The international architecture and city festival, promoted by Zaragoza City Council, will hold its third edition with guided tours, itineraries, workshops and experiences that will offer a different perspective on Zaragoza. This year’s activities will allow visitors to discover the Air Base, the New Romareda, the Water Tower, the Bank of Spain, Pasaje del Ciclón, CaixaForum, the Aljafería and the new Emergency Helicopter Base of the Government of Aragon in Villanueva de Gállego.
Reservations can be made from September 7 at 4 p.m. through the official Open House Zaragoza website. Judging by how quickly places filled up in previous years, everything suggests it will be a success once again.
A CRYPT BENEATH LA SEO’S PARROQUIETA
One of the most unusual tours will offer a chance to discover La Seo’s Parroquieta in an unconventional way. The activity will combine a workshop devoted to its distinctive ceramics with a visit to the crypt.
During the tour, visitors will learn about the restoration work carried out on the Parroquieta’s wall 35 years ago and will be able to see the 54 different ceramic designs found there, along with their colors, geometries and some of their hidden details. The activity will then continue inside the complex.
The proposal is part of a Mudejar itinerary that will also include other emblematic spaces such as the Aljafería, the Monastery of the Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of San Pablo, with some visits accompanied by concerts.
F-18s AND A400Ms AT ZARAGOZA AIR BASE
At the opposite end of the spectrum will be one of the experiences likely to generate the most curiosity: entering Zaragoza Air Base. The visit will include the facilities of Wings 15 and 31, where their missions and capabilities will be explained. Visitors will then be able to view aircraft such as F-18 fighter jets and A400M transport planes.
The tour will also reach Hangar H6 of Wing 31, one of the largest in Europe, whose dimensions allow maintenance operations to be carried out on two A400Ms at the same time. The visit to the new Emergency Helicopter Base of the Government of Aragon, located in Villanueva de Gállego and intended for medical transport, Civil Protection and forestry management helicopters, will also be a first.
WORK ON THE WATER TOWER
Another of Zaragoza’s major icons will take center stage at the festival. Open House will offer a look at the work to adapt the Water Tower, which is moving toward its full reopening 18 years after Expo 2008.
The work being carried out there will make it possible to incorporate technology into the building and open its roof to the public through a viewing platform. Visitors will thus be able to see up close the transformation of one of the most recognizable buildings in the Expo site.
SEEING THE NEW ROMAREDA FROM THE CONSTRUCTION SITE
Another project currently transforming the city, the New Romareda, will also open a window to the public. The activity will take place in the area surrounding the new stadium and will explain, from the site where the project is being developed and the work is being directed, how processes are organized during construction and how its proper urban and architectural integration is being pursued.
FROM THE BANK OF SPAIN TO THE MYSTERIOUS PASAJE DEL CICLÓN
The program also includes a first-time visit to the Bank of Spain. During the festival’s four days, visitors will be able to learn about the building, its history and evolution, as well as the work currently carried out by the institution’s branches.
Another new addition is Pasaje del Ciclón. The tour will be led by Blanca Marín, the sixth generation of her family connected to the building, and will explore its architecture, transformation and the family legacy that has kept this unique space alive.
Zaragoza’s Conference Center will also join the program with a visit to its so-called "hidden side," where participants will be able to learn about its architecture, facilities and operation as a venue for major gatherings and events.
A FORMER CONVENT TURNED INTO A FIRE STATION
Another first-time addition will be the Convent of the Minim Friars of Victory, now home to a fire station and museum. Under the title "From Prayer to the Siren," the tour will show the building’s historical evolution and connect its past as a religious space with the daily activity currently carried out by firefighters inside it.
The visit to the hidden side of CaixaForum Zaragoza will also return, allowing visitors to enter areas that normally remain out of public view: from the route artworks take before reaching the galleries to artists’ dressing rooms, the auditorium control rooms and the restaurant kitchen.
Hotel Hiberus, Compañía de María School and Ibercaja’s headquarters will be among the other spaces included in a program that combines historic buildings, contemporary architecture and everyday places. The program also expands to other venues across the city. Teatro Principal will host a discussion on heritage and digital culture; the Mobility City Bridge Pavilion will offer a nighttime visit to its “hidden side”; the Municipal Brigades’ Warehouses will show how Three Kings’ parade floats are built; and the La Cartuja Wastewater Treatment Plant will open its facilities to explain how wastewater treatment works. There will also be activities at Espacio Ibercaja Xplora and Plaza del Pilar.
WALKS, MICROTHEATER AND NIGHTTIME EXPERIENCES
Open House will once again go beyond opening doors. The program includes a walk following the Gállego River from San Juan de Mozarrifar to its mouth at the Ebro, a tour of the funerary modernism of Torrero Cemetery, family workshops and activities linked to heritage and digital culture.
El Patio de la Infanta will host a microtheater performance accompanied by a guided tour, while CaixaForum will be the setting for the FILMOHZ International Short Film Competition. Hotel Hiberus will also host a nighttime experience featuring a dinner-cocktail, a DJ, vertical dance, music, poetry and videomapping.
The third edition will end in Plaza de San Bruno, where a percussion performance accompanied by analog projections onto the facades will bring to a close four days dedicated to discovering a Zaragoza that often remains hidden behind its own doors.
