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Last school year we worked on a project that involved the UFIL Pablo Neruda and the children’s residence of Móstoles. The goal was to create our own space in the residence’ garden that catered to the children’s wishes. Throughout the entire year, we partnered with the designer Curro Claret and the carpentry group at the UFIL to develop the prototype of a modular structure that the children could transform into whatever they want: a house, a stage, a platform for sleeping, a cave or even a swing.

In early summer, we completed the project with an opening party for the house. It was exciting to watch how the children made it their own as they explored the space. That has become a starting point, an excuse to take yet another step. We want to invite artists and creators to intervene in this space in order to resignify it as a place of work and research along with the children. This is only the beginning.

Soft House is a collaborative project with the children’s residence of Móstoles that aims to serve as an invitation to reconsider what a house means. It is a place to reflect on the concept of the nuclear family, to challenge it and suggest new ways of designing and intervening in our surroundings.

For some years now, the museum has worked closely with García Lorca school in Móstoles. Over this time, we have witnessed its teachers’ incredible commitment, who understand that educational practice is primarily a form of activism and a commitment to the surroundings and to the community near the school.

One clear example of this commitment is the school radio station, an initiative that involves the entire school. This radio station has not only allowed students to create their own content but has also become a mouthpiece for our museum and its programmes.

This academic year, we want to work with the school team to create a new project that inspires us and encourages us to think in the long term by establishing a shared language through which our two institutions can engage in dialogue and grow together.

Over these years, we have talked about the spaces around the school, their boundaries and their potential as new places of learning. Inspired by this vision, we have decided to develop an open classroom project using the school’s outdoor areas and vacant lots that connect it to the neighbourhood. It is a pedagogical approach based on self-building and play to create a space of encounter where students, teachers, families, and we ourselves can share, learn and live.