rosa m. torra, patrizia falcone, architects, lluís abad master gardener

The Joan Brossa Garden occupies part of the old precinct of the amusement park. At the time of drafting the project, the park had been closed for eight years. The garden was found to be at the level of a fully consolidated arboreal and shrubby stratum. The trees, already adult, had an average age of around fifty years. The busts, even though mostly of ornamental origin, had taken a wild appearance. In contrast, at the herbaceous level, a large number of opportunistic plant species were striving to survive in the rubble, growing out of any crevice. This colonization of the debris by weeds set a new and very suggestive landscape.
A landscape of contrasts between the seeming frailty of the pioneering species and the vulnerable hardness of the concrete structures.

The aim of the project is to transform the itinerary that once linked the amusement park rides into a route of amusement through the new scenery. This new itinerary is built such as a carpet made with traces of the old flagstones shaping a mosaic. The new scenery is seek to be light, diaphanous, and an emphasis of colors at the background picture that is the city of Barcelona, omnipresent due to the exceptional location of the garden.

The old constructions, which made up the rides, turn now to be new flowered meadows where heaof The old constructions, which made up the rides, turn now to be new flowered meadows where a heap of grasses of different species and perennial weeds with small flowers but of vivid chromatism, flutter gently.

The meadows and grasslands are the first stages of the ecological succession, though in this case, smoothly prompted by the gardener. Besides, they are exceptional spaces to experience the seasonal changes: the grasses turn to green in spring, turn to yellow and wither in summer, and go into dormancy in winter. As well as we appreciate the aesthetic joy of the fall of deciduous forests of center European origin; we should also give value to our grassland changes.
Perennial weeds are selected not for their extreme beauty of, but for their rusticity and capability to coexist side by side with mankind. Moreover, the weeds, with their flowers, spark off variety of colorful stains throughout the year.
Some of these spaces lodge a small pond, result of spreading and compressing clay. In these tiny wet areas several marsh plant species have been planted; species able to live in fluctuant water levels. The rosary of cultivated sites alternates with sand areas where playing zones for children as well as resting places for strollers can be found.