URBAN SUTURES JUDY SHAO-YU CHEN 2023 URBAN PUBLIC SPACE AS CONNECTING, MENDING, NEGOTIATING MEDIUMS
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ENCOUNTERING WATERS
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Barcelona’s history starts from the sea and the coast. Water carries ships and boats that arrive at the gentle gradient of the coastal bathymetry, helping the Romans land on the coastal plain.
Villages, towns, and the citadel, the historic old town of Barcelona grow contingent on the sea. However, the city has turned its back on the sea over time - industrial development and urbanization happened rapidly, and the coast become forgotten as the city expanded inward, heading toward the mountains. An arterial road is cut through between the coast and the city, making the coast even less accessible by foot.
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This chapter explores how coastal neighborhoods reconnect the city with the sea and waterfront parallel to the horizon
neighborhoods
The 1975 democratization, the 1980s emerging ideal of a “vacation by the beach”, and the 1992 Olympics are pivotal moments in time when the city start to re-evaluate and reimagine the coast. A series of public space designs and constructions took place - using diverse suturing methods ranging from promenades, winding trails, bridges, plazas, stairways, etc. to stretch, patch, and re-claim the waterfront.
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and public spaces and form a continuous walkable horizon of the Mediterranean sea.
THE PUBLIC WATERFRONT
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17 1 mile
SECTION STUDIESDESIGN STRATEGIES THAT SUTURE THE CITY AND THE COAST
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BARCELONETA -
former fishermen village in the 18th century. The architecture’s massing and layout on the flat coastal plain create direct movement from the city to the water.
PARC DE LA NOVA ICÀRIA
the park uses wooden bridges to connect the city to the park and the waterfront.
PARC DEL POBLENOU
The park connects the city with the beach through pine groves, constructed dunes, and both a sinuous and straight path system.
19 COAST
SECTION STUDIESDESIGN STRATEGIES FOR SUTURING THE CITY AND THE COAST
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PARC DIAGONAL MARwalks / retention ponds / contemporary sculptures curates a movement flowing from the city to the sea.
PARC DEL FÒRUMmega plazas / open spaces / and structures for large events. Absorbing the flow of people from the Diagnal and spread them out to the port.
PARC DE LA PAUusing series of steps / walls / balconies to connect the industrial districts to the beach.
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BARCELONETA: HITTING THE WATER
designer: Juan Martín Cermeño (engineer)
year: 1754
description: Hitting the water with diagonal straight lines that are formed by the historic fishermen's village. The coastal plain topography creates little elevation change from the city to the sea.
Multiple boardwalks run parallel along the coast, integrating the plaza into the waterfront landscape. The plaza and boardwalks slope up to connect with the boardwalks closer to the Olympic village, constituting a continuous waterfront walk along the city.
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23 50M
24 contour interval 0.3m
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Barceloneta neighborhood architecture forming straight paths that directly hits the water
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Barceloneta has the busiest waterfront in the city
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THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE DISTRICT
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PARC DE LA NOVA ICÀRIA: BRIDGING THE WATER
designer: MBM Arquitectes
year: 1992
description: the park utilizes bridges that step across the arterial road in Barcelona, funneling the flow of pedestrians from the city to the waterfront. The park was one of the 1992 Olympic revitalization projects, and become a key site that foster the continuity of a walkable waterfront.
33 50M
34 contour interval 0.3m 1 2 3
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PARC DEL POBLENOU: RIPPLING TOWARDS THE WATER
designer: unable to find, part of The Seafront Development Plan year: 1992
description: Prior to intervention, the site was composed of a landfill, obsolete factories, and a goods station. Part of the 1992 Olympic Revitalization Plan, the park is connected to Parc de la Nova Icària, extending the walkable waterfront even further. The design uses inspiration from the natural Mediterranean coastal landscape: dunes and pine groves. The dunes and sporadic pine groves create a cadence of openness and enclosure, compression and release, and light and shadow. A sinuous path system ripples from the city towards the water, interjected by straight path systems that continue the grid pattern of the city. The edge of the park is a 1-Floor height wall, with a line of seating facing the water and wide stairways that direct pedestrian flow to the beach.
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37 WATER 50M
38 contour interval 0.3m 1 2 3
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pine groves and constructed dunes
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PARC DIAGONAL MAR: RIBBONING TOWARDS THE WATER
designer: Miralles Tagliabue EMBT
year: 2002
description: The park consists of a series of retention ponds, ribbon-like tube/sculptures, patches of plazas, vegetated grounds, and path systems. The park is a contemporary milestone in urban design, where the design team celebrates the fluidity of water and large irregular grounds as patchwork that suture between the city and the waterfront. The design shuttle between large-scale systematic thinking and meticulous detail design. The aesthetic of the design manifests Gaudi’s legacy in Catalonia culture, while Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue evolve from Gaudi’s lineage and create something innovative and transformative to the urban condition.
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AVINGUDADIAGONAL
49 WATER
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52 contour interval 0.3m 1 2 3
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thresholds
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moments of lingering
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PARC DEL FÒRUM: GRABBING THE WATER
designers: Elías Torres’ and José Antonio Martínez Lapeñas
year: 2004
description: The park/plaza is built for the Universal Forum of Cultures held in Barcelona in 2004. The design is a mega plaza and park that can accommodate large-scale events. The public space design is combined with massive infrastructure: solar panels held up by a multi-story height concrete pavilion, port infrastructure, and a museum, all covering the sewage water plant below ground. The design connects the arterial road that cut through the the city - Diagonal Avenue, and is capable of taking in a heavy traffic footprint.
AVINGUDADIAGONAL
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63 50M
64 1-1 1-2 2 contour interval 0.3m
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massive infrastructure as public space. underground is the sewage water plant of the city.
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movements across elevation change
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PARC DE LA PAU: STEPPING THE TO SEA
INDUSTRIAL ZONE
designer: unable to find year: 2004, in sync with Parc del Fòrum description: The design is located in the industrial zone of Barcelona, using irregular patchwork to suture the city, the industrial factories, and the recreational beach. The park is connected by a footbridge with the Parc del Fòrum, extending a walkable waterfront all the way to Besos River. The park uses brick as the main material palette, and creates whimsical repetitive ground patterns that naturally guide the movement towards the beach. The focal point of the park is the large basin that supports all kinds of group activities and the grand stairway that steps down to the waterfront promenade. The tall walls also create seat-able balconies that overlook the sea.
75 PARK& PLAZA
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76 contour interval 0.3m 1 2 3 4
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CITY PARK& PLAZA
INDUSTRIAL ZONE
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palm tree and chimneys
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overlapping materiality park - beach
overlapping experience production - recreation
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