Costa Del Sprawl - Bedford Scholarship Final Report

Bedford Scholarship Presentation 17 11 2016 Sam Eadington Costa del Sprawl Sam Eadington Bedford Scholarship Project 2016 Funded by

West Yorkshire Society of Architects

Costa Del Sprawl The aim of the project is to analyse the role the built environment and urban design of the Costa del Sol play in influencing the day to day lives of local people. A specific line of enquiry for the project is to investigate how urban design can hinder of facilitate the integration of the immigrant communities which make up a significant proportion of the local population.

This document consists of two main parts: Part I: Area Study Part II: The Exhibition

It was 15th May 2002 (half time in the Champions League Final, Zinedine Zidane had just scored that goal) when my parents called home from their brief trip to Spain.

“Did you see that goal?!?”

“Beauty wasn’t it” replied my dad “Just before half time, as well” “Ye, listen Sam” said my dad with an unfamiliar seriousness “We’ve just bought an apartment here.

We’re going to sell the house and move to Spain in Summer” “Ok, can you bring me back a Malaga shirt?”

“I want one too” screamed my brother from the living room.

“Robbie wants one as well. The players are coming out again, see you later”

we were in the right place. ‘The Pink Panther’, as it was know, appeared over the brow of slip road and everyone rose to their feet, unpeeling their trousers from the backs of our sticky legs. Before we’d climbed the steps onto the bus a Scouse accent from a bearded face welcomed us aboard.

“Alright, you must be Eddie and the boys, find yourselves a seat” My dad probably said something in response but my brother and I were too busy obeying Ken’s orders to take note. After a couple more stops Ken got up from his seat and walked along the isle of the coach placing a hand on the top corner of each seat for both stability and authority, much like a school teacher in charge of rows of children.

“This your first match tonight then lads?”

We nodded.

“Already got the blue and white stripes, you look the part.” he said, justifying his own choice to wear of a football shirt at over 50 years of age “right then fellas, you’re in the Fondo Alto, that’s up the top behind the goal, cracking view, it’ll be bouncing up there if they win tonight!”

Malaga won that night to secure a place in the upcoming season’s UEFA Cup. We continued to take the Pink Panther with international supporters club for the rest of the season.

Three months later my dad, brother and I kissed my mum goodbye before driving down the steep winding roads of Calahonda to a bus stop which sat between the competing roars of the dual carriageway and the uncharacteristically choppy mediterranean. We had been promised a pink coach would collect us, and judging by the matching outfits of the others transfixed by the oncoming traffic in a subconscious but unmistakably British attempt to avoid interaction,

One of our first experiences of the Costa del Sol was one of immigrants like ourselves finding something we love, something we miss from home, something in the local culture we could relate to, and taking part wholeheartedly. The image of a football-shirt-wearing bloke from Liverpool with an English bar in Marbella might seem to contradict that of a passionate facilitator of desperately needed cultural integration, but it’s exactly this contradiction that allows us to

My project is deeply personal and has grown from thoughts I’ve been having about by upbringing in Spain. The Costa del Sol has a certain, somewhat justified reputation, but is a place that has shaped me into the person and designer I am today. I have found the area increasingly interesting, and the following text explains my personal connection with the area and the motivation behind the project.

embrace the richness of cultures that surround us while maintaining our own culture and identity sufficiently to share them with others.

The discussion about immigration and integration in politics and the media speaks volumes of the generation in power who are driving the discussion; a generation unprepared to acknowledge that globalisation and interconnectedness are very much tethered to the arrow of time and are only moving in one direction. Discussions about the pros and cons of immigration are not only divisive and demeaning of human life, but are utterly futile. Immigration is an inevitable necessity and our efforts should not be distracted by nonsensical debate, but instead focused on how we make these defining characteristics of the modern world work well for us all. But integration is not as straightforward as certain people would like us to believe, nor is lack of integration down to cultural incompatibility, ignorance, laziness or any other single reason. Complex circumstances define what social opportunities are open to us, and more often than not we’re completely unaware the these circumstances are at work.

Aside from with my football and athletics team mates, most of my social interactions were with British people. Even when I was at the Spanish state school I attended, breaks would be spent in a social group of compatriots talking about the Premier League, Big Brother, the new Scottish girl in my class, and who we think she fancies (not me). It was hard work holding my own among my British peers; hours of awful television and doing jobs for my mum just so I could keep up with conversation while wearing over-priced but definitely cool trainers on my feet. Integrating with people from my own country was tough enough, the thought

of breaking into and then staying afloat in a Spanish group seemed nothing short of impossible.

It’s only since starting my studies in Architecture that I’ve really started to question and think more about the surroundings in which I spent some of the most important years of my childhood and adolescence, and how strongly they have influenced the person I have become. Every time I return to the Costa del Sol I’m more intrigued by complexity of the place and the unique lives its resident live.

The whole area I was brought up in was shaped around the sea and the idea of selling people a dream. The steep hills which rise up from the beaches led to an unimaginative, simplistic and uncoordinated approach which saw development squeezed and stretched along the coast. The properties of the initial wave of sprawl were designed to accommodate dreams of escape, luxury and tranquility, and it was never foreseen that in a few decades they would become the closest thing to a centre for tens of thousands of new residential and holiday properties. As enthusiasm for the Costa del Sol’s offerings reached its peak in the early 2000’s the hills which had once jammed development into a thin band along the coast became the recipients of property developers’ speculative constructions. There was never any plan to build a functioning community for people amid this challenging topography, simply an opportunity for financial investments in concrete and terracotta brick form. People were never intended to congregate anywhere other than around the pool of for a game of tennis within the community’s fenced boundary.

