Hitler’s Enigma
Salvador Dali was a famous Spanish painter of the 20th century, and one of the leaders of the surrealism artistic movement. His work is mainly exposed in the Museo de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. In my opinion, one of his most representative and famous painting is “Hitler’s Enigma”, which is by the way exposed in this museum.
“Hitler’s Enigma” is an unique painting as it’s full of symbols and above all, very well painted. (Pierre)
There are four main venues in the Reina sofia museum: the Sabatini building, the Nouvel building, the Palacio de Cristal and the Palacio de Velasquez.
The Sabbatini building:
Founded as the Hospital de San Carlos in the 18th century, the building now takes its name from Francisco Sabatini, the architect in charge of its construction. The hospital was founded at the initiative of King Carlos III of Spain, as part of a series of measures to give Madrid the infrastructure necessary for adequate hygiene and urban order.
The building was left unfinished in 1788, it functioned as a hospital from then until 1965. After some years (1977) it was declared Historical-Artistic monument.
In 1980, Antonio Fernández Alba (Salamanca, 1927) remodelled the building to make it suitable for exhibitions. In 1986 it started to host temporary exhibitions as an art centre, to be transformed a few years later, in 1990, into the museum it is today.
The Nouvel Building:
In 2001, the construction of the Nouvel Bulding began , it was going to be the “shadow” of the main building : the Sabatini building. It expands what the Sabbatini building does, without interfering with its central role. There are two big exhibition spaces, a library and a documentation center, there are also a bookshop, offices, eating areas and two auditoriums.
The Palacio de Cristal:
The Palacio de Cristal is one of the two exhibition venues that Museo Reina Sofía has in Madrid’s largest and best-known city park, Parque del Buen Retiro. It was built by architect Velazquez Bosco in 1887. We have a surprising effect made by a combination of cast iron and glass areas. It was originally made to be a greenhouse. Since 1990, it hosted specific projects by comptempory artists.
(Théo)
Salvador Dalí was a Spanish painter who was born on 11th of May 1904 and who died on 23rd of January 1989. He is part of the surrealistic movement, surrealism is a cultural movement who began in the early 1920s.
Dalí painted The Persistence of Memory, one of his most recognizable works, in 1931. First shown at the Julien Levy Gallery in 1932, the painting has been in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1934.
This painting represents pocket watches which melt like cheeses. He painted it to represent his fear of death, because melting watches represent the fall of time. In the middle, we can see a strange creature which looks dead.
When we looked at this painting for the first time, we thought of the global warming, because the landscape is a desert land, and the melting of watches makes us think of the end of the world.
L’exposition « Art & Artifical life » à Madrid:
Cette exposition présente les réalisation des vainqueur de la compétition « VIDA Art & Artificial life » de la Fundation telefonica qui se tient tous les ans depuis 1999. Tout au long du parcours, nous pouvons voir des bactéries génétiquement modifiées, des robots « bio-inspired » et des néo-organisme qui furent créés dans la collaboration entre des artistes, des scientifiques et des technologues. L’exposition coïncide avec l’anniversaire des 25 ans de la première apparition du terme « Artificial life ». L’exposition à pour but de laisser entrevoir les possibilités de création lors d’une alliance entre l’art, les sciences et les sciences humaines. 
Elle crée des connections entre le physique et le virtuel autant qu’entre l’organique et le technologique. L’exposition est divisée en cinq parties: « le code de la vie », « Robotique: contrôle et dysfonctionnement », « systèmes symbiotiques, la vie et communication » et enfin « membranes sensitives ». (Théo)
The Royal Palace: Entry fee: €8.00 without guide; €10.00 with guide. Otherwise known in Spanish as the Palacio Real, the Royal Palace was built during the 18th and 19th centuries, and is a monumental building.
The Royal Palace is maybe the top tourist attraction of Madrid. That is why, you would prefer to get awarded of its interests… The royal Palace, indeed, is the official residence for the Royal family, but today, it is only used for state ceremonies. The rest of the time, it is open to the public: the King Juan Carlo and the Royal Family do not live there, they prefer living in a more modest Palace: “Palacio de la Zarzuela” (on the outside of Madrid). The palace is located on “Calle de Bailén” (Street), in the West of the down-town. It is easily accessible from the Ópera metro station. (Nicolas G)
Our partners are:
1 ITIS PININFARINA technical secondary school in Torino (Italy)
2 Instituto de Educación Secundaria Alpajés in Aranjuez (Spain)
Since last September three partners have been working together on an eTwinning project “Industry & Robotics @ school”.
Since Jan 31st to Feb 5th nine Italian students, fifteen French students and twenty-five Spanish students will meet in Aranjuez. French and Italian students will be hosted by Spanish students.
During this exchange students will have some international lessons and a robotics’ workshop at school. We will visit the Robotics Department of the Madrid University and INDRA factory in Aranjuez. Students will also have the possibility to visit some museums, palaces and other tourist attractions.
Penser aux objets interdits en bagage à main (lire le document “information aux voyageurs” donné par les professeurs aux élèves)
Les élèves ont reçu les numéros de téléphones fixes et mobiles de leurs correspondants espagnols.
France – Italy – Spain exchange
Wednesday 30th of Jan 2013
8.45 a.m. meeting at the railway station (8 a.m. for students coming from LP2I)
9h12 TGV from Poitiers to Paris CDG, AirFrance Paris CDG-Madrid (15h25-17h30)
afternoon: Arrival to Aranjuez at about 8 p.m.
Meeting with Spanish students families at the railway station.
Thursday 31
morning: visit of the Robotics Labs at Carlos III University in Leganés ( by train and subway)
afternoon: Madrid with Italian Students (perhaps visit of Palacio Real de Madrid); return to Aranjuez at 7.13 pm
Friday 1st of Feb
morning: classes at IES Alpajés with Spanish and Italian students:
8.30 a.m. Arduino Workshop
10 a.m. English class (students’ presentations and discussions)
11 a.m Welcome breakfast with local authorities.
11.45 a.m. French classes with Spanish students of IES (with different activities)
13.25 a.m. Lesson of basic Spanish (1 hour)
afternoon: 5 p.m. visit of Museo Taurino of Aranjuez
Saturday 2: with families (Toledo ?)
Sunday 3: with families
Monday 4
morning: train to Madrid and visit at 10a.m. of the Museo Arte Reina Sofía
afternoon: lunch at Retiro Gardens and guided walk in the City center
Tuesday 5
morning: 9. 30 a.m. visit of INDRA factory in Aranjuez
afternoon: 4.30 p.m. visit of the Royal Palace & Museo de Falúas in Aranjuez
Wednesday 6
morning: Return to France
AirFrance Madrid-Paris CDG (12h35-14h40), TGV Paris CGD-Poitiers (18h09-20h41)
LP2I
The LP2I has a particular architecture with a shape of Delta. It has a moving ellipsoidal roof. Now, the school is 25 years old. The project of the Technopole ( including the LP2I ) started with the idea of René Monory in 1955. He was a really important man in France ( President of the Senate between 1992-1998 and three times minister and minister of education). (Nicolas)