"urbanatura" finalist in "Les Portes de Collserola. Porta d'Horta" competition

The proper relationship between Barcelona and the protected space of Collserola is one of the unfinished business of the city. This relationship has passed, over time, many different phases in which flows between both of them were not always at balanced state. At present, once consolidated the ring road, many of these flows have been completely disrupted. The recently concluded competition has tried to find answers to various questions that remain open from long ago.

How should now contact between the city and the mountains be? Do we have to set strict limits? What types of uses are to be allowed? What are to be enhanced? What kind of problems is a priority to address? A door, is a corridor?, has to invite into the protected space?, can contribute to nature "contaminate" the urban fabric?

To these questions we wanted to add other that were particularly troubling: How should such an ambitious project be undertaken at a time when the city lacks the resources to carry it out? What instruments should we work with? How can the proposal be consistent with fifteen other proposals made by fifteen different teams?

The result was Urbanatura, the creation of a light physical structure that acts as an osmotic membrane that regulates and discriminates, either way, the flows between city and mountain. Urbanatura is an environment designed from natural elements providing the necessary transition and continuity gradients between the landscaped mosaic of Collserola and the existing parks in the city.

Far from any will of spectacular, the proposal adopts an extremely realistic approach rigorously identifying deficiencies and potential of the various elements of the territory, and proposes corrective measures executable without excessive means. A model that does not conflict with the necessary power of the image set.

The result is a project that reconstructs topography and vegetation in the most sensitive areas, gives effective response to informal settlements, establishes exchange elements between the natural and urban uses, and modifies over dimensioned access roads where it does not imply environmental costs contrary to the envisaged goal. 

"urbanatura" finalista en el concurso "Les Portes de Collserola. Porta d'Horta"

La adecuada relación entre Barcelona y el espacio protegido de Collserola es una de las asignaturas pendientes de la ciudad. Esta relación ha pasado, a lo largo del tiempo, por fases muy diversas, en las que los flujos entre una y otra no siempre han estado en equilibrio. En el momento actual, una vez consolidado el anillo de circunvalación, muchos de dichos flujos se han visto totalmente interrumpidos. El concurso recientemente celebrado ha intentado encontrar respuestas a diversas cuestiones que permanecen abiertas desde largo tiempo atrás.

¿Cómo debe ser hoy el contacto entre la ciudad y la montaña? ¿Hay que establecer límites rotundos? ¿Qué tipo de usos han de permitirse? ¿Cuáles han de potenciarse? ¿Qué tipo de problemas es prioritario abordar? Una puerta, ¿es un corredor?, ¿ha de invitar a entrar en el espacio protegido?, ¿puede contribuir a que la naturaleza “contamine” el tejido urbano?

A estas preguntas queríamos añadir otras que nos resultaban particularmente preocupantes: ¿Cómo debe acometerse un proyecto tan ambicioso en un momento en que se carece de recursos para llevarlo a cabo? ¿Con qué instrumentos se debe trabajar? ¿Cómo puede la propuesta ser coherente con otras quince propuestas realizadas por quince equipos distintos?

El resultado fue Urbanatura, la creación de una estructura física ligera que actúa como membrana osmótica que discrimina y regula, en ambos sentidos, los flujos entre ciudad y montaña. Urbanatura es un ambiente proyectado a partir de elementos naturales que proporciona los gradientes de transición y continuidad necesarios entre el mosaico paisajístico de Collserola y los parques existentes en la ciudad.

Lejos de cualquier voluntad de espectacularidad, la propuesta adopta un enfoque extremadamente realista que identifica con rigor las deficiencias y los potenciales de los diversos elementos del territorio, y propone medidas correctoras ejecutables sin necesidad de grandes medios. Un modelo de aproximación que no está reñido con la necesaria potencia de la imagen de conjunto.

El resultado es un proyecto que reconstituye los elementos topográficos y vegetales en los puntos más sensibles, da un repuesta eficaz al conjunto de asentamientos informales, establece elementos de intercambio entre los usos urbanos y los naturales, y modifica la vialidad excesiva allí dónde ello no implica costes medioambientales contrarios al objetivo que se propone. 

Moscow and Krasta streets.

Moscow district is a 32 000 inhabitants neighbourhood quite close to Riga's city centre with a powerful identity and a rich wooden architecture heritage. It is just a few meters away from the Daugava river, has a lot of greenery, many squares and parks, several schools, a University complex, and quite a characteristic atmosphere. Many of the inhabitants have been living there over generations and simply love the place.