Hills, golf courses and gated communities are the main obstacles to direct walking routes in the area

around my apartment. If you’re prepared to be chased by angry golfers in electric buggies, you can shave 15 minutes off the 20 minute walk to the nearest shop by taking the par 5 12th hole instead of Severiano Ballesteros Street. A mile as the crow flies is at lest two walking the meandering streets, and without the slightest public transport coverage, just about anyone who wants to go anywhere is forced to travel from one underground garage to another in their private airconditioned metal boxes. This meant (and still means) that if we wanted a social life independent from our parents we had to find friends that not only lived within walking distance, but also shared interests that we could do in places which were within walking distance.

The sprawl imposed demanding criteria upon any potential new friends.

It may seem odd to bemoan the possibilities of social settlement afforded by a somewhat designed environment considering that humans have managed to thrive in far less hospitable environments for thousands of years, but it is this very consideration that pushes me towards the hypothesis that the sprawling urban design of places such as the Costa del Sol actively discourages the coming together of people.

This in turn inhibits the formation of any meaningful, active or engaged community, and therefore any ability for residents to collectively imagine and create a built environment that works for its inhabitants.

Reliable statistics are incredibly difficult to find about specific areas of the Costa del Sol due to the transience of the population, many of whom don’t register as residents, but it is immediately clear that a vast variety of communities exist in different parts.

The lack of any physically recognisable centre dilutes any unique sense of place that might develop in these

newly formed neighbourhoods, denying residents a place to protest in times of frustration, to unite in times of pride (should there ever be any in future) or to care for one another in times of need such as the wild-fires of 2012. There is of course no cultural nor administrative centre for most neighbourhoods, meaning a full day trip for residents of the newer structures should they not own a car and wish to visit an art gallery or update their documentation.

It has been my aim to build a balanced body of research with intertwining anecdotal and statistical evidence to highlight the social difficulties imposed upon these predominantly immigrant inhabited urbanisations.

I’ve looked for information on this subject in this area before and found nothing so I hope my work can at the very least form a foundation from which others can build in future should they feel the need. I don’t feel the need to defend the Costa del Sol, but I do feel the need to better understand it, and the key to understanding how things are is being able to imagine alternatives.

It is for that reason I launched an ideas competition for designs from anyone and everyone which examine the future of the abandoned concrete structures left behind by the financial crisis.

The research and the ideas proposed were shown in an impromptu exhibition (Part II) in order to build up a picture of the past, present and possible future ways in which urban design can allow communities to best take advantage of one another’s rich and contradictory cultures. Until now design has let the residents of the Costa del Sol down and I hope to show that whether it be at an urban, architectural or product scale, it shapes us all, and the more we all understand how, the more control we have over the kind of people we want to become kind of societies we want to build.

Part I The Area

The Area The study begins looking at the overall area, it’s place on the Costa del Sol, and the large scale urban features. A series of maps demonstrate the distribution of buildings, amenities and attractions and look at how these have developed in relation to infrastructure and topography.

The sprawling suburban nature of the Costa del Sol defies conventional categorisation. Ask a number of local residents to point you to ‘the centre’ and you’ll likely be given a different answer each time.

Smaller urbanisations such as Riviera del Sol which sit within the mass sprawl along the coast lack and real definition and identity. Many factors contribute to this and have real consequences beyond existential uncertainty. Given the rapid rate at which the coastal landscape has changed it is no surprise that the sprawl has yet to break down into more clearly identifiable and unique places with characteristics and attractions distinct from their neighbours. There is little use in lamenting the causes of the sprawl, however, gaining an understanding of these causes is a vital first step in building a sustainable plan for the future which reflects the diverse lives and ambitions of local people from all backgrounds.

Gibraltar

Madrid

Malaga

Barcelona

Study Area The Project focuses on an area of the Mijas Costa municipality which includes the urbanizations of Calahonda, Riviera, and the village of La Cala de Mijas.

Marbella

Fuengirola

Mijas Costa Mijas Pueblo

Torremolinos

Malaga

Calahonda

Riviera del Sol

La Cala de Mijas

Total population of Mijas: 86,710

Population The diversity of the population is a defining characteristic of the area.

This graph shows that of the high proportion of immigrants in the Mijas municipality, the majority are from the United Kingdom. The study area of this project is particularly known for its high number of UK residents. It is also this community with which I am most familiar, having been an immigrant in this area for 5 years.

55,152 Spanish

31,557 Foreign

11,515 UK

2,539 Morocco

1,411 Germany

Figure Ground The figure ground diagram begins to reveal certain characteristics of the area. The older village of La Cala de Mijas is notably more dense than the newer neighbouring urbanisations of Riviera and Calahonda, providing the only recognisable urban centre despite being clearly removed.

The impact of the A-7 dual carriageway in disconnecting the seafront from the built up areas slightly inland is also immediately apparent. The following pages of diagrams will look at the causes and symptoms of these characteristics, and the impact they have on the people living their lives in this area.

Calahonda

Riviera del Sol

La Cala de Mijas

Figure Ground These illustrative diagrams show the direction in which the sprawling urbanisations have grown over the past decades. La Cala de Mijas was the original settlement of the area and dates back the Moorish habitation of the area in the 16th century when it was used as a fortification.

In since developed into a fishing town which is how it stayed until the 1960s and the start of the Costa del Sol tourist boom.

All growth up to this point was contained by the N-340 (now A-7) road which was, and is, a crucial connection along the coast.

The 60s tourist boom lead to the development of the land along the coast and N-340. The properties built at this time were predominantly self contained villas, holiday apartments, or timeshare resorts, and were never intended to be new towns with urban centres, relying instead on the smaller towns and villages along the coast.

The more recent boom of the 2000s exploded at a far bigger scale up the hill.

