Juan Pajares - *estel

Revitalising Montornès Nord neighborhood

Pla de Barris in 2010, carried out in Montornès Nord a diagnosis of public spaces system identifying those who needed an improvement intervention; the “Pergola” square and the street “Llibertat”. In addition to these, the neighbors reclaimed the improvement of two more spaces; the street “9 d’Abril” and the square of “Pergola”. Based on that identification of those four spaces, the municipality charged Estel* to run the improvement processes.

Initially, the strategies for neighbors’ implication were designed so to realize a collaborative analysis and diagnosis of these spaces. Meetings with citizens (direct participation) and observation (indirect participation) were carried out to establish a direct communication channel with the residents and learn the daily dynamics of the area.

Regarding the proposal phase, the process has been developed in a way to be adapted in the conclusions of the diagnosis. Specifically, three of these projects attached to the street “Llibertat” were grouped into one. The fourth space was tackled with an independent process which suited better the needs of the environment.

In parallel to the process of defining improvement strategies for the selected areas, it has been worked the administrative dynamics through interviews with council personnel so to analyze the policies of the different departments regarding public spaces.

Place

Montornès del Vallès

[16,263 inhabitants]

Scale of the project

Neighborhood

Type of project

Citizen cooperation

Public space design

Duration

6 months (2015)

Promoter

Muicipality of Montornès

del Vallès

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix,

Mireia Peris, Ara Muñío,

Esteve Boix, Marc Deu)

Itziar González, Arquect

Collaborated

Neighbors of Montornès

Nord

Entities and associations

(culture, economy,

education)

Study

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Press

The Pine’s plaza

The Pine's Plaza

19_PE1707_PPB_Minifairo_02_estatActual_Prop

19_PE1707_PPB_Minifairo_04_identittat_taller

19_PE1707_PPB_Minifairo_01_Benifairo_planol_general

The project for the reformation of the square (plaça) del Pi at Benifairo de la Valldigna incorporated since the beginning the inhabitants, especially children. The square holds an important part at the village’s entrance, creating a “bridge” between nursery and primary school and hosting el “Pi redó”, an emblematic tree which during the years turned into a meeting place -physical and symbolic- for every inhabitant.

Initially, collaborative work took place including agents related to the project so to identify the main deficiencies of the space and define strategic lines for the future project. Once agreed, these ideas were specified progressively in order to create an urban design project.

During the process, various participative techniques were used: from group interviews with the city’s technical-political team and with professionals linked to the school, to workshops with children, recording of memories regarding Pí redó and its surroundings, and open sessions in the public space with inhabitants.

The proposal redefines the mobility circulation at the entrance and exit of the village, eliminates part of the parking space that is underused so that many square meters are freed up creating spaces of quality to pass time and play both for adults and children.

Place

Benifairó de la Valldigna

[1,580 inhabitants]

Scale

Public space

Type of project

Urban strategies

Citizen cooperation

Public space design

Duration

Collaborative Diagnosis:

6 months [2017]

Urban design project:

3 months [2017]

Site management:

3 months [2018]

Promoter

Muicipality of Benifairó de

la Valldigna

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix, Marc Deu,

Konstantina Chrysostomou)

Monodestudio, Urbanins,

Siete arquitectura más

ingeniería s.l.

Collaborated

Neighbors of Benifairó de la

Valldigna,

Children and educational team

of James II el Just primary

school

Featured project

Plaza Maresme

10_PE1501_PDM_PlMaresme_04_Planta_Proposta

10_PE1501_PDM_PlMaresme_05_Seccions_Proposta

The project approaches the Maresme Square (Plaça Maresme) and its surroundings with an integrated way through a complex project that goes from collaborative diagnosis to executive re-design project and site management.

The project was a municipal initiative to embrace the social dynamics that were already taking place in Plaça Maresme, as a meeting point for both residents of the neighborhood and users of the sports facilities attached to the public space.

