CarmenCarpintero Park by Tamborí Arquitectes

Tamborí Arquitectes: Carmen Carpintero Park is located next to a ravine called “Salt de l’Aigua” in El Carmen neighbourhood, at the east side of Manises municipality. The limited and improper use of the park pushed the local government to propose the renovation of the park which includes new facilities that allow physical and visual permeability and adaptation to the current needs of the residents.

The proposal was born from the desire to connect the two spaces that define the park, separated by a height difference of 2.5m, completely unlinked both functionally and perceptively. The link between one level and the other is considered as one of the key elements of the project. The existing system of terraces is replaced by a slope composed of a series of consecutive triangular planes deployed in different directions and inclinations, allowing to decrease and smooth the gap, as well as to increase the usable space of the park. This concept of triangular surfaces is applied to the rest of the park, highlighting the boundary between the interior and the exterior of the park with triangles of vegetation.

The upper part of the park, which is closer to urban life, is considered as a gathering space, acting like a funnel that takes the users to the lower part where the rest of the facilities are located. A generous ramp that is visually oriented towards the cliff runs in between the triangular planes that formalise the slope, enhancing the permeability among the more urban part of the park and it’s interior.

The demand from the neighbourhood residents to keep the park closed at night leads to the unavoidable need of the fence that surrounds the park. Therefore, we decided to treat it as another key element of the project that goes along with the previously mentioned triangular planes, both with its inclination and geometry, amplifying the aesthetic cohesion of the whole project and enriching the interpretation of the interior-exterior limit of the park.

Three essential materials or textures will appear in the intervention, i.e. 1) concrete in different textures, which will partially define the slope and the ground, e.g. sports courts, ramps, stairs, triangles, and benches, 2) the vegetation, covering the rest of the slope and flat triangles, which helps to increase the permeability of the land, and 3) metal, the material used mainly for the street furniture and fences, which will take its presence through its blue colour, giving the park a powerful character.

The existing trees will be almost all preserved and densified with new plantations of native species that guarantee easy maintenance, ensure visual integration into the existing landscape and supports the environmental balance of the area.

The aim of the project was to create a public space for a wide diversity of users by accommodating new facilities (e.g. picnic area, sports facilities, and parkour space); smoothing the transition between the end of the urban area and the landscape of the short; and preserving the attributes of the existing park while transforming its limits into a compelling (o strong) element.