As the best locations closest to the beach or with sea views were quickly taken, developers seized upon the opportunities offered by the golf courses, rapidly filling their perimeters with apartment blocks.

In a number of cases golf courses were constructed simply to increase the value of the surrounding land for development, adding to the 70+ golf courses already on the coast.

Topography and Amenities A little more sense can be made of the sprawl’s form when seen against a topography diagram. The first band of development grew on land that raised parallel to the coast, however, as the land rises the ravines grow deeper and wider causing the developments up the hill to be separated from one another.

The original road infrastructure was built to branch upwards from the main dual carriageway at the bottom of the hill. Few connecting roads or paths were built to link the developments higher up the hills.

This meant that despite the rapid growth of the population, especially in the summer months, there was no place for an urban centre among the new area.

This has strong implications on the integration of different communities because of the residents’ dependency on private cars in order to even go to the nearest shop. Because the car is the only practical way to get anywhere, pedestrian routes are all but forgotten and the streets increasing ignored as places in their own right, instead only viewed as a route from A to B. This way of living in and passing through the area rules out any kind of chance meeting or spontaneity as each individual makes an isolated journey to a pre-decided location, more often than not one which reinforces the inward-looking nature of the different communities.

Golf Course Shop Bar/Restaurant School Bus Route

The Streets Streets are crucial to the success or failure of any urban design. They stitch together all the diverse elements that make up the built environment to create and connect places. This part of the study looks at the role streets play in shaping the place as well as the lives of the area’s inhabitants.

Streets can often be disastrously mistaken as merely a means for driving from A to B. As Jane Jacobs points out in ‘Life and Death of Great American Cities’, streets need need to offer more than a single primary use in order to become more inviting to a wider portion of society. Streets have the potential to become invaluable social assets but in order to do so, but as Jane Jacobs states: “The sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously, both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce the people in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks in sufficient numbers.

Nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a window at an empty street. Almost nobody does such a thing. Large numbers of people entertain themselves, off and on, by watching street activity.”

The design of streets had a huge impact on how they are used. Featureless streets with poor pedestrian facilities are destined to be deserted of life which in turn only encourages life to turn away from the streets. This is not only bad for the social cohesion of communities as they lose a potential shared place of meeting, socialising, exercising, trading, playing and enjoying, but it also decreases the safety of streets and neighbourhoods as there are no eyes on the street which act as a passive security system in places with strong communities.

Between Calahonda and La Cala there are streets of different kinds and of varying levels of success.

This diversity can be experienced with some streets buzzing with life and energy while others lay empty and excluded from the life taking place within gated residential complexes. Appealing and diverse streets are crucial if the wide range of people from different backgrounds are to create a meaningful and integrated community in future.

The following pages give a taste of the current streets and the area as a whole. The red line show the route from along which the photos are taken.

The Beach The beach is the main attraction of the entire region. A wooden pedestrian walkway has recently been built to connect a large stretch of the coast and has proved to be a huge success.

La Cala de Mijas is the most successful example of the architecture and urbanism meeting with the beach and sea. Plazas and streets connect the land and sea allowing for people to comfortable flow between in pleasant, peaceful surroundings.

La Cala As well as being connected tot he beach La Cala’s streets are home to various different uses from markets and bars to local parades and even running races.

The main road both separates and connects La Cala with the surrounding urbanizations.

It’s physical presence creates a huge boundary between the land and sea, and has been instrumental in shaping the development of the area.

Riviera The bottom of Riviera shows what is typical of urbanizations along the coast. A small number of shops and restaurants have been squeezed as close to the main road as possible.

These areas are intended to cater for cars ahead of people, and are therefore not places intended for people to dwell in. The buildings turn their back on the streets as they meander up the hill.

The Top of the Hill Towards the top of the hill ever greater gaps appear between the developments which become further and further away from any facilities. roads continue to wind up through the abandoned plots and unfinished buildings which become more frequent.

The highest apartment complexes are the largest in scale and the most isolated.

The Buildings Architecture and buildings are the components which shape the world we inhabit every day. The way they relate to one another, the street, their surroundings and the people who use them is responsible for creating the character of an area. Buildings need to work together to create interesting and unified places by balancing uniqueness with a sense of consistency. As already seen in this study, the sprawling distribution of buildings causes streets to stretch up hills and around corners making walking routes long and challenging.

Subtle features of the way buildings are designed and constructed has had an enormous effect as these same traits have been repeated over and over again.

This is how a place’s history can be read through it’s architecture. Andalucian cities are great examples of this with their complex mixtures of architectural styles from the different cultures of their diverse previous inhabitants. This area is no different, only there has been a far shorter expanse of time in which humans have left their mark by way of architecture. As time passes and people come and go the values of the area will change, and slowly the area itself will change to reflect this The street study showed a lack of engagement from buildings with the street. This is a common feature of this area as residential developments, whether they

be individual houses or apartment blocks. Perimeter walls and fences seek to block out the outside world with the hope of creating mini utopias for their residents within the boundaries. These mini utopias are designed to meet a variety of the residents’ needs meaning they needn’t go elsewhere to use facilities such as swimming pools and tennis courts.

Architects have been thinking up ideas similar to this ideal for centuries; from the medieval walled city to tower blocks and streets in the sky. The idea of creating inward looking self contained world seems an irresistible prospect for designers and the dream is an easy one to sell and it’s clear why; the luxury and convenience of having everything you need at your doorstep means not having to venture out into the ever more dystopian world beyond the development perimeter.

Trying to create such ideal pockets of the world in a sealed off manner has inevitable consequences for the area as a whole. The way buildings are designed, built and positioned subtly influences the way we value spaces, and by turning away from the outside world buildings are already diminishing the potential of the important shared spaces in between.

This diagram shows the swimming pools of the villas and apartment complexes, highlighting the inward looking and individualistic nature of the new developments.

