If there's one place I couldn't be grateful enough to visit last year's Madrid Openhouse event was Fernando Higueras' house-studio in the peaceful and picturesque district of Chamartín. Although it was very crowded for the event as it is quite rare for it to be open to public access, I really enjoyed the visit and I literally freaked-out when I experienced the true height of this underground house which is known as the "Hell-scraper" or "The Cave". Funny, isn't it?

So, when I found out Madrid-based luxury brand LOEWE did publish a new online campaign featuring Fernando Higueras architectural jewel as a background for one of their shoots, I knew I had to share it with you as part of the "Architecture and fashion" series here in Something Fashion.

Since Jonathan Anderson's arrival to Loewe's creative direction, the luxury brand has been involved in a cultural expedition to put the vanguardist Spanish patrimony into value. He accomplishes it with subtle interventions and photography campaigns taking place in Cuenca or Segovia, in the architecture of Javier Carvajal, or the abstract Ibiza of the 60's era. This season, Loewe presents its Autumn/Winter campaign through this photoshoot partially taken at this insolit cave. The spaces at Higueras' studio act as a perfect insolit, mysterious background to Loewe pieces, which are partially destructured in a space which is both contemporary and anthropologic.

OPEN HOUSE 2016 was all about learning and care to detail. I find incredible how my perception about architecture and detail has changed and evolved since the very first time I took part in a trip with my architect mates at the School. I can't believe already five years have passed since that first trip to Ticino and Milan area!

The more years I spent watching, learning and receiving classes about structures, design theory and history, the more I'm able to pay that attention to detail and be aware of everything surrounding me, specially when I go on a trip to places I've never been before. Besides, visiting buildings and places with a group of architect friends forces you to discuss, to watch carefully and see everything.
On this trip to the capital I had the chance to take it easily, making super punctual scapes out of the group to the Old Book Fair placed at Paseo de Recoletos; or to enjoy a tour visit to the Royal Tapestry Factory, which was amazing. This was a visit to Madrid in which I had so much time for myself, to stroll around the city and really feel the independence I'm looking for on a near future. There's so much to think about once you cross the subway entry and start walking downstairs to take the train which will lead you to the outside neighbourhoods of the city, to look up an specific building you've wanted to visit for a long time.

Open House festival in Madrid also let me plot and start the thinking process on some new ideas and coming posts for the blog, as well as discovering new guest for the "Behind the design" series which I'll be sending emails to and getting in touch as soon as possible. It's all about learning!

Madrid is such an exciting city! There are lots of interesting and amazing things happening there every day, every week. There's so much to do, so many miles to stroll around and still so many places I've got on my agenda to see, that every time I go on a trip there, I'm seeing a completely different city.

Last week during Madrid's Architecture Week there was held OPEN HOUSE 2016 at the city, which is a festival where some rare buildings are open to regular public for them to visit on a tour, and some architecture studios at the capital are able to be visited too. So, I got the amazing chance to meet some of my favorite architects and teams in Madrid, as they showed students how they work and what they're up to lately. It was such an experience I shared with 11 people whom I know a little (some very close friends, others close friends of my close friends living in other Spain places and coming from very far) but these days I spent in Madrid provided me the opportunity to open up to new people, to learn A LOT, visit new places I had no idea they existed... Sometimes these are the kind of experiences which really make you to stop for a little bit, take some (needed) fresh air and see things from a very new perspective. 

I arrived home exhausted but at the same time so energized! Spending time on a city which is not your hometown although you've been there uncountable times make you feel more aware of your surroundings, stepping out of your comfort zone and taking decisions on a very short period of time. Perks of travelling with a huge group of people and realizing you also need your own space of time for yourself to enjoy the city, to stroll around with no particular destination and let yourself drift to discover.

Did you know about OPEN HOUSE Festival? What's your favorite part of being lost in a city you already know as the back of your hand?

Held at the old Madrid Delicias train station there's another museum people (unfortunately) don't usually talk much about in this city. Also discovered by the TV series ''El tiempo entre costuras'' (seriously, that series turned me totally nuts not only by the story and attrezzo, but also the locations!!) it's a spot in the city you mustn't lose.

Away from the street noise but not further to the city centre, there's this location where you can find trains and railway machines from the very beginnings of 20th Century. And why not, one of the best places not only to know more about the world and own country history, but also (and not less important) for taking vintage inspired pictures!

Absolutely needed: low big headbun, pointed toe heels and red lipstick. It was a bit cold in there as it was early in the morning, but it was pleasant to take this pictures along our way in Madrid. I just had to take my scarf and wrap it all around me. Did you notice the slight pattern mix?

The fun part about our visit was the Lego + StarWars Cosplay event we found there. Such interesting place for space ''jedi'' knights to fight for the universe peace, isn't it?

Madrid is such an eclectic city! Whenever you're walking around the city, you can find yourself in front of a super antique, iconic place and then walk up to the next blocks and find a skyscraper or a super technologic building. I also like the fact that subway or bus is very easy and fast to get anywhere on the city, so you always know at what part of the city you're in.

Near our hotel at Plaza Castilla was a giant shopping centre we were very curious about. It was surrounded by cafes and restaurants where we went to have dinner twice. The weather was so nice that it was difficult not to go up and down the city enjoying the air and the pleasant temperatures (as we had a heat wave here in Valencia meanwhile...). So, wearing comfortable shoes is a must. But it doesn't mean you have to put style and chic vibes apart!

You can wear a dressy and elegant dress with your low heeled shoes and still rock the city. I paired mine with this long sleeve red dress and the CH Sweedy bag. It's also fun to see how people have a different vision for fashion just some kilometres away from home. While I'm sure people would have stared at me wearing this on Valencia, no one cared on Madrid. My theory says it's because of the weather here, which is more harsh and makes people care more on what they wear. Isn't it curious?

