Esfera, Piedra, Polígono
22 x 17 cm, 298 pages
Madrid, ES (2019)
as Vendedores de Humo
with Marta M. Legido
Editing and designing a comprehensive research publication that reconstructs the "ghost history" of a 1990s myth: the Armillary Sphere, a colossal, unbuilt astronomical monument designed by Rafael Trénor and Fernández Ordóñez. The book documents three years of investigation into the specific event of June 17, 1991, when the first stone was laid in Valdebernardo, a peripheral working-class neighborhood on the eastern edge of Madrid. Although the monument was never realized, its foundational story became a lens through which to deconstruct the broader landscape of 1992 Spain—examining the neocolonialism of the Seville Expo (original location of the monument), the corruption of Madrid’s tenure as European Capital of Culture (second location planned), and the aggressive urban speculation in Valencia (final location, also unbuild).
The publication is structured around a vast body of unpublished archival material, including blueprints and documents ceded by the artist Rafael Trénor himself, intertwined with personal photographs and testimonies from Valdebernardo residents collected through the Vicus Albus Association. By blending first-person investigation with archival rigor, the work creates a constellation of political discourses, neighborhood resistance, and forgotten Olympic mascots. Originally developed through a residency at La Colmena (La Grieta) and exhibited at Sala Amadís (2021), the project utilizes speculative and performative means to map the psychological and physical scars of late 20th-century urban "booms."
Project blog