Carlos Sambricio Lecture on 18th-Century Housing at Prado

On October 8, 2026, at 18:30, the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid will host the Juan de Villanueva Conference, delivered by architect and historian Carlos Sambricio. The lecture will explore housing in the second half of the 18th century as a possible origin of contemporaneity in architecture. Sambricio, who holds doctorates from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, will discuss how historical interpretations by Emil Kaufmann, Nikolaus Pevsner, and Manfredo Tafuri have framed the emergence of modern architecture. He will reference a French traveler's 1785 description of Madrid buildings with up to eight stories, prompting reflection on the evolution of 'casas a la malicia' into rental housing. The event will take place in the Prado's auditorium, with free tickets available from 18:00 at ticket offices 1 and 2, and will be streamed live on the museum's YouTube channel. Sambricio was a professor of History of Architecture and Urbanism at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid from 1986 to 2015.