Realizing Openness

Laura Plosz / Wade Prpich / William Woodward

Barcelona, an extremely dense city by North American standards, has in-between spaces like all other modern cities. Conduits containing transportation cut the outlying spaces of our cities into unconnected islands and form perceptual boundaries. The bounded nature of the space often translates to a narrow understanding of the possibilities inherent in these urban pockets of unused land.

The in-between spaces existing between the edge of Barcelona and the annexed suburb of Besos exemplify this situation. The river separating the two communities is bound by concrete walls protecting the region from flooding. The river is spanned by bridges for freeways and trains, but rarely accommodates pedestrian traffic from either of the communities. Parallel to the river are both train tracks and freeway which link Spain to its northern neighbors. These conduits give way to low-income high-density housing on what is still considered to be the outskirts of Barcelona.

The design addresses the condition of separation in a way that both connects the two sides but also activates the pockets of unused land existing in between. The links were initiated at nodal points on both sides of the in-between space, to utilize existing patterns of use and movement. Points between these nodes were chosen with the criteria that they must be extreme sensations - be it of speed, isolation, or lightness. The links were then formed by incorporating a variety of design elements such as paths and textures of vegetation, as well as architectural pieces such as bridges or buildings containing specific programs.

The goal of the design was not to prescribe specific activities for each space but rather suggest the inherent possibilities for inhabitation of in-between spaces. The project acts as a catalyst in the development of a new integrated system which addresses and articulates the openness of our in-between spaces.

Laura Plosz, William Woodward are MArch students , and Wade Prpich is a M.Evironmental Design student at the University of Calgary