Shades of Green

Shades of Green

This week my Barcelona exploration continued through two prominent green spaces carved into the city: Ciutadella Park and the Botanical Gardens in Montjuic.  In theory, these two green spaces would operate in a way that would provide a sense of controlled nature amidst the surrounding concrete visuals that Barcelona exudes.  In reality, the spaces address the question of urban green space within a city in contrasting ways. 

            Both spaces are large, but that is their only similar comparison.  They take full advantage of creating an unmistakable green space within a city context.  The size of each space is an effort to provide a level of escape from the urban surroundings.  

            Ciutadella Park has a large sense of interaction with pedestrian circulation.  It acts as a green threshold from one urban condition to an adjacent urban condition.  The space itself is structured with a strong axis but because of its width, has a tremendous sense of freedom.  The freedom comes from the sheer openness along the center of the access.  Trees frame both sides of the path to create a separation from building context to greenery.

            The Botanical Gardens are in many ways different.  The space is set on a mountain away from most urban activity.  People are less likely to stumble upon the space and therefore must make the conscious decision to visit the gardens.  The garden is structured differently.  Instead of an axis, there are many narrow paths and cross road situations that drive the circulation.  In that sense, it seems more natural to travel through this venue of nature as opposed to Ciutadella Park.

            I’m not sure if the formation of one park was in response to the other, but in comparing the two from personal experience, both parks complement the city very well.  The underlying concept of creating moments of greenery to break up the city context is the common thread but the execution of either place offers two different ways of experiencing that connection to nature.

Southern Bound

Southern Bound

If I could compare my arrival and first days into Barcelona with the trip through southern Spain, I would say that both were wonderfully exhausting.  My first days in Barcelona were spent trying to magically understand Spanish and my trip south was spent trying to magically understand all of Spain. 

Madrid, Segovia, Cordoba, Granada, and Sevilla all seen and explored in ten days.  If I had to choose one of the five cities as being my favorite, I would say Madrid.  I liked Madrid for two reasons: one, it seemed so completely different from Barcelona and two, it was because we were able to spend the most time there.  There was something comforting about Madrid being a capital city that made it feel like home in DC, but at the same time being something completely new and exciting.  We spend three days in Madrid and towards the end of our stay I felt like I left with a sense of knowing Madrid.  It’s hard to fully grasp a new city in a day or even two. Three days was still a short time, but I felt like I knew Madrid; where to eat, what to see, etc.

We made it through five cities seen in ten days.  I can’t specifically say which city I liked better in comparison to Barcelona, because Barcelona is where I’ve found comfort away from home.  However, as a whole, Spain has proven to me to be a place of constant beauty and continued discovery. 

Cerdo or Cerdon't?

             Our knowledge of the Eixample was given through a history lesson highlighting the key list of “rules” Cerda established for his city plan suggestion: 50% lot occupancy, center courtyard and most desirable, a center garden walkthrough.  This quote struck me for a number of reasons while thinking back to our walk around the Eixample.

“What was old was condemned to disappear; if an old building escaped demolition, it was only because there was no money to replace it; there could be no other reason for its continued existence. “ p 74 Sola-Morales

The quote is in reference to the “building strategy” set in place while the Gothic quarter was undergoing expansion and density issues.  Essentially the quote highlights the building strategy to be primarily driven by budget: creating the most effective way to safe money while setting up most opportunity to make money.  In the end this led to a, in my opinion, watered down and misguided use of architecture to solve the city design problems at the time.

Today the Eixample has shown to keep the overall mood Cerda had put into place by keeping a central courtyard within each block, but the size of the public space seems to be getting smaller as the increased effort to profit takes priority.  This is slowly leading to a missed opportunity originally established by Cerda.  The tour of the Example took us through the public spaces within the city blocks.  The one that was revered as being the most sought after by the public was Pasaje Permanyer.  This block was the only one we viewed that honored Cerda’s wish to have a full pass through the center of the courtyard.

            Continued construction of the Eixample should take Pasaje Permanyer into consideration along with the consequences of historical Gothic quarter expansion in an effort to preserve the Cerda method.