CH4 - URBAN SUTURES: Urban Public Space as Connecting, Mending, Negotiating Mediums

04

PERMEATING BOUNDARIES

Similar to other European cities, Barcelona experienced the rise of Bourgeoise, waves of liberal and rational thinking, the force of a competitive market, and the spiking need for housing in cities in the mid-19th century. Urban expansion became an unstoppable force led by middle-class people. Ildefons Cerdà, a Catalan civil engineer, proposed the Eixample (the expansion) as an urbanization strategy for the city in 1859. He carefully examined the city's topography and set rigorous rules for the Eixample grid: 133m-wide for each block (measured from road centerlines) with 65m-wide internal courtyards, 20m-wide streets, 8m intervals between street trees, and 45-degree corner cuts for traffic.

All the rules are aiming to increase the health of urban dwellers and the living condition of the city.

This chapter explores how urban spatial planning and design strategies, boundary of public

Cerdà's vision and legacy remain influential to this day for the vision he had for urban public space. He described the city as "vias and intervias" (street and non-street), envisioning an urban environment that germinates from how the public lives and uses the public space instead of architectural massings. Cerdà’s strict rules form an urban board game that allows flexibility and contemporary interpretation - carriages and pedestrian traffics in the 1800s, the emergence, and dominance of cars from the 19th-20th century, the metro system's construction and expansion since the 1920s, and the present ideologies of the walkable, smart, and green city - all find there a place in Cerdà’s grid, weaving layers of cultural and social significance on the urban fabric.

urban public space that emerge from strategies, can suture between the and private realms.

URBAN COURTYARDS BEFORE AND AFTER MODERNIZATION

Both in the historic old town and the 1859 Eixample district, urban courtyards play a significant role in shaping urban life. An urban typology that manifests how urban dwellers live and enlivens the city.

old town

10b.c.- 1859

Eixample district 1859~

PLAÇA DE SANT FELIP NERI

year: 1752

description: Located in the Gothic Quarter of the historic old town of Barcelona, the square is reachable by two allies among the labyrinth-like streets and is enclosed by 6 facades, forming a clear but asymmetrical spatial geometry. The school of Sant Felip Neri (elementary school) forms one of the facades. During break time, mobile barriers will be put at the end of the two allies, turning the public square into a temporary private playground. Three massive Jacarda trees form a well-covered ceiling in the square creating an ambiance with the dappled lights that glisten on the facade and the trickling fountain. The tranquil square has a traumatic past during Franco’s dictatorshiptwo bombs killed 42 people, most of them were kids from the school of Sant Felip Neri and the rescue crew who tries to move injured bodies after the first bomb. The trace of this tragic event remains on the facades of the square.

school of Sant Felip Neri

activity diagram - during the restaurant’s opening hours

activity diagram - during the school’ break

temporary fence temporary fence

break time of the school of Sant Felip Nerikids fighting for the ball stuck in the tree pit.

entering the square

entering the square

dappled light

restaurant (day)

restaurant (night)

marks of trauma - bombing in 1938

EIXAMPLE COURTYARDS

planner: Ildefons Cerdà designer: varies year: 1859~

description: While the original Eixample blocks each contain a courtyard within for public hygiene and health, urbanization and industrialization in the late 19th century to early 20th century had led to the sprawl of architecture vertically and horizontally into the open courtyard. Over time, the city had gradually lost its outdoor public space and was overcrowded with households and factories per Eixample block.

The end of Franco’s dictatorship becomes the beginning of democratization and set off the blooming of thoughts in spatial design strategies that transform the urban environment.

The General Metropolitan Plan was initiated in 1976 with the goal to recover the interior courtyards of Eixample blocks. In 1985, the first recovery is accomplished (Torre de les Aigües). Currently, there are 50+ urban courtyards that serve as part of the public space network and urban green patchwork that plays a key role in maintaining the physical and mental well-being of urban dwellers.

(reference: Journalist, “Miniature Paradises.”)

EIXAMPLE TYPOLOGYIN-BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

TORRE DE LES AIGÜES DE L’EIXAMPLE

trees trunks create playable space

canopies and walls create tranquil and enclosed corners

entering the interior courtyard

dogs wading in the pool and leaving traces on the sandy ground

moments of thrill and joy

moments of solitude

ILLA ANAÏS NAPOLEÓ

chatting group seating deployment

vibrant colors adding playfulness to the courtyard

entrance highlighted with vibrant yellow

JARDINS LAURA ALBÈNIZ

Saint Nicholas School

clusters of teenagers during break time

Saint Nicholas School back entrance

2 connected public access TYPOLOGY 4:

