Mediterranean coast, rediscovering the natural landscape. Intergenerational space to the sea

Abstract

[ES] The neighborhood of Pinedo is the most meridional one in Valencia, on the opposite riverbank, almost becoming the first village of the `Huerta Sur¿ or `La Albufera¿.

Even though its proximity to the city, Pinedo remains isolated between physical barriers as the `Plan Sur¿, the port, or the highway. However, some great landscapes, such as the beach, the dunes, or a little pine forest, can be found there. These complexities have generated an unfinished urban plot, especially in the southern border or in a poor coast treatment. Consequently, this project aims to solve Pinedo¿s waterfront, while creating a new public space for the confluence of its diverse generations, where they could rediscover its natural landscape.

The building will hold both, some absent needs in Pinedo - like a small theater, a library, or a gym ¿ and other flexible spaces for programmed or spontaneous activities. The volumetric concept is an artificial topography that surges from a big central void. This void work as the main backbone for the different layers of the project. Conversely, the topography becomes the public space and generates the main volumes where the main uses are held. References go from Sanaa Rolex Center to Miralles Palafolls Library, including RCR Sant Antoni Library or Zaha Hadid works. The building cannot be understood out of its plot, but its contemporaneous language does not come from Valencian tradition, but from Pinedo¿s natural landscape and its complex and beautiful features.

[EN] The neighborhood of Pinedo is the most meridional one in Valencia, on the opposite riverbank, almost becoming the first village of the ‘Huerta Sur’ or ‘La Albufera’. Even though its proximity to the city, Pinedo remains isolated between physical barriers as the ‘Plan Sur’, the port, or the highway. However, some great landscapes, such as the beach, the dunes, or a little pine forest, can be found there. These complexities have generated an unfinished urban plot, especially in the southern border or in a poor coast treatment. Consequently, this project aims to solve Pinedo’s waterfront, while creating a new public space for the confluence of its diverse generations, whe- re they could rediscover its natural landscape. The building will hold both, some absent needs in Pinedo - like a small theater, a library, or a gym – and other flexible spaces for programmed or spontaneous activities. The volumetric concept is an artificial topography that surges from a big central void. This void work as the main backbone for the different layers of the project. Conversely, the topography becomes the public space and generates the main volumes where the main uses are held. References go from Sanaa Rolex Center to Miralles Palafolls Library, including RCR Sant Antoni Library or Zaha Hadid works. The building cannot be understood out of its plot, but its contemporaneous language does not come from Valencian tradition, but from Pinedo’s natural landscape and its complex and beautiful features.