PLAZA DE ESPAÑA RENOVATION

Internacional competition for the renovation of Plaza de España

Location: Madrid, Spain

Client: Madrid City Council

State: International competition. Second prize

Year: 2016

An opportunity for Madrid

The objectives pursued by the proposal presented are summarized in five major strategies, the first in relation to the overall nature of the city of Madrid, and the other four in relation to the design of the scope of action:

A STRATEGY FOR ALL MADRID

The Plaza España remodeling project has been understood as an opportunity to improve a larger area than the one around Plaza España, which is why a large urban walk complementary to Madrid Río is proposed that crosses the center of Madrid, improving from this forms the global urban cohesion of the city.

FOUR STRATEGIES FOR PLAZA ESPAÑA

By means of four main strategies, the aim is to introduce a new concept of public space and urban landscape in the center of Madrid, which can be extended, through the new proposed promenade, to the rest of the city.

STRATEGY 1. Improvement of functional quality: A CLEAR PLAZA WITHOUT BARRIERS.

It is proposed: first, a square without visual barriers, that is to say, diaphanous and safer; second, without physical or architectural barriers, that is, a square accessible to all; and, finally, without urban barriers, that is, a square linked to its surroundings.

STRATEGY 2. Improved mobility: LESS CARS, A PLACE FOR THE PEDESTRIAN AND THE BIKE

The proposal gives the highest priority to pedestrian routes and the integration of the bicycle lane in the city, as well as improving the mobility of public transport, reducing the space dedicated to private road traffic but proposing a reorganization of it to achieve a correct and efficient road flow.

STRATEGY 3. Improvement of landscape and environmental conditions: GREENER, MORE SHADOW AND MORE SUSTAINABLE

On the one hand, a considerable increase in the green area in the square is proposed, to increase the residential areas of the same, and, in addition, the number of trees is also increased, which allows increasing the shade in summer (and keeping the square sunny in winter to be deciduous trees). On the other hand, it is committed to applying sustainable criteria: both environmental, proposing, among many other measures, the integration of this entire area in Madrid's green infrastructure or irrigation with rainwater, as criteria of social and economic sustainability (improvement of social cohesion , etc.).

STRATEGY 4. Improvement in the management of uses: A PLACE FOR EVERYONE

The proposal is designed so that everyone can enjoy it, therefore a diversification of uses is proposed through different points of activity, but with a distribution that guarantees the necessary continuity of the public space. In addition, the general organization of the square as well as the particular organization of each element arranged in it is aimed at recovering the identity and symbolic role of the Plaza España in the urban fabric of Madrid.