Balmori Associates has transformed Abandoibarra, Bilbao’s former industrial center. Building upon the 1997 master plan completed by Balmori Associates, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Aguinaga y Asociados, the area has been reinvented as an international cultural district and tourist destination. Two-thirds of the 30-hectare site is dedicated to parks and open spaces, creating a public oasis and grounds for a suite of buildings by master architects including Alvaro Siza, Rafael Moneo, Cesar Pelli, and Robert A.M. Stern. Adjacent to the site is Frank Gehry’s iconic Guggenheim Bilbao Museum. A new light rail runs along the water’s edge on a width of green lawn to slow down traffic and to give continuity to the green space. Three varied urban landscape interventions define the broader whole, including the Campa de los Ingleses Park (2.5 hectares, Fall 2011); Plaza Euskadi (1 hectare, Summer 2011); and The Garden That Climbs The Stairs (80 m2, 2009). Balmori’s overall design weaves new development into the historic old city with particular emphasis on expanding the amount of textured green space and incorporating sustainable design practices. Campa de los Ingleses Park flows from the Guggenheim to the historic 19th-century Parque Doña Casilda de Iturriza. The park’s defining lines mark undulating paths that create topographic waves that mediate a 10m elevation difference across the park and create a series of curving terraces. In collaboration with RTN Architects, small buildings are embedded into the landscape. The park is a sculpted, seamless urban experience that unifies Abandoibarra and the Nervión River. Plaza Euskadi connects Bilbao’s historic downtown to the Campa de los Ingleses Park and Nervión River. The plaza is conceived as a place of passage with a direct central path that simultaneously sews the built environment together and creates a place for rest and recreation. Three public “pockets” hook onto the central path, offering a distinctive character of seating, planting, and activity. The Garden That Climbs The Stairs creates a dynamic urban space unlike any other in the world. It is a garden of contrasts: the contrast between native and exotic plants, between the red flowers and the green grass, between the green grass and the grey paving.
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