Socio-territorial studies and masterplan held a significant participatory deployment that included neighbors, neighborhood organizations and associations and children from both nearby schools and Municipal Children’s council. As a result of the analysis of the urban dynamics that were taking place and the dialogue between the various agents involved, it established the strategic lines of the project from which, on the one hand, it was drafted the urban planning project and on the other hand it promoted a series of measures to improve coexistence and citizen empowerment.

The redesign of the square highlights the value of the adjoining buildings, dignifies their accesses, improves their between connection and enhances active mobility through the pedestrianization of the square’s street. This gesture defines a new axis that crosses the area and that apart from acting as a space of passing by or passing time, organizes the rest of the surrounding ambits that fit into the natural topography of the site, eliminating the containment walls and stairs that before structured watertight levels.

Among the different uses which are taking place, there is a programmable outdoor scene and various play areas understood as growth and learning spaces. From the landscape point of view, the project uses a combination of bush vegetation and native clinker, a move that helps to delimit the different environments but at the same time helps to keep up a certain perceptual connection among them, with trees that provide shade and improve the quality of comfort for the users.

The selected plant species help to increase significantly the biodiversity of the environment giving continuity to the strategy already initiated by the municipal government.

Place

Premià de Mar

[28,071 inhabitants]

Scale of the project

Neighborhood

Public space

Type of project

Urban Strategies

Citizen cooperation

Public space design

Duration

Collaborative Diagnosis:

6 months [2016]

Urban planning project:

6 months [2017]

Site management:

6 mesos [2018]

Promoter

Barcelona Provincial Council,

City Hall of Premià de Mar

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix, Alba

Domínguez, Marc Deu )

MonoDestudio, Laia Vilaubí,

Pere Santos, Ingenieros

asociados SA, Roger

Bancells, Alarona Tècnics

Collaborated

Neighbors of Premià,

Local entities and

associations,

Municipal Children’s Council

of Premià de Mar

Study

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Featured project

Public space is not neutral

KC_1_nicosia airport_buffer zone_Konstantina Chrysostomou

KC_2_Buffer zone Nicosia_Konstantina Chrysostomou

KC_3_Nicosia Airport_Buffer zone_Konstantina Chrysostomou

KC_4_Buffer Zone Nicosia_Konstantina Chrysostomou

Public space is not neutral.

Public space is not neutral.

Beirut, Mostar, Nicosia, Jerusalem, Belfast

In each city of these, urban managers under-estimated growing interethnic tensions until it was so late that violence spread and resulted in physical segregation. Though the walls, fences, and no man’s lands that resulted were generally designed to be temporary, they have considerable staying powers, forcing divided residents to grapple with life “under siege”, confronting their terrors at home without the means of retreat or escape. Even after politicians have secured a peace, the citizens struggle with losses and missed opportunities that are beyond compensation. Along the path to urban partition, a social contract between municipal government and residents is broken. The costs of renegotiations are high.

Partitioned cities act as a warning beacon for all cities where intercommunal rivalry threatens normal urban functioning and security. Every city contains ethnic fault-lines or boundaries that give shape to “good” and “bad” neighbourhoods and lend local meaning to “the other side of the tracks”.

These five cities are linked by similar episodes of development in similar sequences and patterns. The events that pushed Belfast, Beirut, Jerusalem, Mostar and Nicosia up to beyond the threshold of ethnic apartheid have much in common. Not all phases are found in each city, but they can be considerable reliable indicators of a propensity towards physical segregation for ethnically diverse societies under stress while undergoing a major social transition:

