eva mateo, llicenciada en belles arts, sergi abellán, enginyer agrícola, rosa m. torra

Jardí efímer per invitació del saló CASA- DECOR exterior. Primavera 2001

Through the trees

A Christmas crib is an artificial display that represents the birth site of Jesus. The birth of Jesus represents when God became man to dwell among us. This year's crib shapes passageways along which Man may wander,and it is through this walking that God reveals Himself This year's artificial scene recreates the forms of a nursery. A nursery can be understood as a production garden: Nurseries are places where the logic of production overcomes the natural elements.Gardens, as well, somehow associates nature with workmanship. Deciduous species have been chosen to shape a certain scenery of latency,scenery that patiently awaits for spring.An extremely tender undergrowth of ivies and brackens keeps company with the trees.

When the Christmas crib concludes, these trees will keep company with us on our way across the city:

eleven red-leaves plum trees,

thirty-three black poplars,

twenty-two sycamores,

thirty-three nettle-trees,

eleven black locusts,

twenty-two white poplar

Furthermore:

several kinds of brackens,

ivies,

twigs,

and remains from pruning,

gravel,

pine bark mulch,

pallets,

sacks,

coconut blanket to stabilize slopes,

Joseph, Mary, infant Jesus, an ox, and a mule.

Rosa M. Torra, architect; Josep Vall, civil engineer; With: Sonia Rodríguez, architect, Anna Lleixà, Joan Gual agricultural engineers

The project urbanizes the area considered an urban park, a result of the development of the Can Llong neighborhood in the city of Sabadell. Sabadell is a medium-sized city of almost 200,000 inhabitants, located 12 km inland from Barcelona.

The area in question runs along the final stretch of the so-called Torrent de la Romeua, just before it becomes an underground water collection system. The area is divided into two sections: the western linear zone that comprises only one of the riverbanks of Torrent, and the more compact eastern zone that includes both riverbanks and also the riverbed.

The park merges its urban surroundings with the natural environs in a relatively well-conserved zone. There also exists the possibility of connectivity with protected areas nearby. The eastern zone, that by dimensions and location is the center of the park, was built from the junction of two interconnecting paths. These two routes descend toward the riverbed with a smooth slope of up to 6 percent. These two paved routes are two fingers that emerge from the city and embrace the stream. The routes are of similar appearance and equal dimensions but were constructed using methods that depend on their individual locations and that drew upon their immediate surroundings. The pedestrian route offers continuity between the two paths across the meadow that forms the riverbed. In rainy periods, the route could be cut off if the riverbed is flooded. One of the premises of the project is that the civil works will take no intervention when it comes to the possible flooding of the path. We must understand that we are working with a natural system, which is very dynamic due to the presence of water, and that it needs to be compatible with urban usage.

The best way to deal with this issue is to anticipate from the beginning that the park will not be the same at all times of the year. We must assume that part of the riverbed will possibly be flooded in spring and in autumn. In these rainy periods some of the water that circulates underground will emerge to the top of the riverbed and will be visible. The western zone forms a third path that connects the city with the entire network of rural paths that connects Sabadell with the protected areas of La Mola and the mountains of Sant Llorenç de Munt.

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.