Europan 10 - Runner up prize
TERUEL FUSION GATES OF TERUEL and FUSION PARK
Throwback project
General view of the riverside and the position and programmatic DNA of the Gates of Teruel.
TURIA-TERUEL TERRITORY
The Turia River is an ecological corridor with high environmental value that runs at the feet of the city of Teruel and links the main natural areas of the territory. The green urban spaces and the environmental corridors of the city shape the ecological infrastructure that connects to the Fusion Park of the Turia Valley.
Teruel before and after the urban accupuncture interventions through the Gates, that connect the high city and the lowlands of Turia River. The boosting of the corridor between the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea emphasizes the increasing role of Teruel as a logistic node. The high capacity infrastructures run around the city freeing from traffic other roads like the national route, which might be transformed into an urban Ecoboulevard perfectly integrated in the Park of the Turia valley. The current train station will manage suburban connections and will be reinforced by the train – bus – car – bicycle intermodality. Landscape textures for the Fusion Park on the Turia riverside. 2. GATES OF TERUEL The Gates combine different urban components to shape new magnetic poles that connect the Turia lowlands and the high city of Teruel.
The Gate of History, with its representative mudejar staircase, creates an intricate cluster of urban components (emblematic buildings, stairway, gardens and squares) that serve as inspiration for the future Gates of Teruel. The Gate of History, composed by the mudejar staircase and the most emblematic urban spaces of the city, serves as inspiration to invent the 21 century Gates of Teruel. The Turia Station Gate encompasses the new bus station and is the new entry gate for visitants and tourists. The Gate of Arts condenses the artistic tradition of Teruel to create the laboratory of arts and technology of the future, by means of the recycling of the industrial heritage and new experimental bioclimatic building typologies. The Gate of the Mirador connects to the Fusion Park as a consequence of the transformation of the national route into an Ecoboulevard, from which a stepped landscape leads to a mirador with a new viewpoint of the city.
The Gate of the Arts condenses the artistic tradition and an open laboratory of arts together with the recycling of industrial icons and railway facilities as artistic objects and land art pieces. © Xabier Barrutieta Basurko 3. FUSION PARK The Turia River is the backbone of the Fusion Park that constitutes a magnetic pole for leisure, sports, playing, education and ecotechnology. The communal gardens, fishing zones, picnic areas, fields for cultural events and the riverside prairies emphasizes the park’s role as a centre for collective leisure and active ecology.
The Turia Station Gate hosts the new mixed-use multimodal station (bus - train - car - bicycle) The park aims to create a dynamic landscape based on the local vegetation, seeking sensorial experiences derived from the changing combination of colour, fragrance, texture, shade, movement and sound. The gardens of renewable energy collectors are part of the landscape that will guarantee energetic self-sufficiency for the activities of the park and the small local service buildings. The transformation process of the Fusion Park encompasses the recycling of the urban landscape through the reuse of industrial and rail facilities as artistic objects and land art pieces. A centre for activities and landscape management will be in charge of creating an attractive and vibrant experience for the visitors and finding the balance between vegetation, agriculture, leisure and other activities.
4. FOOTBRIDGE NETWORK The footbridges are the links between the Gates of Teruel and the Fusion Park. They fly over the urban barriers and the river, maximizing the park’s accessibility for pedestrians, bicycles and wheelchairs. These light and sensitive structures have very low impact on landscape. They shape a neural network of landscape pathways that articulate the park in a soft manner. This interwoven network may be intensified with time and even easily dismantled with a minimum impact on nature. The walkways lead the routes and experiences throughout the Fusion Park, creating a variety of places suitable for nature observation, social interaction and leisure, as well as new viewpoints looking on the city.
XABIER BARRUTIETA BASURKO, chief architect MANUEL GALIÁN, JAIME TRASPADERNE, JULIO MUÑOZ, HÉCTOR TORRES, collaborators
