In Madrid, a very special Desert City Center has been created by Spanish architect Jacobo García-Germán. An experimental garden centre for exhibiting, breeding and growing cacti, this Desert City research and development centre is situated in a stretch of former wasteland between a motorway and the foothills of the Upper Manzanares Basin Regional Park in San Sebastián de los Reyes. García-Germán’s firm Garciagerman Arquitectos designed the 16,000-square-metre facility which includes both indoor and outdoor gardens for cacti and succulents that require little water. The centre also includes laboratories and workshops, along with a restaurant and shop. The center is open to the public for an extraordinary experience, and showcases 400 species of plants from five continents, grown in beds recreating arid and semi-arid conditions. Some beds are covered in sand to evoke desert settings, while others are topped by soil or gravel. The interesting thing about this center is the amount of attention to detail present in the interiors and landscaping of the center. The client for whom the firm designed this center are a group of cacti enthusiasts and aficionados led by Mercedes García Bravo, a professional chemist and engineer, who purchased the former wasteland where the center now stands. She worked progressively and relentlessly to turn the Desert City Center into reality.
