The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has approved the declaration of Cultural Interest (BIC) in the category of Monument of the Student Residence of Madrid.
The Student Residence was founded in 1910 following the models of pedagogical and cultural renewal of the Free Teaching Institution. Great personalities of the Spanish cultural, scientific and intellectual scene of the twentieth century such as Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dalí, Severo Ochoa or Luis Buñuel were residents of the institution.
Figures such as José Ortega y Gasset, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Miguel de Unamuno, Manuel de Falla or Santiago Ramón y Cajal, among others. His activity was interrupted by the civil war. In 1986, at the initiative of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), the original project was resumed. At present, under the management of the Student Residence Foundation, foundation of the State Public Sector, has achieved great international prestige for its active role in promoting dialogue between the arts, humanities and sciences, as well as in the cultural and scientific exchange between the different universities and international centers.
In 2015 it was distinguished with the European Heritage seal, granted by the European Union. The Student Residence is located in what was then the north of Madrid in an area known as Cerro del Viento and its building was commissioned to the architect Antonio Flórez Urdapilta between 1913 and 1915.
It is composed of four buildings with rooms and rooms for residents and laboratories that were surrounded by gardens and open spaces, organized under the direction Javier de Winthuysen. These green environments were another educational instrument, such as classrooms and laboratories, since in the philosophy of the teaching -free institution the approach to life outdoors was fundamental.