BRITISH architect Norman Foster is behind plans to extend Madrid's iconic El Prado art museum, one of the capital's 'big three' along with the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen-Bornemizsa.
Foster & Partners' Madrid branch co-director Taba Rasti, and Norman himself explained their expansion project whilst presenting their planned renovation of the Barclays building, which will be renamed the Axis building and will become a super-modern glass-and-chrome tower.
Ms Rasti said extending the Salón de Reinos in the Prado will start in 2019 and that the project is 'very exciting for Norman', who would be leading it along with Spanish architect Carlos Rubio.
The Prado museum's director Miguel Falomir was expecting the extension works to start this coming October, but said earlier this year that unless the city's annual budget increased, nothing was likely to happen until 2019.
Public funding is being reviewed with a view to providing more cash to the Prado for its expansion.
Photograph of proposed extension of Madrid's El Prado museum by Norman Foster of Foster & Partners
