Europan 12 : Barcelona
0282-EDB-BCN.ES-2013

Rambles Verdes

Barcelona is historically structured by means of parallel and perpendicular axes to the sea. At the east of the city, the main perpendicular axes to the sea are the Besòs river, with its Fluvial Park, and the future Sagrera Linear Park. We propose to link these two metropolitan green axes with the major parks located close to the project’s site by means of “The Six Parks Promenade”, a pedestrian and slow mobility path. This route extends the main path of the Sagrera Linear Park and connects, as if it was a synapse, the major paths of the surrounding parks and the Collserola and Marina mountain ranges. This way, the park system at the east of the city is completed, and the sea and the mountains are linked through a network of metropolitan scale parks.

Still at a metropolitan scale, we recognize the Nus de la Trinitat as a gateway to the city and as a crossroad where parallel and perpendicular axes to the sea meet. At this singular location we propose the construction of a tower which completes the sequences of tall buildings situated along the axes that intersect here, and which, furthermore, provides an urban character to the Santa Coloma Boulevard as it crosses the Sagrera Linear Park.

Moreover, the parallel axes to the sea have the capacity of establishing transversal connections between the neighborhoods at the north of Besòs river, until now split by major infrastructures as the railways. The proposal strengthens these transversal connections through an adaptation to the scale and speed of the pedestrian, a renaturalization of the public space, and an insertion of new programs in synergy with the present industrial uses. Finer grain transversal connections also appear that extend through the project site and beyond it: to the west, towards Sant Andreu neighborhood, by means of pedestrian paths through the Sagrera Linear Park; and to the east, towards Santa Coloma de Gramenet city, through the construction of three pedestrian bridges over the Besòs river.

At the scale of the project’s site, we propose again to use the transversal connections as the clearest and most effective way of linking the adjacent neighborhoods of Sant Andreu and Bon Pastor. These connections materialize into a system of public spaces, the “Rambles Verdes” (Green Ramblas), that cross the site along the lines of maximum slope. These ramblas reintroduce the original meaning of rambla as “riera”(the typical dry river along the Mediterranean coast), and with it, its strategic role in the management of the water cycle and the climate. Thus, rainwater can infiltrate and wastewater can be cleaned in the filtration gardens. Between these ramblas, bands of buildable space will absorb, through time, the different programs, building typologies, inhabitants and ways of life. In addition, the “Rambles Verdes” are conceived as the most important social focus, allowing for a new vibrant neighborhood to come alive.

Competition: Europan 12 : Barcelona | Collaborator: Joan Gallego, Cristina Aznar, Mike Swords, Ma Li | Post date: 06/02/2014 | Views: 4.849