JARDINS DE LINA ÒDENA

through the courtyard

2 public entrances

there are 5 people+1dog+1 pigeon in this photo

TYPOLOGY 5:

multiple public access + semi-public + private access

JARDINS D’ALÍCIA DE LARROCHA

stores and offices on the 1st floor of residential buildings with glass facades that allows direct seethrough between the courtyard and the street

restaurant tables bleeding into public entrances

TYPOLOGY 6:

2 connected, highly visible public access

CARRETERA ANTIGA D’HORTA

the corridor widens up as it touches the streets on both ends

napping corners along the corridor

photos taken within 15min time span

Jardins de Margarida Comas

Jardins de Creu Casas

Jardins de Creu Casas

Jardins de Creu Casas

From Jardins de Mercè Plantada to Jardins d’Alícia de Larrocha

from Av. del Bogatell to Jardins de Creu Casas

PASSATGE PERMANYER

PASSEIG SANT JOAN

designer: Teresa Gali-Izard and Lola Domènech

year: 2012 (Phase I), 2016 (Phase II)

description: The project is a 1 km streetscape design connecting Arc de Triomf to the Avinguda Diagonal. The design creates generous walking and lingering space on Passeig Sant Joan. Restaurants’ outdoor seating blends with the deployment of public benches, creating fluid exchanges between public and private realms. The way the public benches interact with street trees and shrubs creates diverse types of living rooms that can accommodate various sizes of group clusters while making solitary individuals at ease in the streetscape. The bench is made with thick slabs of wood with nicely polished surfaces and steel armrests, removing the cheapness that is usually observed in public benches, serving whoever appropriates the bench with a sense of comfort and dignity. 133m

AvingudaDiagonal

a streetscape that accommodates pedestrian flow, lingering group/ individual, restaurant outdoor seating, and temporary parking.

PERMEATING BOUNDARIESTHE BALANCE AND OVERLAP OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

The vicinity and juxtaposition of public benches and private restaurant seating

The vicinity and juxtaposition of public benches and private restaurant seating

immersive view of restaurant seating from the public bench

BENCH ARRANGEMENT TYPOLOGYSPACE MAKING THROUGH TREES, SHRUBS, AND BENCHES

accommodating groups

vegetation creating enclosure (left) and openness (right)

playable bench (photo taken from the bus)

HIDE AND SEEKMOMENTS OF PRIVACY CREATED BY VEGETATION AND BENCH

BENCH ARRANGEMENT

moments of togehterness and solidtude

source: “Multimaterial Bench Sumo for Public Spaces | Escofet,” accessed April 5, 2023, https://www. escofet.com/en/products/urban-life/multimaterial-benches/sumo.

napping person’s clothes

claiming public space as a private bedroom

napping person

napping person

REFERENCES

“Works,” PublicSpace, accessed March 10, 2023, https://www.publicspace.org/works/-/project/z018parc-del-poblenou

“Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) – Park of Joan 18, 2023, https://una.city/nbs/barcelona/sustainable-drainage-systems-suds-park-joan-reventos

“Parc Diagonal Mar - Visit Barcelona,” accessed March wv3/en/page/600/parc-diagonal-mar.html

“Multimaterial Bench Sumo for Public Spaces | Escofet,” com/en/products/urban-life/multimaterial-benches/sumo

Laia Teruel Journalist, “Miniature Paradises: Hidden Gardens ample | Barcelona Metròpolis,” accessed March 31, 2023, lis/2007-2017/en/calaixera/reports/petits-paradisos-jardins-ocults-als-interiors-dilla-de-leixample/

“La Creueta Del Coll Park - Arquitectura Catalana .Cat,” tecturacatalana.cat/en/works/parc-de-la-creueta-del-coll

“La Barceloneta, Barcelona,” in Wikipedia, February 12, tle=La_Barceloneta,_Barcelona&oldid=1138918572

“EUMiesAward,” accessed March 18, 2023, https://www.miesarch.com/work/1379;

“Carta Històrica de Barcelona,” Carta Històrica de Barcelona, seuhistoria/cartahistorica.

REFERENCES

https://www.publicspace.org/works/-/project/z018-

Joan Reventós | Urban Nature Atlas,” accessed March https://una.city/nbs/barcelona/sustainable-drainage-systems-suds-park-joan-reventos

March 10, 2023, https://www.barcelonaturisme.com/

Escofet,” accessed April 5, 2023, https://www.escofet. com/en/products/urban-life/multimaterial-benches/sumo

Gardens in the City Block Interiors of the Eix2023, https://www.barcelona.cat/bcnmetropolis/2007-2017/en/calaixera/reports/petits-paradisos-jardins-ocults-als-interiors-dilla-de-leixample/

.Cat,” accessed March 18, 2023, https://www.arquitecturacatalana.cat/en/works/parc-de-la-creueta-del-coll

12, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti-

https://www.miesarch.com/work/1379; 300.000Km/s

Barcelona, http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/mu-