At a time in which our public meeting areas are deteriorating and becoming places of hurried transit, product of a devastating reduction of public space, we view this project as an opportunity to propose a more livable city. We are interested in the street as a area full of activity, where the neighbours come and go on foot or by bike, greet each other, spontaneously stop for a chat or pop into a shop. Similarly, we see the square as a space where people can meet with friends or family or just sit quietly and relax and watch the world go by.
The intensive flow of traffic at the edge of town from the road to Sevilla results in uncontrolled parking, isolating the adjacent Mártires del Pueblo and Mujer Trabajadora squares.
Mártires del Pueblo square acts very well as a meeting place with favourable climatic conditions but this space lacks shaded areas and trees. During the hotter part of the day, the square becomes an inhospitable place but in the evening, it turns into a lively area, where people gather in order to chat, have refreshments, socialize, where both formal and informal public events can be held.
The objective is to improve the quality of the spaces for living and walking by re-organizing the public areas, avoiding obstacles which might impede a greater freedom of movement. Pavement area is reduced, thereby eliminating car parks, double parking and traffic jams.
The project aims to unify several disperse public spaces generated by the intensive flow of traffic. The reduction of the section of the road and the single level roadway and pavement that, combined with the pedestrianisation of the Juan Marín de Vargas shopping street, allows us to understand the various squares as a single, continuous urban unit, one which is a more spacious and livable area.
A system of canopies built using a structure of tension cables and made of micro-perforated canvas widens the use of the mártires del pueblo square at the hottest times during the summer. This system allows for the removal of all or part of the canopies in winter.
The proposed trees along with the existing ones and the awnings, which act as inviting thresholds to the different areas, reinforce the existing activity thus creating an optimal urban area. New trees will be added to the existing ones. Care has been taken to ensure that the new trees are native to the area. These trees will line the pedestrian areas and will be organized by species, thus creating new, clearly recognizable, socialization zones.
To organize these spaces, we used a simple linear geometric design in the pavement, which is systematically repeated in different angles and directions and which acts as a unifying pattern. The treatment will be prefabricated pieces of concrete and granite cobblestone.
By means of introducing a single level roadway and pavement (all on the same plane) and the pedestrianisation of Juan Marín de Vargas street, business activity located between the Mártires square and the main market has been empowered.
Also, the project highlights existing conditions like that of the San Roque church square and emphasizes its function as that of an urban podium from which you can look out onto Mártires square.
The entired project has been successfully realized with a tighter budget.