Abandoned Structures The construction boom which saw the explosion of properties in this area was part of a phenomena unmatched in its scale and haste. Of the thousands of structures which have been built over the past 20 years there are some which didn’t reach completion and have sat empty and abandoned for years as the rapid development of the area came to an abrupt halt.

These abandoned structures give an insight into the reckless manner in which much of the area was built.

Once it was no longer financially worthwhile to finish developments in this area, developers upped their tools, pulled down the cranes, and either declared bankruptcy or moved elsewhere in the pursuit of quick profit.

The unprecedented rate at which buildings were being thrown up resulted in no time, money or effort invested into the planning of sustainable communities. This became particularly apparent as the construction

stopped meaning that not only were some apartment blocks never finished, but the urban project as a whole was left as a huge construction site with roads leading through empty plots, vast gaps between communities, costly infrastructure without inhabitants to use or upkeep it, and none of the promised amenities such as parks, bars and shops.

The Costa del Sol is not alone in this situation, areas across the whole of Spain are faced with similar problems of having to build a future on poorly considered, unfinished foundations. Of such significance is the issue that it was the focus of this years Spanish Pavilion designed by Inaqui Carnicero and Carlos Quintans at the Venice Architecture Biennale which won the festival’s Gold Lion award.

The challenge now lies with communities and designers to use these modern day ruins - monuments to a failed urban plan - in a positive, sustainable manner which can enhance the area and the lives of people who live within it.

Part II The Exhibition

The Exhibition The exhibition formed a key part of the research project and aimed to engage local people from all corners of the community in a discussion about the past, present and future of the area in which they live.

Architecture and urban design are often perceived as unchanging and unchangeable domains, necessary but neutral components of modern life. The work in this exhibition will hopefully encourage visitors to dismiss this misconception and see the potential in their surroundings to make positive changes which can benefit and unify the community.

The exhibition was designed to a linear format and occupies an entire side wall of the abandoned concrete structure as seen on the exhibition plan adjacent.

The content on display was intended to give a broad, alternative and in depth insight into the life, architecture and urban design of Riviera del Sol and the surrounding areas. The first part of the exhibition contained a series of mixed media illustrations which look at the nuances and unique features of this part of the world. The illustrations are followed by a series of maps examining the distribution of buildings, the reason behind this, and the implications. Next was an exploration of the nature and usage of the streets in the area, examining their ability to encourage and facilitate life and activities between the buildings they connect. Then the exhibition looked at the buildings, explaining their construction, historical influences and the way they interact with their surroundings. The final section of the exhibition examined the abandoned structures left behind from the financial crisis and how these could be turned into positive assets for the community. Work included designs from students, designers and architects from across the world.

street studies

illustrations

abandoned structures

GSEducationalVersion

Mini - Auditorium

ORIGINAL STRUCTURE

Gallery

The site is located in a south coastal area of Spain known for its division between the native Spanish inhabitants and the inward looking expats from Northern Europe. The site was left abandoned mid-construction due to the European Financial Crisis. The structure has since become a ruin within the local area and a reminder of the crisis’ effects in Spain.

W

Open Above

2

ROOFING CREATES SEPERATE SPACES

domestic scale

Centro de arte

tomorrow

idea

today

museo de arte alternativo de calahonda

maac

duplicate//public scale

E

covering 5 6 3

The two fundamental reasons people place themselves outside of their comfort zone are for Pleasure and Growth. Some of the key activities of pleasure that transcend divisions between cultures and bring people together are Dance, Art, Music and Social Interaction.

1. CHIMNEY 2. TECNICAL AREA 3. POND 4. CONDOLENCE ROOMS 5. ENTRANCE HALL 6. CHURCH

In order to optimize integration between the two communities, the site should facilitate these activities as well as the tuition of them for and by both communities. Therefore, the space should be flexible and dynamic, with one large space made of many smaller individual spaces that imply use for seperate functions but can also be used cumulatively for one large function.

Open Above

4

SOLUTION

Gallery

Mini-Auditorium High Volume

ELEMENTS REMOvED FOR vIEwS AND SPACE

Library

Open Above

N

1

Remediation is required and should both honor the site as a monument and encourage and facilitate interaction between the two communities.

Wi-Fi/Seating

Open Above

Studio

Studio

maac

Costa de la Sombra

CURRENT SITUATION Café/Restaurant

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

DRAWINGS SCALE 1:500

The antithesis of an unfinished building located in a place where success was once felt - where people would want to stay for an enjoyable time - was the starting point of an idea to re-appropriate the concrete ruin in Costa del Sol. According to this two moments, we proposed a crematorium, whose program, with two opposite realities, embodies the celebration of a prosperous life and the difficult times, or ‘the boom’ and ‘the crash’.

The configuration of the existing walls and columns allows, nevertheless, the preservation of a peaceful environment. The organization of the spaces was lightly approached, where the symmetry of the general composition had an important role to help the projects

GSEducationalVersion

decisions. The entrance is found in the midpoint of the north facade, where it is possible to access the exterior space composed by a large pond of water in between the two lines of columns, and it also separates the technical area from the common/ceremonies area.

Each wing has a corridor that distributes to the various compartments, whose endpoints are apparently similar but quite different. These two elements that rise from the landscape draw attention to this forgotten place, as if the new design works in favor of the previous setting, since a seemingly dull structure doesn’t preclude an interesting project. The new architecture should take care of places with such decay, which at the same time shine tranquility, by giving them a new life.

structure

Solar Panel covered roofs

Workshop W

reception Classrooms

administration

storage

MAAC

Classrooms

NATURALLy vENTILATED

The "Centro de arte" is an art gallery & performance area which can be used by the people around the Costa del sol area.

