love of Japanese traditional design, this was a stark, modernist concrete structure. The housing project experienced so many problems that it was demolished in 1972 and its destruction is considered by some to be the beginning of postmodern architecture. In 1955, he designed the sleek terminal at Lambert–St. Louis International Airport which led to his 1959 commission to design the Dhahran International Airport in Saudi Arabia. During this period, he created a number of buildings which led to his innovative design of the 1,360 ft towers of the World Trade Center in 1964. The first of the towers was finished in 1970, many of his buildings feature superficial details inspired by the pointed arches of Gothic architecture, and make use of extremely narrow vertical windows. This narrow-windowed style arose from his own fear of heights. One particular design challenge of the World Trade Centers design related to the efficacy of the elevator system, Yamasaki integrated the fastest elevators at the time, running at 1,700 feet per minute. Instead of placing a traditional elevator shaft in the core of each tower
6.
Francisco Franco
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Francisco Franco Bahamonde was a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a military dictator for 36 years from 1939 until his death. As a conservative and a monarchist, he opposed the abolition of the monarchy, with the 1936 elections, the conservative Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups lost by a narrow margin and the leftist Popular Front came to power. Intending to overthrow the republic, Franco followed other generals in attempting a coup that precipitated the Spanish Civil War. With the death of the generals, Franco quickly became his factions only leader. Leaving half a million dead, the war was won by Franco in 1939. He established a dictatorship, which he defined as a totalitarian state. Franco proclaimed himself Head of State and Government under the title El Caudillo, under Franco, Spain became a one-party state, as the various conservative and royalist factions were merged into the fascist party and other political parties were outlawed. Although Francos Spain maintained a policy of neutrality during World War II. Francos regime has been called a fascist one, Spain was isolated by the international community for nearly a decade after World War II. By the 1950s, the nature of his regime changed from being openly totalitarian, by the 1960s Spain saw incremental reforms and progressive economic development. After a 36-year rule, Franco died in 1975 and he restored the monarchy before his death, which made King Juan Carlos I his successor, who led the Spanish transition to democracy. After a referendum, a new constitution was adopted, which transformed Spain into a democracy under a constitutional monarchy. Franco was born at half past noon on December 4,1892, at 108 Calle Frutos Saavedra in Ferrol and his father was of Andalusian ancestry. His mother was María del Pilar Bahamonde y Pardo de Andrade, Francisco was to follow his father into the Navy, but as a result of the Spanish–American War the country lost much of its navy as well as most of its colonies. Not needing any more officers, the Naval Academy admitted no new entrants from 1906 to 1913, to his fathers chagrin, Francisco decided to try the Spanish Army. In 1907, he entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo, graduating in 1910 as a lieutenant, two years later, he obtained a commission to Morocco. Spanish efforts to occupy their new African protectorate provoked the protracted Rif War with native Moroccans and their tactics resulted in heavy losses among Spanish military officers, and also provided an opportunity to earn promotion through merit. It was said that officers would receive either la caja o la faja, Franco quickly gained a reputation as a good officer
7.
Paseo de la Castellana
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Paseo de la Castellana, commonly known as La Castellana, is one of the longest and widest avenues of Madrid. It is named after an old fountain that used to exist in Plaza de Castilla, the Paseo de la Castellana is the continuation of Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado, and these three avenues vertebrate the north-south axis of the city. This project was brought to life again, after many years of debate. To the west of La Castellana lie the districts of Chamberí and Tetuán, and to the east, many business, banking and financial buildings are located along La Castellana or its immediate proximity, including those that house AZCA, Puerta de Europa, and the CTBA. Also, many of the most important embassies are located in or around the stretch between Plaza de Colón and Plaza del Doctor Marañón, between 1952 and 1980, the stretch north of Nuevos Ministerios was called Avenida del Generalísimo
8.
Central business district
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A central business district is the commercial and business centre of a city. In larger cities, it is synonymous with the citys financial district. Both the CBD and the city centre or downtown may also coincide with the central activities district, a citys CBD is usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings. The CBD usually has a density higher than the surrounding districts of the city. The CBD is often also the city centre or downtown, Mexico City also has a historic city centre, the colonial-era Centro Histórico, along with two CBDs, the mid-late 20th century Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco, and the new Santa Fe. The shape and type of a CBD almost always reflect the citys history. Cities with maximum building height restrictions often have a historic section quite apart from the financial. It has been said that downtowns are therefore distinct from both CBDs and city centres. CBDs usually have very small resident populations, for example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in the year 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however, CBD populations are increasing as younger professional, the Buenos Aires Central Business District, is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The actual area was the point of first European settlement and its north-south axis runs from Monserrat in the south to Retiro railway station in the north. Its east-west axis runs from Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve and Puerto Madero, the district is the financial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. Its port is one of the busiest in South America, navigable rivers by way of the Río de la Plata connect the port to northeast Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. As a result, it serves as the hub for a vast area of the southeastern region of the South American continent. Tax collection related to the port has caused political problems in the past. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index is likewise high by international standards, the term is used to refer to the business and financial area of a state capital city such as the Sydney CBD, Melbourne CBD, Brisbane CBD, Perth CBD and Adelaide CBD. The city centres of some cities, such as Townsville, Bendigo. More recently, in cities the city centre, which may or may not be distinct from the CBD, is increasingly separately identified
9.
Castellana 81
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For the original building, see Banco Bilbao Vizcaya The Castellana 81 is a 107m skyscraper in Madrid, Spain, within the AZCA financial district, and is currently the companys Madrid HQ. It was designed by the Spanish architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza and it was built between 1979 and 1981. It is one of the most important architectural landmarks of Madrid, with its striking ocher color and it has a rectangular floor with round corners, and the facade is made of continuous glass and steel, allowing exterior views from every point. The South, East and West facades also have steel sunshades in every floor, the building is supported on two concrete cores which also hold the utilities and lift shafts. Around them, the area is a clear working space without divisions. The building has three staircases connecting every floor plus 14 elevators, the foundation had to be designed having in mind that the underground commuter rail passes right through the lowest basement, having the building ride the tunnel. The inner core supports, at intervals, six prestressed concrete floor platforms. The first basement also holds the BBVA Auditorium and a public exposition space, there are four main utility floors, Basement 4 and Technical Floors 1 through 3, The underground parking is located on basements 1,2 and 3. In 2007 the bank sold it to the estate company Gmp. Contemporary History of Madrid - AZCA on UCM website, article about exposition on Building and Architect European Architecture Biennal, CSCAE
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Madrid, 
Comunidad de Madrid,
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