Politicizing ethnicity – merging of political and ethnic identity on a mass scale
Clustering – if pressures multiply, the members of a threatened urban community may seek out smaller, more ethnically homogenous clusters for protection.
Political up-scaling – Divided cities function in part as emblems of larger political struggles in which individual enclave residents are enlisted to fight battles not directly serving their personal interests.
Boundary etching – once threatened ethnic communities have retreated into homogenous clusters, and the urban terrain has been converted into political territory, it remains for the battle lines to be formally drawn.
Concretizing – The transformation of these inscribed boundaries, from permeable into impermeable thresholds separating neighbouring reside groups, is a process that relies on purposeful design and execution. Generally, they intended to be temporary in anticipation of diplomatic interventions, however they remained in place for decades.
Consolidating – Once ethnic boundaries have been etched and concretizing in the urban environment, the political climate determines whether municipal authorities will augment or counteract the process of division.
Unifying but not integrating – Due to burdensome inefficiencies of physical segregation in an environment engineered for cooperation, urban partitions are rarely sustainable. Though physical barriers are easily demolished, the social and physical scars that remain are slow to fade. The psychological residue from long periods of violence and intimidation generally prevents residents who live through the period of partition from occupying formerly forbidden areas.

The typical divided city remains divided as long as the insecurities that led to intergroup violence remain. Though physical partitions generate new problems and intensify interethnic rivalries in their own right, their removal is necessary but not sufficient condition for the creation of more favourable and equitable conditions in the urban framework.

.

* References

J. Calame, E. Charlesworth, (2009) Divided cities, University of Pennsylvania Press

A. Oz, (1994) Israel, Palestine and Peace: Essays on a Paradoxical Situation

CCCB (2005) Breaking the wall: the social responsability of Palestinian and Israeli Academics and Intellectuals at Times of Violent conflict: An introspective Search

K. Chrysostomou (2013) Διακοινοτικές σχέσεις σε διαιρεμένες πόλεις: Η περίπτωση της Λευκωσίας (Relacions intercomunitàries en ciutats dividides: el cas de Nicòsia)
K. Chrysostomou (2016), Negotiating Cultural Identities in Post Conflict Spaces: The memorial landscapes of Nicosia
Photos: Konstantina Chrysostomou, No man’s land in Cyprus

Words of:

Konstantina Chrysostomou

Publication date:

12/05/2021

Originally written in:

English

Tags:

Everyday life / Public space

1Everyday life 4Public Space

Corona street

02_ABP_CarrerCorona_plantilla fotos_Appleyard-02

El carrer Corona s’ha fet estret. Ara, des de l’entradeta de casa, al número 21, sentim els pardalets a qualsevol hora del dia, veiem les veïnes trastejar a les finestres, i dóna un sol espectacular. Que segur que abans també donava, però no sabiem el seu horari de visita.

Estos dies l’hem arreglada, l’entradeta. Hem posat els nostres noms cal·ligrafiats a la bústia. Hem instal·lat una lleixa de castanyer, pulida i envernissada. És xicoteta, no fa ni dos pams de llarg, i està feta amb la fusta d’una antiga artesa de salar de vés a saber on. A la lleixa es recolza un test amb una heura ressuscitada, i hi penja un fanalet de vidre bufat, sostingut amb una xarxa de corda teixida amb molt d’ofici.

Eixim a l’entradeta a fer el cafè. Alhora, la veïna d’unes portes més enllà, la número 15, agrana primer i arruixa després la vorera de davant de sa casa, com per fer net després que tothom hagués marxat al tall a guanyar-se les garrofes. En realitat ningú no ha marxat de casa.

Com que el carrer s’ha encollit i estem més a prop, la conversa es fila més ràpid, i en un moment Adela ens està contant a nosaltres i a Miquel (asomat a la finestra del primer pis del 14), que quan ella era fadrina, el carrer també era així, petitó. I els veïns i veïnes el tancaven als cotxes per sopar juntes o per eixir a la fresca els vespres de bon oratge.

Miquel somriu, i atropella el relat amb el seu propi, de tantes ganes d’explicar els records que la història d’Adela li ha despertat. Al seu poble també tancaven el carrer Corona cada diumenge. Disputaven partides de pilota a mà. Jugaven a llargues, lo menos, quatre o cinc joves per banda. Mig barri s’hi acostava a veure la partida que, quan era senyalada, omplia l’aforament: voreres, finestres i balcons atapeïts d’ulls que seguien els tantos d’extrem a extrem del carrer. Quin gust vore’l tan plenet de gent! Que aplaudia i cridava. Que reia o feia carasses, segons el joc.