Small performance areas are created in the landscape, where artists can come, perform & express themselves.

SECOND FLOOR PLAN` exhibitions Game Room/Fitness Cafe

The performance areas also provide a lovely platform for locals to meet around, sit, chat & perform if they wish to. A cafe can caters to the people who visit the public area & the gallery.

floor plan MIRRORED wALL EMPhASISES REPETATIvE LANGUAGE OF STRUCTURE

Open Above

Open air amphitheatre. (Performance area 01)

Open Above

Bedrooms

B

The retaining walls are painted colourfully, but can also be used to promote artists by letting them do graffiti on it to express themselves.

Art Gallery Admin for art gallery Cafe Toilets A

Solar panels, are installed to provide the electricity.

Landscaping will include indigenous trees including orange trees.

N

Bedrooms

B Existing Concrete structure.

THIRD FLOOR PLAN` STUCTURE’S vERTICAL LANGUAGE IS COPIED AND ExAGGERATED

A

Performance area 01

B

Performance area 02

C

C

E

C O S TA D E L S P R AW L

MUSEUM DEL SOL

ıdea competıtıon

The first floor is a museum . Second floor is a cafe .

The reason for the museum are two points.

1 :first floar don’t have window.

2:be able to use the pillars in the exhibition second floar have many louver.

It showered the light of the soft sun by louver

1F PLAN Men's toilet

Women's toilet Warehouse

exhibition exhibition

Staff room

exhibition

Museum shop

Reception

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

Audiovisual Corner

2F PLAN

The Area

Warehouse

Cafe

Seven times a week, seven different useage!

kitchen

Staff room

T h i s a r e a o f f e r s u s w i t h s o m e o p p o rt u n i t i e s t o d e s i g n f l e x i b l e u s e s i n c e i t i s n o t a c o m p l e t e d s t r u c t u r e . A c cording to our design, there are seven different types of useage; traditional bazaar, bar-cafe, exhibition a r e a , wo r k s h o p s t u d i o, c o n f e r e n c e a r e a , c i n e m a a n d a l s o w e d d i n g - c e r e m o n y h a l l .

W h i l e t h i s i n c o m p l e t e d s t ru c t u r e i s d e s i g n e d i n r e s p e c t t o m u l t i p l e u s a g e , f l e x i b i l i t y o f t h i s a r e a n e e d t o p ro t e c t d u r i n g o u r d e s i g n p e r i o d . F o r t h i s p u r p o s e , t h i s c u r r e n t ' ' ru i n ' ' h a v e b e e n t u r n e d i n t o a e s t h e t i c a l m u lt i - f u n c t i o n a l b u i l d i n g .

T h i n g s t o d o d u r i n g o u r d e s i g n p e r i o d : f l o o r a n d w a l l c o v e r i n g s , f l e x i b l e ro o f .

T h e t h i n g t h at g i v e l i f e t o t h e p l a c e i s p e o p l e ! W e h av e j u s t m a d e t h i s a r e a at t r a c t i v e t o w e l c o m e p e o p l e . .

In order to more effectively analyse the urban design of Riviera del Sol, Calahonda and Riviera the study has been broken down into 3 parts: The Overall Area The Streets

conference hall

The Buildings

weddıng hall

The study begins looking at the overall area, it’s place on the Costa del Sol, and the large scale urban features. A series of maps demonstrate the distribution of buildings, amenities and attractions and look at how these have developed in relation to infrastructure and topography.

exhıbıtıon hall

The sprawling suburban nature of the Costa del Sol defies conventional categorisation. Ask a number of local residents to point you to ‘the centre’ and you’ll likely be given a different answer each time. Smaller urbanisations such as Riviera del Sol which sit within the mass sprawl along the coast lack and real definition and identity. Many factors contribute to this and have real consequences beyond existential uncertainty. Given the rapid rate at which the coastal landscape has changed it is no surprise that the sprawl has yet to break down into more clearly identifiable and unique places with characteristics and attractions distinct from their neighbours. There is little use in bemoaning the causes of the sprawl, however, gaining an understanding of these causes is a vital first step in building a sustainable plan for the future which reflects the diverse lives and ambitions of local people from

bar-cafe

tradıtıonal bazaar workshop studıos cınema

Malaga Malaga Airport

Torremolinos Mijas

Benalmadena

COSTA DEL SOL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS The design idea looks at both the pavilion and studio typologies to create an art center on the outer limits of the coastal city. The concept emphasizes broad views of both interior and exterior scenes thus creating a sense of openness.

View of Facade Elevation

Spain is known for is culture and heritage. As we know that the Costa Del Sol has been permanently transformed by the construction boom of the late 20th century. The financial crisis bought almost all construction to halt.

The idea here is to use the abandoned rcc structure and also showcase the culture and heritage of Spain, by reusing this structure as a exhibition and library space that showcases the culture and heritage of Spain along with the open spaces and amphitheatre where concerts and open markets can be held to involve the native communities and immigrants and to encourage the exchange and integration of culture and heritage between them.

So the basic idea is to involve people with their culture through these exhibtiion panels and also providing books on its heritage so that those who come to visit Spain can also learn about it. these open spaces in front can work very well for open markets which are very common in Spain selling there antiques and lots of other things that depict spain. also it can be used for conducting festivals that bring along people together and allso a space where people can sit and enjoy cultural music and dance and various other concerts.

COSTA DEL SPRAWL Experimental Allotments

CONCRETE ART CENTER Suspended Blocks

- Sprawling residential developments poorly planned - Golf courses, pool areas and spare land interweave, forming a series of separated private developments

Problems

- Lack of cultural exchange and integration between immigrant and native communities

space used for exhibition and showcase of the culture and heritage of spain.

