La Caja Magica

The great expectations

text: Ivaylo Haralampiev
photos: Georges Fessy

Even before it was completed, the project for the Olympic tennis complex in the Spanish capital got e very melodious and evoking-fairy-tale-associations name
– La Caja Magica, or The Magic Box. “The Magic Box is as magical as Spanish sports”, the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero claimed when the complex was officially presented. Among those present were the President of the Madrid Autonomous Community Esperanza Aquirre and the Mayor of the city Alberto Ruiz Gallardon. The sight of the three most important political leaders gathered in the Spanish capital, seated on chairs at the central court, is probably rather ridiculous from purely sports point of view, but on the other hand it is funny and positive. An unmistakable sign of an otherwise almost impossible unity.
The official inauguration of the complex on May 8, 2009, with a Lenny Kravitz concert, revealed the best kept secret of the plan for Madrid’s hosting of the Olympic games. La Caja Magica whose author is the French architect Dominique Perrault conclusively confirmed its image of a project which is lustrous, expected and applauded according to its merits.

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