It is however poorly linked with the neighbouring areas, with several physical barriers cutting it off from the rest of the city. It has also lost contact with the river front, has many abandoned properties, a significant lack of services and cultural activities, no attractiveness for potential visitors, an unfriendly pedestrian environment, and a very high rate of unemployment.

It is one of the five areas targeted for redevelopment at the RadiRigu! workshops. 

The proposal for this area centred on two main streets as a way to revamp the whole neighbourhood. Moscow street is the backbone of the area and was the main traffic link between the city centre and the South-East. When Krasta street opened as an alternative free way next to the river, Moscow street role changed dramatically and, with it, the whole character of the neighbourhood. Working on both streets is an attempt to rebalance the situation, revitalize the very heart of the district and reorganize its waterfront.

Moscow street is foreseen as a slow traffic street, devoted to public trams and bicycle paths. Its may well channel, in a sustainable way, over 88 000 people -who live either at the Moscow district itself or at the neighbouring Kengarags district- towards the city centre. It extends the intended cycling system in Riga to a whole new area and allows for easy access to 45 educational centres. Services related to the students and the potential cycling tourism to its many wooden constructions may become the basis for a new economy in the area.

Krasta street is currently a fast traffic access that disregards the importance of the neighbouring district and the potential of the waterfront. It constitutes a strong barrier between the city and the river and consumes a significant amount of land. But the number of existing traffic lanes can be reduced without affecting the overall traffic scheme and the beltway transformed into a city boulevard. Over 20 ha could then be devoted to new public spaces along the waterfront and bring new activities and new businesses into a now beautiful but deserted area.

Project team: Ventis Didrihsons, Ilze Circene, Jānis Barkāns, Vita Jevdokimova, Sabīne Zāģere.

la calle, tan simple y tan compleja

La calle constituye la base de la urbanidad, el elemento fundacional que aglutina las edificaciones y el canal a través del cual se nutre la vida urbana. De ahí su trascendencia. Y de ahí también la importancia de su configuración física en la determinación de las características de nuestras ciudades. Pero las calles no son elementos aislados; forman parte de un tejido complejo en el cual distintas vías conectan entre sí y enlazan esos espacios públicos singulares que son las plazas, los parques y los jardines. Una calle es pues, pese a su aparente sencillez, un elemento de alta complejidad. Para abordarla correctamente no caben reduccionismos ni lecturas monotemáticas. Se impone la visión global y una participación amplia que implique tanto a especialistas como a usuarios.

Bajo estas premisas, desarrollo en el último número de la revista Paisea un artículo que reflexiona sobre la calle como espacio público primigenio e identifica diversos aspectos cruciales en el momento de abordar su proyectación.

The street forms the basis of urban existence and is its founding feature, bringing together buildings. It's also the channel that feeds urban life. This is what makes it so important and what makes its physical configuration a key feature in defining our cities. But streets are not isolated elements; they form part of a complex network in which different types of thoroughfare are connected to one another and link up with other special public spaces -squares, parks, gardens. The street, then, is highly complex. The correct approach should not be based on reductionism or single issue interpretations. What we need is a global vision and wider participation, with the involvement of both specialists and users.

These assumptions brought me to develop an introductory article, in the latest issue of the journal Paisea, that reflects on the street as a basic public space and identifies several crucial aspects when addressing its design.

RadiRigu! public space as a lever for social transformation.

RadiRigu! is a initiative launched by a group of Latvian architects, planners and landscape architects with the aim to identify and define strategic projects for the city of Riga.

As from April 2011, around 30 professionals of various generations have been working on five different neighbourhoods in the city that they picked-up from an initial selection of ten. Their work has involved detailed site analysis, neighbours participation and intensive dialogue with the public authorities. Through various workshops at regular intervals and with the participation of external coaches, they have developed a general scheme for each of the areas and at least one specific project for each of the neighbourhoods. All of them are based on the principle that public space can be a lever for social transformation and the regeneration of the city.

The projects were presented in a two-days seminar in Riga's City Hall in which several local and foreign specialists participated and that was broadly reported by the local media. A travelling exhibition is also on display.

The initiative has been the opportunity to arise awareness about the potential of urban design to redefine the condition in which we live, with a particular emphasis on the role that public space plays in it. It has also been a chance to bring in some expertise on urban planning and test locally tools and theories that had proven valid somewhere else. Coming from a situation that has dramatically changed the way Eastern European cities are managed -as part of the overall changes their society has experienced-, RadiRigu! constitutes an excellent opportunity to give the Latvian capital a facelift.

Projects have been made available to the local development authorities, who were involved in the initiative from the very beginning. They are currently evaluating the feasibility studies that each of the proposals contained and checking how they can now make things happen.

Further entries will describe each of the projects.