- Lack of personal garden spaces

JRTI Architects would like to propose to rejuvenate the Costa del Sol area through the conversion of the existing concrete structure into a combined market space and sports pavailion available for public use. Visitors would be invited to arrive from the west wing, and venture into the market area before continuing to the sports pavilion on the east, or to gain access to new dwellings on the south via a bridge.

space used for forming racks to store books on heritage and culture. entry and exits

such open markets to exhibit the culture and tradition of Spain.

- Abandoned developments left as a result of the financial crisis

- Individual pieces of agricultural land made available for local residents within abandoned structures

Potential Solution

The proposal consists of creating a portal frame that runs thoughout the area in question, creating a sense of vitality and excitement through its form.

Lastly, a small mall with a parking would be located to the east of the site and acts as an anchor to give visitors a sense of arrival.

Section

- Abandoned ground floor shell provides a designated space and a secure place to start up a collection of allotments

3.

- Forms another community with shared interests in an area that currently lacks integration

Positives

- Relatively low cost solution

Interior View

- The structure still remains flexible. Adaptations can easily take place if the use changes or the allotments need further accommodation

2.

it can also be used for festivals and concerts in the amphitheatre for example the tomatino festival can be held at the open space.

Mall

To existing residence

Market

Sports pavilion

The winding portal frame seeks to inspire movement and to bring vitality to the Costa del Sol area, and to ptovide it with an economic boost through new jobs and new activities.

1. Existing ruin 2. Suspended Concrete Blocks 3. Covering Structure

Open balcony mixed use

1.

- Meandering roads - Golf courses intertwined - Groupings of residential distanced from coastline

- Multi storey dwellings - Individual balconies - Separated pool areas

Single dwelling

- Isolated community with individually isolated dwellings

- Access to individual allotment plots within shared space

First Floor

Second Floor

Storage

Bridge to new dwellings

External Seating and Communal Space

Floor Plan

Roof Plan

Separated allotments

Ground Floor

introduction

area studies

buildings & little utopias

ideas competition

Exhibition Location Consistent with the idea that the remains of the crisis provide opportunities for the future, I chose an abandoned structure on the edge of Riviera. This structure poetically stands as a monument to the moment the boom came to an end, therefore seemed an ideal place to start the discussion about the area’s future.

Exhibition Design Such abandoned structures are now taken for granted by local residents, therefore I wanted a simple bold design to attract attention and intrigue to the exhibition. I opted for a red cube which perched on top of the corner of the structure which hints at the idea of building on the remains of the crisis.

Exhibition Design Unfortunately the high winds on the days of the exhibition made it impossible to sit the cube on top of the structure.

The design was therefore modified to hang on the corner, still visible and in contrast to the surroundings.

Exhibition Opening The Exhibition opened on Wednesday 17th August and officially ran until Friday 19th August as this was my final day in Spain, but the content was left of the walls of the structure and remains there today. The following pages show photos from the exhibition and some of the visitors.

The Competition This open ideas competition asked designers, students and architects from across the world to reinvent this abandoned structure using designs which encourage and facilitate cultural exchange and integration between immigrant and native communities. The brief was simple.

This competition asked individuals and teams to produce a single A3 page which communicates their idea for the repurposing of this abandoned structure.

There was an engaged response to this call for ideas and resulted in designs being submitted from across the continents creatively imagining a future for this unfinished structure.

This single design competition demonstrates that an abandoned unfinished structure deemed by locals to be an eyesore can be brought to life with creativity and imagination. What goes for this structure applies to other similar structures as well as abandoned empty plots, unused spaces and buildings. There is no shortage of exciting ideas ready to fill the gaps left by the initial wave of development.

The winning design was proposed by Ana Rita Vale and Andre Calvete. Their idea is to adapt the structure into an crematorium.

This suggestion was found to be interesting and provocative by locals who saw the proposal as realistic, aesthetically appropriate for the structure and area, and a great way to bring variety to the area.

Competition

maac

CURRENT SITUATION Café/Restaurant

Mini - Auditorium

ORIGINAL STRUCTURE

museo de arte alternativo de calahonda

Open Above

Gallery

idea

tomorrow

domestic scale

duplicate//public scale

maac

SOLUTION

Gallery

ROOFING CREATES SEPERATE SPACES

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

The two fundamental reasons people place themselves outside of their comfort zone are for Pleasure and Growth. Some of the key activities of pleasure that transcend divisions between cultures and bring people together are Dance, Art, Music and Social Interaction.

In order to optimize integration between the two communities, the site should facilitate these activities as well as the tuition of them for and by both communities. Therefore, the space should be flexible and dynamic, with one large space made of many smaller individual spaces that imply use for seperate functions but can also be used cumulatively for one large function.

Mini-Auditorium High Volume

structure

ELEMENTS REMOvED FOR vIEwS AND SPACE

Studio Library

Open Above

today

covering

Remediation is required and should both honor the site as a monument and encourage and facilitate interaction between the two communities.

Wi-Fi/Seating

Open Above

Studio

The site is located in a south coastal area of Spain known for its division between the native Spanish inhabitants and the inward looking expats from Northern Europe. The site was left abandoned mid-construction due to the European Financial Crisis. The structure has since become a ruin within the local area and a reminder of the crisis’ effects in Spain.

Open Above

Workshop

reception Classrooms

administration

storage

MAAC

Classrooms

NATURALLy vENTILATED

SECOND FLOOR PLAN` exhibitions Game Room/Fitness Cafe

floor plan MIRRORED wALL EMPhASISES REPETATIvE LANGUAGE OF STRUCTURE

Open Above

Open Above

Bedrooms

Bedrooms

THIRD FLOOR PLAN` STUCTURE’S vERTICAL LANGUAGE IS COPIED AND ExAGGERATED

C O S TA D E L S P R AW L ıdea competıtıon

Seven times a week, seven different useage!

