Project description

The intervention proposal for the new district 69-70 bets to change the ‘growth model to make our cities sustainable. Culture, connectivity, energy and information are the key aspects. 

The main idea is articulated to the following themes:
ENVIRONMENTAL EQUILIBRIO: The proposal breaks the ‘consumption cycle’, making each block self-sufficient and sustainable. Each block will balance its inlet and output of resources in terms of O2 and CO2, energy production and water recycling.
The average urban environment in Salt Lake City has a CO2 emission of 22.96 metric tons per year pc (2010 ), with an energy consumption of 8.72KW / h pcd, h20 consumption of 128g pcd . Each block intends to break this resource consumption by achieving a high level of sustainability and self-sufficiency.
CITY AS PROCESS: The intervention strategy develops over time, uniting temporary and permanent actions that consolidate the environmental objective. It proposes the definition of “intermediate spaces” and spaces for temporary uses”, creating new ENVIRONMENTs, which will support the EvolutionAL CHANGE.
ACCESSIBILITY AND CONNECTIONS: “Culture has become technology and technology has become culture”. We propose to develop, manage and work for a city that is culturally, physically and technologically interconnected.
CULTURE OF INFORMATION: As a strategy to improve the ecological culture of the city, it is proposed to automatically capture the data to be shown to the owners of the city, government officials and its occupants simultaneously. This will allow them to see and control their direct impact on the environment, favoring the INTERNET concept of CITIES.

     In 2007 the University of Granada launched an architectural competition to design a their new Health Sciences Campus in Granada. The brief was to design the campus for four caculties and a general campus services building (containing a library, auditorium and dining hall). MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos was awarded third prize for their proposal. The prize was the commission to design the Health Sciences Faculty in Granada, one component of the project.

     At MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos we saw the planning of the new Health Sciences Campus in Granada as an opportunity to create a new relationship between the city and local, territorial and metropolitan dynamics. We saw the location of the project as a way to secure the campus as a new focal point for health services and investigation in the region as well as new relationships within the metropolitan and local urban reality. We believed it fundamental to understand the intervention as a connection between both local and metropolitan behaviour and landscape.

     Our proposal focuses on the structure of the public space inspired by territorial, rural and urban elements. At MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos we have developed the concept of the Matriz Vegetal, a tool for urban landscaping that adapts different types of vegetation and green environments to the scale required. This concept allowed us to design a series of public, collective and private spaces to sustain the different activities and relationships that take place within a campus of this nature. In our proposal the built areas are the result of a negotiation and interrelation with the green spaces surrounding them. We took into account the potential impact a project of this nature would have on the local economy and cultural uses of the land, as well as calculating the resulting energy consumption and attempting to ensure diversity in the area.

     At MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos we recognize the need to incorporate the concept of the intelligent city into our work in order to generate new ways to construct urbanity and citizenship. In defining this concept we paraphrase the sociologist José Antonio Marina’s definition of intelligence: “the creation of meeting points that stimulate, increase and integrate the values of the city and both individual and collective citizenship”.

     In 2008 MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos won second prize in a competition launched by La Rinconada Town Council to design a park, fairground and semi-permanent marquee.

     Depending on the scale and size of each open space we chose particular elements such as vegetation, water, fixtures and equipment. Moorish architecture wisely distinguished between the treatment of open spaces associated with different scales ranging from intimate to public:

     Domestic or karm spaces: intimate garden or patio within a home, filled with flower pots, flowers, shrubs, vines and water. This was a location to receive friends and visitors.

     Urban or bustam spaces: public space on an urban scale with plazas, shady areas, places for walking, meeting and resting. These areas used vegetation and trees to create shade or open areas. Running water was used for fountains as well as for games and amusements.

     Rural or ramn spaces: plots and irrigated land filled with native species and with large open spaces for recreational use. Water is used in canals, irrigation ditches and wells for optimal use.

     The uses of the park vary throughout the year. For instance, during the local fiestas the park is used for domestic activities such as for familial fairground marquees. Ocassionally it is used for public events such as concerts, institutional presentations or sports tournaments. At other times of year the park once again functions as a green recreational area. When designing La Rinconada Fairgrounds we paid particular attention to the various scales of use and needs of the surrounding population.

The aim of the proposal is to articulate and facilitate the transit and connection between the different sectors and dimensions in this public space; the different activities with different levels of privacy and  openness.

The public space is designed to provide different degrees of privacy and at the same time public access. On the lower level and towards Errebal Street, there is the market and the arts & crafts area; Meanwhile, towards the north and east the multipurpose spaces. The center of the new building is used for public and collective activities, which program is open and diverse.

     In 2008 La Rinconada City Council launched an architectural competition to design a metropolitan park. Our proposal was awarded second prize.

     MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos saw this project as an opportunity to make the most of the fertile lowlands fed with water by the River Guadalquivir. This water comes to the surface when humans excavate the land to exploit gravel mines. While the brief was to create a park in and around one such gravel mine, the area is littered with excavations made by humans for creating concrete all of which fill with water from the River Guadalquivir.

     To avoid the creation of sparce abandonned areas, at MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos we saw this as a chance to create a network of open spaces that could create a matrix of green spaces connected to the town. In our project we proposed the creation of a new kind of park for adventure sports such as climbing, trekking, watersports and kayaking, as well as an ecological farm in order for it to attract users of different ages.

     We proposed a flexible project which allowed for a period of evaluation. When deciding the distribution of facilities and the various activities on offer we proposed a timescale in which users would perceive a completed park at every phase. In this way visitors could enjoy and form part of the consolidation process of the activities on offer. In our proposal the areas of particular interest are incorporated within a network of footpaths or circuits including the didactic circuit or nature circuit and the sports circuit created with the specific objective of leisure, walking and enjoyment.

     At MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos we conducted an environmental diagnosis which allowed us to create a proposal that both reconciles the recovery of the surroundings of the gravel mine and its transformation into a sports and leasure park.