The building

Located in the heart of the city's commercial quarter, i. e. the pedestrian and centrally situated Principe street - MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo occupies what was formerly Vigo's prison and court (1880), a place closely related to the collective memory which constitutes one of the centre's main attractions.

The very first notion of creating a museum of contemporary art in Vigo arose in 1994, with Mr. Carlos González Príncipe as city mayor. Since then and up until October 22nd 2002 -date of MARCO Foundation's constitution - a few years of work were undertaken in favour of the museum during which the refurbishment project of Vigo's old prison and court building (1880)was designed and executed.

The development of the project - a rehabilitation co-financed between Vigo City Council and the European Union (ERDF), through the Programme INTERREG II SPAIN-PORTUGAL, was commissioned to the Vigean team of architects formed by Manuel Portolés Sanjuán, Francisco Javier García-Quijada Romero and Salvador Fraga Rivas, on March 24th 1995.

Special attention has been paid to the integration of the building into its urban context by surrounding it with a pedestrian area and building a staircase linking it to the streets on the back facade and to its environment.