Nosaltres els comentàvem que quina sort que el carrer Corona s’haja tornat a fer estret. Que no cal ni tallar-lo als cotxes per xerrar una estona qualsevol. Que la lleixa i el fanalet vénen del nord, i que quina acció de cura tan bonica i tan poc reconeguda és netejar una part de la vorera de totes. Que també tenim arrels al sud, i que ens encantaria organitzar aquí mateix una partida de llargues en quant les circumstàncies ho permeten.

* Referències

Text inspirat en els estudis de Donald Appleyard sobre l’impacte del trànsit de vehicles en la vida veïnal:

Imatge: Reproducció digital del diagrama de les connexions socials al carrer (Appleyard, 1969). Les línies representen conexions socials, i els punts identifiquen els llocs de trobada de la gent.

Words of:

Arnau Boix i Pla

Publication date:

26/04/2020

Originally written in:

catalan

Tags:

Everyday life / Sustainable mobility / Public space

1Everyday life 2Sustainable mobility 4Public Space

Your right of window

Reproducció digital de l'obra Green Town (1973-1978), de Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Font: http://en.bahafineart.com/friedensreich-hundertwasser/green-town

Perfilava el traçat amb pinzell i una concentració desmesurada. Abstreta de tot el que passarà al seu voltant -que, per altra banda, era més bé poc- i absolutament determinada a completar el propòsit de decorar les finestres de sa casa. O, per ser més precisa, de decorar la façana de sa casa des de les finestres a tot el que li arribarà el braç, el pinzell i les imprudents -si no suïcides- acrobàcies que executava en favor del màxim alcanç de la pintura.

Xica, que cauràs! Li va etzibar un vianant des de la vorera d’enfront, tot aturant-se per mirar que el seu propi crit no en fos el detonant profètic. La pintora, molt calmadament, va completar el moviment circular del seu canell, apurant la darrera sucada. Va abaixar el genoll de l’ampit i, ja amb el seu centre de gravetat fora del va, al menjador de casa, es va girar cap al viaestant.

Li agrada? Va dir l’habitant. Els blaus solquen el mur com unes crineres pentinades amb rastrell, emergeixen de tot l’ample de la llinda, i s’allunyen del perímetre de la finestra, canviant de gruix durant el traçat, i completant dos voltes i mitja en forma d’espiral. Són uns blaus forts, foscos, que amb l’absorció de la paret es flanquegen de verd marí. D’aquest degradat germinen, amb naturalitat vivificant, fulles, branques, arbres, arremolinats amb el feix de filaments del pinzell.

Els colors són bonics… però eixa no és la bona qüestió. I quina és per vosté la bona qüestió? Doncs que estàs pintant el carrer sense permís. Estic pintant ma casa. Però sóc jo qui veu el que pintes, des del carrer, tu en canvi no ho pots gaudir. Crec que ací s’equivoca, jo gaudisc pintant-ho, gaudisc pensant que els veïns i veïnes ho poden veure, i jo mateixa ho podré veure quan isca al carrer… Els dos oradors suspiren alhora, les últimes quatre paraules s’han quedat impreses en l’aire i s’hi estan uns segons, com volent ser llegides per molta més gent. Però no hi ha ningú més al carrer, i s’esfumen.

Doncs també tens raó xica, pinta lo que vullgues. La veritat és que a mí m’agrada, i si tinguérem totes les cases decorades aixina, l’espai públic seria més alegre i acollidor. Pausa. Pensant-ho bé és una iniciativa preciosa, per què no pintes la resta de cases del carrer?

