manuel alvarez diestro photographs urban extensions along the outskirts of madrid

Manuel Alvarez Diestro Documents Madrid’s Expanding Edge

In his latest photography series, Manuel Alvarez Diestro captures the expansion of new residential developments on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. With a population of 3.5 million within city limits and close to 7 million in the metropolitan area, Madrid is undergoing a significant construction boom. As the Spanish capital experiences sustained demographic growth, driven by internal migration and international arrivals, new urban developments are emerging rapidly to meet housing demand and to reshape the city’s periphery. Alvarez Diestro, known for documenting the rise of new cities in Asia and the Middle East, presents a visual investigation of vernacular architecture in the midst of transformation.

new residential developments with cranes | all images by Manuel Alvarez Diestro

A geographical mapping of Madrid’s urban expansion

Photographer Manuel Alvarez Diestro’s images juxtapose emerging architectural forms with the arid landscapes of central Spain, revealing how these new structures assert themselves in the terrain and begin to form spatial dialogues with each other and with their natural surroundings. Diestro walked long distances to capture the evolution of these spaces across seasons, from the dry summer to the rare snowfalls of Madrid’s winter. The photographer conceived this series as a temporal and geographical mapping of Madrid´s urban expansion. This work focuses on the rapidly growing areas of Valdebebas next to Madrid´s international Airport, Tres Cantos in the North, and El Cañaveral in the East, three key urban extensions situated on the fringes of Madrid. 

skyscrapers framed by construction cranes

isolated tree against new housing developments

intervened terrain against residential housing developments

horizontal progression of new buildings, rock and crane

new developments in the distance co-existing with forest

new housing developments coexist at various stages of construction

overlapping housing structures

progression of new housing blocks is juxtaposed with newly cleared land for construction

new residential street blocks set against the backdrop of skyscrapers

new residential developments with cranes against dusk sky

project info:

name: New residential developments on the outskirts of Madrid

photographer: Manuel Alvarez Diestro | @m.a.diestro

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edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom