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.
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