I'm not a museum girl. I usually enjoy thinking about the whole building, how it is organized, and how the different expositions are placed. As an Architecture freak, I like to think about the structure, and the different paths you can follow inside the building. But I'm not usually really attracted to the collections itself: no matter if they're paintings, skyrockets or pictures, you'll find me easily going up and down the whole room, touching the walls or inspecting how the doors are placed.

We knew for sure what our first stop in Madrid must be: the Geomining Museum, discovered thanks to ''El tiempo entre costuras'' TV series. Required stop if you love antique atmospheres, or the perfect place to go with children. They'll enjoy learning about stones and the civilization's history (there're lots of dioramas, and dinosaurs and interesting things) while you enjoy watching at the breathtaking colored glass windows and imagining scenes from another era.

It's not a really known place by tourists, so it's not super crowded so enjoying the space or taking pictures is easy and you can almost breathe the quietness around. I'd have liked to wear a more ''vintage inspired'' outfit to the museum actually, because it was the best scenery ever but Madrid was waiting, and comfy shoes for walking were required!

I was wearing:

Zara dress
Local store sandals
Lancel vintage bag
Rayban sunnies

(Panoramic view of Madrid, from the ''Círculo de Bellas Artes'' building)

 

Crystal Palace on El Retiro Park. It was one of the things I was really excited to see on my trip to Madrid. It seems like we left the best things on the city for the last day. We first went to the ''Museo del traje'' (''Dress Museum'') that morning, because I really wanted to see at first-hand the magnificient dresses and styles from the XV century until nowadays you can find there.

I must say that it was horrible to find it. On the maps it says it's quite near a subway station, but they lied and we had to walk at least 15 minutes to it, under the heat of summer. The second thing I hated about it is that I couldn't take pictures on the inside (in some museums you can...) so I can't show you what awesome things I saw there folks... But sure, it inspired me to make new outfits to share with you, and mix new styles.

But, above all, what I most liked on this speed visit was the Crystal Palace on El Retiro. I don't know why, but I have always been obssesed with this place, since I saw it for the first time on a history book on school some years ago. It reminds me princesses and antique stories, nature and freedom. As on the whole trip, I decided to wear something light and comfortable because we had to walk a lot and stand a one and a half hour train trip.

And well... I'm very happy to announce you that... I'm already a Architecture Student! They accepted me, and hopefully on September I'll be starting my University year. I'm very excited about it.

 

It was on Gran Vía, a huge street where you can find lots of theatres and cinemas. Specifically it was performed on ''Lope de Vega'' theatre. I personally found it a bit tiny for the huge dimensions that backgrounds and costumes needed. The actors usually collide on the stage, wich was a pitty. And it seems like the theatre improvements were made to take advantage of every milimetre of space. The seats were pretty small and uncomfortable. And it seems that the air conditioning didn't work, because it was horribly warm in there.

Okay. After this kind of old lady complains... The performance was amazing. The music was excellent, and I fell in love with the costumes and the story adaptation. As you can imagine, it fas full of people. I think I would give it a 7 out of 10 in general.

For the event, I decided to wear something more elegant but still comfortable, with black glitter flats as I didn't know how much I was going to walk around the city. I wore the black vintage bag I've been wearing during all the trip (it's amazing to keep the camera and my stuff, but still not too big to travel). I paired this awesome Zara ocean dress (bought in sales! Broke my pact, haha) with a nude blazer, from Zara too because as sun started setting, wind became a bit colder.

I was looking for that dress since I saw it on the store, before sales. I felt very lucky, because there were only two or three dresses on that size. Then, they absolutely disappeared.

Plaza Norte is a huge shopping centre near Madrid. We went there on our second day of the trip, because we had heard about it, and we wanted to meet some friends of my mum to have lunch together. So we took the bus and in about 20 minutes we were there. It was very nice to stay in, because the weather outside was very warm, and almost impossible to walk under the sun rays.

I've heard it's one of the biggest shopping centres in all Europe. We went to ''La cúpula'', which is the mall inside the shopping centre. I mean, is the place where all the fashion stores and restaurants are (there are also furniture stores, and Ikea, etc. but they're all outside). What mostly impressed me when I entered was the decoration inspired on arabic and italian motifs. I have never visited it, but I've seen the ''Venetian Hotel'' in Las Vegas on pictures and really remind me of it. It was a cool visit, not only because of the shopping, but also for visiting new places and just take a look around.

To spend the morning there, and because my feet hurt (I've been since the weekend with terrible holes and injuries on my feet. It feels like I can't walk with any kind of shoes!!) I decided to wear this comfortable flat jewelry sandals I had on my closet since last summer. Unfortunately, it didn't work, because in the afternoon my feet were injuried as when I was wearing my flats or my heel sandals. What a pitty!

I forgot my mobile phone, and had no Internet there, so when I came back yesterday, I thought I would gone nuts with so many emails to answer. I'm preparing some collaborations and featured projects with other bloggers and some brands, some photography collabs with my best friend too, and some outfits planned!

In our first day, we went downtown to have lunch, walk and do some shopping. I love thrifting, and vintage style, so I visited some second hand and vintage stores on the city, and bought something I will show you very soon. I'm only going to give you a clue: I found a Max Azria dress. And I bought it. Let your mind imagine and you'll see soon! Thanks to our previous stays in Madrid, and to our underground maps, we didn't get lost and found whatever we wanted to visit. One of the places we visited was the Reina Sofía Contemporary Museum of Arts. It has many paintings of very known authors such as Picasso or Miró, and also antique pictures to see. I just loved the garden on the inside of the museum, you can see the pictures if you continue reading!