T h i s a r e a o f f e r s u s w i t h s o m e o p p o rt u n i t i e s t o d e s i g n f l e x i b l e u s e s i n c e i t i s n o t a c o m p l e t e d s t r u c t u r e . A c cording to our design, there are seven different types of useage; traditional bazaar, bar-cafe, exhibition a r e a , wo r k s h o p s t u d i o, c o n f e r e n c e a r e a , c i n e m a a n d a l s o w e d d i n g - c e r e m o n y h a l l .

W h i l e t h i s i n c o m p l e t e d s t ru c t u r e i s d e s i g n e d i n r e s p e c t t o m u lt i p l e u s a g e , f l e x i b i l i t y o f t h i s a r e a n e e d t o p ro t e c t d u r i n g o u r d e s i g n p e r i o d . F o r t h i s p u r p o s e , t h i s c u r r e n t ' ' ru i n ' ' h a v e b e e n t u r n e d i n t o a e s t h e t i c a l m u lt i - f u n c t i o n a l b u i l d i n g .

T h i n g s t o d o d u r i n g o u r d e s i g n p e r i o d : f l o o r a n d w a l l c o v e r i n g s , f l e x i b l e ro o f .

T h e t h i n g t h at g i v e l i f e t o t h e p l a c e i s p e o p l e ! W e h av e j u s t m a d e t h i s a r e a at t r a c t i v e t o w e l c o m e p e o p l e . .

conference hall weddıng hall exhıbıtıon hall bar-cafe

tradıtıonal bazaar workshop studıos cınema

GSEducationalVersion

COSTA DEL SOL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS The design idea looks at both the pavilion and studio typologies to create an art center on the outer limits of the coastal city. The concept emphasizes broad views of both interior and exterior scenes thus creating a sense of openness.

View of Facade Elevation

Spain is known for is culture and heritage. As we know that the Costa Del Sol has been permanently transformed by the construction boom of the late 20th century. The financial crisis bought almost all construction to halt.

The idea here is to use the abandoned rcc structure and also showcase the culture and heritage of Spain, by reusing this structure as a exhibition and library space that showcases the culture and heritage of Spain along with the open spaces and amphitheatre where concerts and open markets can be held to involve the native communities and immigrants and to encourage the exchange and integration of culture and heritage between them.

So the basic idea is to involve people with their culture through these exhibtiion panels and also providing books on its heritage so that those who come to visit Spain can also learn about it. these open spaces in front can work very well for open markets which are very common in Spain selling there antiques and lots of other things that depict spain. also it can be used for conducting festivals that bring along people together and allso a space where people can sit and enjoy cultural music and dance and various other concerts.

Costa de la Sombra W

N

E

1 2

4

5 6

space used for exhibition and showcase of the culture and heritage of spain.

3

space used for forming racks to store books on heritage and culture.

1. CHIMNEY 2. TECNICAL AREA 3. POND 4. CONDOLENCE ROOMS 5. ENTRANCE HALL 6. CHURCH

DRAWINGS SCALE 1:500

The antithesis of an unfinished building located in a place where success was once felt - where people would want to stay for an enjoyable time - was the starting point of an idea to re-appropriate the concrete ruin in Costa del Sol. According to this two moments, we proposed a crematorium, whose program, with two opposite realities, embodies the celebration of a prosperous life and the difficult times, or ‘the boom’ and ‘the crash’.

entry and exits

such open markets to exhibit the culture and tradition of Spain.

The configuration of the existing walls and columns allows, nevertheless, the preservation of a peaceful environment. The organization of the spaces was lightly approached, where the symmetry of the general composition had an important role to help the projects

GSEducationalVersion

Section

decisions. The entrance is found in the midpoint of the north facade, where it is possible to access the exterior space composed by a large pond of water in between the two lines of columns, and it also separates the technical area from the common/ceremonies area.

Each wing has a corridor that distributes to the various compartments, whose endpoints are apparently similar but quite different. These two elements that rise from the landscape draw attention to this forgotten place, as if the new design works in favor of the previous setting, since a seemingly dull structure doesn’t preclude an interesting project. The new architecture should take care of places with such decay, which at the same time shine tranquility, by giving them a new life.

W

it can also be used for festivals and concerts in the amphitheatre for example the tomatino festival can be held at the open space.

Interior View

N

External Seating and Communal Space

Floor Plan

Roof Plan

E

MUSEUM DEL SOL The first floor is a museum . Second floor is a cafe .

The reason for the museum are two points.

1 :first floar don’t have window.

2:be able to use the pillars in the exhibition second floar have many louver.

It showered the light of the soft sun by louver

Centro de arte

1F PLAN Men's toilet

Women's toilet Warehouse Staff room

exhibition

Museum shop

Reception

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

exhibition

Audiovisual Corner

2F PLAN Warehouse

Cafe

kitchen

Staff room

Solar Panel covered roofs

The "Centro de arte" is an art gallery & performance area which can be used by the people around the Costa del sol area.

Small performance areas are created in the landscape, where artists can come, perform & express themselves.

The performance areas also provide a lovely platform for locals to meet around, sit, chat & perform if they wish to. A cafe can caters to the people who visit the public area & the gallery.

Open air amphitheatre. (Performance area 01)

B

The retaining walls are painted colourfully, but can also be used to promote artists by letting them do graffiti on it to express themselves.

Art Gallery Admin for art gallery Cafe Toilets A

Solar panels, are installed to provide the electricity.

Landscaping will include indigenous trees including orange trees.

B Existing Concrete structure.

