The Imprenta Municipal is a printing museum in Madrid. Its origin dates from 1853, with the establishment of Saint Bernardino Orphanage Printing Office to supply the printing needs of the City Council. The building was designed in 1931 and opened in 1933 for use as a printing office. It is an interesting example of Rationalism and Art Deco style. In 2009 it was refurbished to be used as a printing museum.
The Imprenta Municipal material collection is a very rich one, with historical machines and other artefacts related to graphic arts. Some of them are displayed in the permanent exhibition, Printing and the book, a story, that is located on the ground floor, offering visitors an agreable promenade through the sections dealing with the hand press printing period, the industrial age, illustration techniques and the bindery.
On the first floor a temporary exhibition room and workshop spaces open to the public.
One of the most important features of the museum are the professional typography and bookbinding workshops which are a means of preserving the skills and techniques which are the non-material heritage of printing.
From its opening as a museum at the end of 2011, the Imprenta Municipal has developed an ongoing programme of temporary exhibitions about written culture, book and printing history and the graphic arts, accompanied by many lectures and public workshops.
Address:
Calle Concepción Jerónima 15, Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, 28012, Spain
