Carabanchel 24

In April 1914, Swiss painter Paul Klee traveled for two weeks around Tunisia with two of his friends. The trip to North Africa left a lasting mark on the 35-year-old artist that inspired the “foundation of a new color palette,” Klee later wrote. Almost a century later, Klee’s post-Tunisia multicolored pieces became the muse of this colorful apartment building.

Located five miles southwest of downtown Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, the Carabanchel 24 apartment building stands out with its vibrant green, blue, orange, pink, and turquoise panels. This six-story building has three apartments per floor. The building’s windows are situated on two levels facilitating its multicolored checkerboard appearance. 

Paul Klee’s passion for color inspired architect Rafael Cañizares Torquemada to create this vibrant structure. Built in the 2000s, the building comprises 18 affordable housing units and has earned the moniker “The Spirit of Paul Klee.”

The structure can be found in the PAU de Carabanchel neighborhood at the intersection of Jacobeo and Catedral de Santiago de Compostela streets.  The structure is one of Europe’s most well-known affordable housing projects, and certainly one of the continent’s most colorful.