A

Performance area 01

B

Performance area 02

C

C

COSTA DEL SPRAWL Experimental Allotments

CONCRETE ART CENTER Suspended Blocks

- Sprawling residential developments poorly planned - Golf courses, pool areas and spare land interweave, forming a series of separated private developments

Problems

- Lack of cultural exchange and integration between immigrant and native communities - Lack of personal garden spaces

JRTI Architects would like to propose to rejuvenate the Costa del Sol area through the conversion of the existing concrete structure into a combined market space and sports pavailion available for public use. Visitors would be invited to arrive from the west wing, and venture into the market area before continuing to the sports pavilion on the east, or to gain access to new dwellings on the south via a bridge.

- Abandoned developments left as a result of the financial crisis

- Individual pieces of agricultural land made available for local residents within abandoned structures

Potential Solution

The proposal consists of creating a portal frame that runs thoughout the area in question, creating a sense of vitality and excitement through its form.

Lastly, a small mall with a parking would be located to the east of the site and acts as an anchor to give visitors a sense of arrival.

- Abandoned ground floor shell provides a designated space and a secure place to start up a collection of allotments

3.

- Forms another community with shared interests in an area that currently lacks integration

Positives

- Relatively low cost solution - The structure still remains flexible. Adaptations can easily take place if the use changes or the allotments need further accommodation

2.

Mall

To existing residence

Market

Sports pavilion

The winding portal frame seeks to inspire movement and to bring vitality to the Costa del Sol area, and to ptovide it with an economic boost through new jobs and new activities.

Open balcony mixed use

1. Existing ruin 2. Suspended Concrete Blocks 3. Covering Structure

1.

- Meandering roads - Golf courses intertwined - Groupings of residential distanced from coastline

- Multi storey dwellings - Individual balconies - Separated pool areas

Single dwelling

- Isolated community with individually isolated dwellings

- Access to individual allotment plots within shared space

First Floor Storage

Bridge to new dwellings Separated allotments

Ground Floor

Second Floor

Winner

Costa de la Sombra GSEducationalVersion

Costa de la Sombra W

N

E

1 2

4

5 6 3

1. CHIMNEY 2. TECNICAL AREA 3. POND 4. CONDOLENCE ROOMS 5. ENTRANCE HALL 6. CHURCH

DRAWINGS SCALE 1:500

The antithesis of an unfinished building located in a place where success was once felt - where people would want to stay for an enjoyable time - was the starting point of an idea to re-appropriate the concrete ruin in Costa del Sol. According to this two moments, we proposed a crematorium, whose program, with two opposite realities, embodies the celebration of a prosperous life and the difficult times, or ‘the boom’ and ‘the crash’.

The configuration of the existing walls and columns allows, nevertheless, the preservation of a peaceful environment. The organization of the spaces was lightly approached, where the symmetry of the general composition had an important role to help the projects

W N

by Ana Rita Vale & Andre Calvete

decisions. The entrance is found in the midpoint of the north facade, where it is possible to access the exterior space composed by a large pond of water in between the two lines of columns, and it also separates the technical area from the common/ceremonies area.

Each wing has a corridor that distributes to the various compartments, whose endpoints are apparently similar but quite different. These two elements that rise from the landscape draw attention to this forgotten place, as if the new design works in favor of the previous setting, since a seemingly dull structure doesn’t preclude an interesting project. The new architecture should take care of places with such decay, which at the same time shine tranquility, by giving them a new life.

E

Feedback The feedback during and after the exhibition was overwhelmingly positive. My expectations for the exhibition were fairly low with the remote location and minimum publicity making it unlikely that many people would even see it. On the opining evening I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people turn up, most of whom were dog walkers, both English and Spanish, who regularly pass by the structure and said the red corner had caught their attention. These people then shared the exhibition with friends and over the following three days there was a steady stream of local people coming to look at the exhibition. One of the people who visited was the president of the local residents’ association - Arturo Gamez - and I spoke with him about the project and my aims for the exhibition. He has intrigued by my use of the abandoned structure and the ideas proposed in the competition and said he would share the exhibition with all the members of the residents’ association. Mr Gamez Shared photos and videos of the exhibition on the association’s facebook page and a discussion around future uses of the structure ensued. People commented about how they had visited the exhibition themselves and found the study and proposals interesting and provocative, and started to put forward ideas of their own for this structure as well as other abandoned plots of land and buildings in the area, with a new primary school proving to be a very popular suggestion. In the weeks after the exhibition I was sent a photo of the red corner canvas showing a new addition.

These kinds of appropriation, interaction and discussion were exactly what I had hoped to achieve with the exhibition, and for me were the highlights of the entire project.

Going Forward Following the exhibition I was contacted again by Mr Gamez of the residents’ association regarding continuing the exhibition in the municipal gallery in La Cala de Mijas. Mr Gamez and the new president Ms Vazquez have since arranged with the council for another exhibition on the same topic to be held in the council’s gallery in September and October of 2017.

The enthusiasm of the local people to continue the discussion initiated by the first exhibition and take a proactive role in reimagining the future of the area has been incredibly rewarding and validating. The outcome and opportunities created by the project have exceeded my initial expectation for the project by quite some distance, and rather than seeing this

work as a completed project, I now see it as the beginning of an exciting ongoing project which I hope and believe will be able to have a positive impact for the residents of Riviera and the wider area.

The current task is to plan for the exhibition in September and October which I intent to not simply be a repetition of the original one, but a development of it. Having made valuable contacts during the study I hope engage with the residents in the creation of new material for the exhibition and look for ways to advance the discussion about the future of the area.

I would like to end this document by thanking the West Yorkshire Society of Architects for enabling me to undertake this study, and therefore opening up the unforeseen opportunities that have followed.

Costa del Sprawl

Sam Eadington Funded by

West Yorkshire Society of Architects Bedford Scholarship 2016