La proposta que em fa m’afalaga… però eixa no és la bona qüestió. Que jo em senta amb la llibertat de pintar-lo i vosté amb la llibertat d’opinar-lo ja fa l’espai públic més alegre i acollidor. Encara diria més, el fet mateix que vosté i jo estiguem mantenint aquesta conversa fa l’espai públic.

Ara és un somriure el que es queda imprès en l’aire, un de sol, compartit, reflexiu, còmplice, revelador. Fins que el triple xiulit d’un policia el fulmina. Final del partit. El viaestant mamprèn la marxa, l’habitant la pintura.

* Referències

Text inspirat en l’obra de Friedensreich Hundertwasser i el seu activisme pel dret a la ciutat:

Imatge: Reproducció digital de l’obra Green Town (1973-1978), de Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Words of:

Arnau Boix i Pla

Publication date:

13/04/2020

Originally written in:

catalan

Tags:

Everyday life / Public space

1Everyday life 2Sustainable mobility

Temporary activation of urban voids

0_E1508_SMM_Buits_Activació temporal d’espais buits_diagnosi i estratègies a Santa Margarida de Montbui

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1_E1508_SMM_Buits_Activació temporal d’espais buits_diagnosi i estratègies a Santa Margarida de Montbui

The crisis caused a slowdown in the usual way to “produce” the physical space of the cities, creating an area with voids waiting to develop (in the broadest sense of the word, not just referring to urban development). Given these circumstances, it became necessary to put into motion urban strategies and tactics so to activate the territorial resources available to the cities.

From this perspective, the Diputació de Barcelona proposed a framework of stable collaboration with the municipal entities in order to support them with strategies, tools, and proposals for the management of spaces that had remained empty in the municipalities of the province. Given the existence of these spaces in Santa Margarida de Montbui pending to build, urbanize or reconvert with new uses, and the reluctance on how to address this problem, the municipality asked the Diputación for its collaboration. And it is in this framework, the project was carried out by the team *estel.

The project sought to identify the empty spaces in the municipality to avoid degradation and to propose new temporary uses able to cover local social needs. Specifically, those activities were requested in the past by the population but did not have a municipal response either to municipal facilities or existing public spaces.

A collaborative diagnosis was made on the plots identified both from citizens and the council’s technical-administrative team. Some of these plots, near the river Anoia, have an industrial value present in the built heritage. Others, near the neighborhood of Pi, follow the history of the tanneries of the area and a marked tradition of self-organization. From this diagnosis, a process of revitalization of the urban space was proposed through the synergies that were discovered in the territory, consisting of the creation of protocols of activation of the empty spaces.

Place

Santa Margarida de Montbui

[9825 inhabitants]

Scale of the project

Municipal

Type of project

Urban Strategies

Citizen cooperation

Duration

8 months [2015-2016]

Promoter

Barcelona Provincial Council

Municipality of Santa

Margarida de Montbui

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix, Mireia Peris,

Raimon Soler, Laia Llonch)

Presentation

Check the presentation at Prezi

Study

Read the full report at Issuu

project

Plaza Lluís Companys

The square (plaza) Lluís Companys and its surroundings are part of the interstitial spaces network of the multifamily housing blocks of Montornès Nord neighborhood, a residential area that dates from the ’60s.

The project takes place in an area currently occupied by a car park, optimizing its distribution and recovering public space for the neighbors. The main strategy is to give continuity to the existing green zone through native vegetation, boosting, in this way, the biodiversity of the environment. In addition, the square is equipped with urban furniture so to increase the quality of comfort both in the areas of stay, play, and picnic.

In addition, the project puts special emphasis on improving the accessibility and connectivity of this space with street Llibertat and the rest of adjacent spaces, because due to the marked topography there are currently several areas where there can be found blind spaces or from where it is difficult to reach there on foot.

