ECO-BOULEVARD - ecosistemaurbano, Belinda Tato, Jose Luis Vallejo, Diego Garcia-setien Terol

The proposal for the Eco-boulevard of Vallecas can be defined as an operation of urban recycling that consists of the following actuations: the installation of three social revitalizing air trees placed along the existing urbanization, the densification of trees within their existing concourse, and the reduction and asymmetric disposition of the traffic routes, and superficial interventions within the existing urbanization (perforations, backfill, paint, etc.) that achieve reconfiguration of the executed urban development.

Photo by Emilio P. Doiztua. ©Emilio P. Doiztua. Published on January 15, 2015.

Three pavilions or air trees function like open structures to multiply resident-selected activities. Installed in the non-city as temporary prostheses, they will be used only until air-conditioned spaces are no longer needed, when the area becomes “fixed”. When a sufficient amount of time has passed, these devices should be dismantled, leaving remaining spaces that resemble forest clearings. The air tree is a light structure, easily dismantled and energetically self-sufficient, that only consumes what it is capable of producing by means of systems designed to capture and use solar photovoltaic energy.

Photo by Emilio P. Doiztua. ©Emilio P. Doiztua. Published on January 15, 2015.

The Suburban Development of Vallecas had all the very poor characteristics typical of suburban developments. So, the Eco-boulevard competition is organized with two objectives: one of a social nature, aimed to generate activity, and one of an environmental nature, the bioclimatic adaptation of an outdoor space.

Photo by Emilio P. Doiztua. ©Emilio P. Doiztua. Published on January 15, 2015.

Public spaces belong to everyone and they should act as supports for a number of activities and events, beyond what can be planned, spaces where citizens can act in freedom and spontaneously. Our proposal is an attempt to make up for the total lack of activity due to irresponsible planning, and it originates in the interest in finding a solution to the problem from the very beginning.

Photo by Emilio P. Doiztua. ©Emilio P. Doiztua. Published on January 15, 2015.

We are aware that the best adaptation for a public space is that involving thick and solid trees, a material that cannot be counted on until 15 or 20 years have gone by. Therefore, it was necessary to have an “emergency” action that could operate as a wood would in the future. So the strategy opted for is one of concentration that acts on and adapts specific areas by supplying them with higher climatic comfort and serving thus as the seed of a public space regenerating process. We do not think a building is necessary, but a place for people whose shape is defined by the very activity developed in it at a given time. Three pavillions or trees of air work as supports open to multiple activities chosen by the users. Installed in the non-city as temporary prostheses, they will be used only until the inactivity and climatic adaptation problem is corrected. Once the necessary time has elapsed, these devices should be taken down and the old premises should remain as clearings in the wood.

Photo by Emilio P. Doiztua. ©Emilio P. Doiztua. Published on January 15, 2015.

The use of technology plays on this project a critical and decisive role as it adapts to an authentic and specific context. The architectural potential of technology lies on its reprogramming and combination with other elements, so that true architectural ready-mades are configured. In this case, climatic adaptation techniques normally employed in the farming industry are borrowed.

Photo by Emilio P. Doiztua. ©Emilio P. Doiztua

The autonomy enjoyed by the trees of air means that they are objects of an exportable nature, so they may be re-installed in similar locations or in other types of situations requiring an urban activity regeneration process (new suburbandevelopments, degraded parks, squares).

The goal of this project is to create an atmosphere that invites and promotes activity in an urban public space that is “sick” due to “bad planning”.

The simple climatic adaptation systems installed in the trees of air are of the evapotranspirative type, which is often used in greenhouses. This aerotechnical practice or artificial adaptation is not a part of a commercial strategy. On the contrary, it tries to undo the leisure – consumption binomial and reactivate the public space by creating climatically adapted environments (8ºC-–10ºC cooler than the rest of the street in summer) where citizens will be once again active participants in public spaces.