ESC Studio has shared with ArchDaily their winning proposal for the 2009 international competition for the redevelopment of the Glorieta Juan Carlos I in Spain. More Images, architects description and a video after the break.
The scheme, presently in development, integrates the currently fenced plaza into the surrounding urban fabric, returning the space to the community by creating a public promenade that breaks the rigidity of the previous configuration and establishes a direct connection between the city and the heart of the square, while preserving the entirety of the existing vegetation.
The main circulations are carved into the current levels of the square, revealing a dynamic pattern that runs through the space among the programmed activity islands that host children, elderly and performance spaces, and allowing a step less access to the square from the adjacent streets.
The space planning of the square has been generated with custom software that implements a Voronoi algorithm to subdivide the space into circulations and activity areas. This interactive application allowed for a public consultation process that took place in Mula in December 2009, and gave the citizens the opportunity to actively participate in the design process by proposing their own design ideas. Each of the user’s proposals will be the reflection of the individual’s perception of the space and his personal approach to the new design.
The scheme is designed as a self-sufficient, carbon neutral space. A series of climate control units will be scattered through the square, equipped with PV cells, lighting and fog systems that will lower the temperature of the square in Summer, while producing all the energy required for the normal functioning of the space, being at the same time a physical reminder of a continuous compromise with the environment.
