Prior to the intervention this was an urban void, simply an unfinished piece of city; a junction of streets in V-shaped in an urban surrounding inhabited mostly by workers from Andalucía and Extremadura. Even though that the residential buildings in this neighborhood present a very modest architecture, they sometimes have colorful façades. From the original situation it seemed important for the architects to preserve the joy and the color of the facades of the neighborhood and take the opportunity to remodel a small urban space next to the new building through the resource which the residents of the neighborhood have always used: the color.
One of the main challenges of the project was the integration between the façade and the public space, and to provide the space for a new use, hence the flexible pavement and the large commercial premise on the ground floor of the new building. Vehicles were replaced by trees, children's playground and a bar with a terrace area.
The building is conceived as a large facade of the same color as the pavement of the square. Thus, the facade becomes a vertical extension of the square, whilst the square became a horizontal extension of the facade.
Despite having had to dispense the free surface parking, the neighbors preferred that the surface for pedestrian use was larger and should be extended by one of the neighboring streets. The houses are now occupied by new tenants. The children use the playground. The elderly and also especially the children have celebrated the color of the pavement and there is great anticipation for the use of the large commercial premises which will give more life to the new public space. Definitely, it is not large parks what they need at this moment.
(Main photo by Ariel Ramírez)
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