The Architectural Version Of 'Extreme Makeover'

"It is generally assumed that architects have egos as large as their buildings. But what of the man who commissions a collection of these design professionals to complete just one building? Whether Pablo Couto and Antón Iraculis of Grupo Urvasco, who have taken on a total of 23 architects and designers to create a hotel in Madrid, are egomaniacs or boundless dreamers is not entirely clear, but their project, Hotel Puerta América, has not stinted on either the quantity or quality of its architectural players.

The longer story, though, is an architectural version of Extreme Makeover. Hotel Puerta América was designed and built as the sort of structure you see lurking around airports everywhere - an uneventful, less-than-elegant block panelled in metal. The architectural fantasy factor came later."