Classical Garden for the Ensanche

When designing this garden for a typical urban block of Barcelona, RBTA considered it necessary to adopt a simple design which would facilitate the implementation and maintenance of the green areas, proposing an easily identifiable typology, both classic and Mediterranean.

The scheme resonates with the city’s classical Greco-Roman origins, while revealing the Mediterranean influence in the combination of paved and green areas. The garden’s basic form and layout are defined by a geometry which is marked by the crossing of the axes that derive from the area’s urban grid.

RBTA’s design achieves a balance between the natural resources and the architectural design, which integrate symbolic elements inspired in the Roman public space, understood as a place for citizens to spend time and to encounter one another.

With a symbolic character, the scheme’s geometrical composition is deliberately simple, centralized and hierarchically arranged.

An external colonnade, 240 meters on the side, acts as a buffer between the urban environment and the garden. The grayish-pink color and the texture of the columns, made of architectural concrete or artificial stone, naturally integrate the structure into the urban environment. A secondary colonnade, 10.80 meters-long, will house the civic centre.

At the centre of the composition, a monumental square combining grass and red ceramic tiles, include a temple-shape building with two pools at either side. Built on a stepped base, the temple is accessible from all four sides. An external wall made of solid brick will enclose this space that will be the perfect venue for cultural activities.

There will be a double row of cypress trees located on the roofs of the colonnade and the green pergola; a double line of deciduous black poplars next to the colonnade; three lines of cluster pines will conform the ring marking the central space, monumentalized by means of an inclined lawn.

As a counterpoint to the esplanade, an elevated brick paved amphitheatre, will provide additional public space.