Place

Montornès del Vallès

[16,263 inhabitants]

Scale of the project

Public space

Type of project

Public space design

Duration

3 months [2018]

Promoter

Muicipality of Montornès

del Vallès

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix, Marc Deu,

Alba Domínguez, Konstantina

Chrysostomou)

Alarona Tècnicse

project

Rethinking public space from a youth perspective

16_PE1603_PAM_Joventut_04_mapeig_activitat_nit

The participatory process “Youth and Public Space” is framed within the context of the PAM (Municipal Action Plan) of the city council of Barcelona, from which are defined the strategic lines that must be applied in the policies promoted by the administration.

The purpose of the project is to know how public space is used by young people and the problems that are encountered in this urban context. To do this, the study is approached from a double perspective; On the one hand, a series of representative reference spaces in Barcelona are identified and analyzed separately and on the other hand, the topic is approached on a city scale.

To do this, we use the RPA methodology (Research – Participation – Action), taking youth collectives linked to each one of the spaces to prepare both the diagnosis and the proposals for improvement. Apart from that, an important part of the work is also focused on the professionals of the youth sector, who give their expert and direct vision on the process.

During the period that the project lasts, are used tools for collaborative work such as open workshops, questionnaires, group interviews, observation and “mapping” of urban dynamics… materials that adapt to each one of the study areas based on their specific characteristics.

The results obtained were a diagnosis of each one of the spaces and proposals linked to each one of them. In addition, a city vision on public spaces and youth was obtained through the collection of experiences and the contribution of the professionals of the sector.

Place

Barcelona

[1,620,343 inhabitants]

Scale of the project

Municipal

Type of project

Urban Strategies

Citizen cooperation

Duration

6 months [2016]

Promoters

Barcelona City Council,

Department of Youth,

Department of Services for

Children, Youth and the Elderly

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix, Mireia

Peris, Marc Deu, Konstantina

Chrysostomou, Esteve Boix)

Monodestudio, Urbanins

Collaborated

Barcelona Youth,

Agents and youth collectives

Informe

Read the full report on issuu

Premsa

Read more about the project at

Ajuntament – Seu electrònica

project

Participatory process for the land use masterplan of Sentmenat

The participatory process for Santmenat’s POUM (Land Use Plan) was developed in parallel with the redaction of the urban planning document, with the aim to enrich it and help with the validation of the made decisions.

The project addresses the challenge of transforming the Land Use Masterplan (PGOU) into an opportunity so that the different actors who structure society to collaborate and define the future of their city. Among others, they face issues about housing, economic activity, public space and facilities, natural spaces and infrastructures on their territory.

The process is structured in four consecutive and cumulative phases. During the first one, the civic participation program is established, the communication plan is drawn up and the agents’ map is formed. The latter consists of entities and associations which later are involved in citizen debates, citizens and municipal technical-political team.

During the second phase, the analysis and diagnosis take place, which through open sessions and group interviews is produced radiography of the city’s current state to define the challenges that need to be addressed. At the same time, following the evolution of the POUM Advance document, participants work on the identified strategic lines turning them into proposals, in order to be included afterwards in the normative document.

Finally, the last phase, the one of follow-up, serves to communicate to citizens the results and final conclusions, redact the documentation that is incorporated in POUM and set up the bases that allow participants to follow up to the next stages of the process.

Place

Sentmenat

[8,957 inhabitants]

Scale of the project

Municipal

Type of project

Citizen cooperation

Duration

6 months [2016]

Promoter

City Hall of Sentmenat

Barcelona Provincial Council

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix, Marc

Deu, Llaia Llonch)

Collaborated

Neighbors of Sentmenat

Local entities and

associations

Informe

Read the full report at issuu

Premsa

Read more about the project at

Ajuntament – Seu electrònica

project

Revitalising Montornès Nord neighborhood

The Pine's Plaza

Plaza Maresme

Public space is not neutral

Corona street

Your right of window

Temporary activation of urban voids

Plaza Lluís Companys

Rethinking public space from a youth perspective

Participatory process for the land use masterplan of Sentmenat

Legal Terms – CC *estel