HORTES DE SANT BERTRAN PARK IN MONTJUÏC

PROJECT: HORTES DE SANT BERTRAN PARK RENOVATION
SITE: MONTJUÏC, BARCELONA
BUILT AREA: 5.970 m2
PROJECT: 2021-2025
CONSTRUCTION: 2024-2025
PROMOTER: BIMSA
BUILDER: ROMERO POLO
AUTHORS: DATAAE + SERGI SERRAT
TEAM: ECIVIL (CIVIL ENGINEER), ROSER VIVES (LANDSCAPE)
IMAGES: ADRIÀ GOULA

UNTIL THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, THE HORTES DE SANT BERTRAN CONSTITUED AN AREA OF HIGH NATURAL INTEREST LOCATED BETWEEN THE CITY WALLS AND THE MONTJUÏC MOUNTAIN, IN BARCELONA. IT WAS AN EXTRAMURAL SPACE FEATURING NATIVE VEGETATION, AGRICULTURAL CROPS, AND NATURAL SPRINGS, WHICH GAVE RISE TO PROMENADES THAT ALLOWED ACCESS TO THE MORROT OF MONTJUÏC AND OFFERED VIEWS OVER THE SEA AND THE CITY.

AT PRESENT, THIS AREA HAD BECOME A RESIDUAL OPEN SPACE, DETERIORATED AND FRAGMENTED BY A ROADWAY THAT SEPARATED A DOG AREA FROM A CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND IN AN ADVANCE STATE OF DEGRADATION, MAKING ITS USE AND SPATIAL CONTINUITY DIFFICULT.

THE PROPOSAL PRESENTS A RENATURALIZATION OF THE SPACE, UNIFYING THE TWO EXISTING SQUARES AND SHAPING A SINGLE LARGE PARK, WHILE PRESERVING THE EXISTING TREES AS A STRUCTURING ELEMENT OF THE PROJECT. THE NEW LAYOUT IS ORGANIZED AROUND A LARGE COMPACTED-EARTH PLATFORM COMBINED WITH A GREEN STRIP, CROSSED BY SEVERAL PATHS THAT ENABLE TRANSVERSAL CONNECTIONS ACROSS THE SITE. THESE ROUTES REINFORCE THE HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE MOUNTAIN, MAINTAINING AND ENHACING THE PATHS LEADING UP TO MONTJUÏC.

THE LARGE PLATFORM ACCOMMODATES VARIOUS CONCRETE PLAY ELEMENTS INSPIRED BY THE DESIGNS OF ALDO VAN EYCK, CONCEIVED TO ENCOURAGE FREE PLAY, IMAGINATION, AND SOCIAL INTERACTION AMONG CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT AGES. THE TOPOGRAPHICAL ADAPTATION OF THE SPACE IS RESOLVED THROUGH CONCRETE RETAINING WALLS, WHICH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO CONTAIN THE SOIL AND ADAPT THE PROJECT LAYOUT TO EXISTING CONDITIONS, WHILE PRESERVING AND PROTECTING BOTH THE HEIGHT AND ROOT STRUCTURE OF THE TREES. THIS NEED FOR ADAPTATION GENERATES SLIGHT DISTORTIONS IN THE PROJECT’S INITIALLY RECTANGULAR GEOMETRY, WHICH BECOME PART OF ITS CHARACTER AND FORMAL EXPRESSION.