GUADAIRA RIVERSIDE PARK [Sevilla, Spain]

Francisco Gómez Díaz.

LANDP Associated Architects S.L.
GUADAIRA RIVERSIDE PARK [Sevilla, Spain]

Developer: Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation

Financing sources :
FEDER European funds
Sevilla City Council House

Project’s authors:

Main architects:
Dr. Arquitecto: Francisco Gómez Díaz.
LANDP Associated Architects S.L.
Team:
Marta Barrera Altemir, architect
Javier Caro Domínguez, architect
Miguel Gentil Fernández, architect
Héctor Romero Rubio, architect
Pablo Gómez Rodríguez, architecture student

Engeneering Consulting: APIA XX S.A.

Construction company: Heliopol-Juan López Reyes

Territorial context and landscape features description

The park’s site is located adjacent to the South-East end of the city, between an industrial area, which is nowadays
in process of transformation into a housing and facilities area, and the railway tracks. The area is crossed along,
and cut in three, by the ring highway and the river Guadaíra. This river is here in its lower course, close to its mouth
into the Guadalquivir River, and there are two historic water mills located within this river section: the San Juan de
los Teatinos Watermill, still up, but in severe condition and the Judea Watermill, which was demolished in the past.
The project considered the strategical renewal of the Teatinos Mill area as a key operation for the whole park. The
Judea mill was excavated as well. Thus, the site has an important heritage value and the project tries to enlighten it
to easily be apprehended by the citizens.

The site presented serious urban and landscaped pathologies. The adjacent urban area constitutes the urban
border of the city and uses are violently mixed up without the necessary urban coherence, including industrial use,
housing or social facilities. The river itself, as the project developing began, was degraded due to the industrial and
urban discharge poured from nearby towns, and lots of waste materials had accumulated on its riversides.

The infrastructures split up the site in several unconnected straps, the area presented also severe deforestation
and was scenario for tremendous social problems. Territorial fragmentation, deep social marginality and landscape
degradation were the most relevant features for the starting point condition of an area with a great landscape
potential, heritage value and capacity to articulate the urban border.
Plan/program/work/experience/activity/project explanation

The main aim of the proposal is to integrate the different areas around the riverside, that had been fragmented into
a series of unconnected soil plots, in order to recover it as a coherent landscape unit The project gives special
attention to the contact border with the city, trying to assure a certain affluence of people in order to avoid
marginality. The permeability, both pedestrian or motorized, between the park and the existing urban city grid, is
one of the key operations of the whole proposal.

The landscape renewal and the environmental recovery of the riverside were also two of the main lines of work. The
historic hydraulic infrastructures have been recovered as landscape articulators (channels and dams), the traces of
which were still visible in a bird’s eye view. The watermill-related edifications have been consolidated to stop its
degradation (Molino de San Juan de los Teatinos), and excavated (Molino de Judea) and they have been proposed as
future facilities within the park. The pre-existent vegetation, which was a in a severe condition, has been recovered;
the deforested areas were reforested with autochthonous species and a complex paths system spreads now
through the park.

The reforestation of the river side is the intervention with the highest landscape transformation rate. The aim was
to create a new vegetal roof to provide the necessary appropriate environmental conditions for the park to become a
real recreation area for the city. At the same time, the insertion of specific species has been used as a way to
adequate the landscape to each particular situation within the site. As it can be seen in the graphic documents, the
vegetal elements insertion has followed geometrical processes, which generate geometric shapes by matching
vegetal characteristics.

The geometric pattern aims to reach an strategy of landscape structuration and creates strict rectilinear
geometries when close to the city border, that progressively turn into organic shaped vegetal masses, as they get
closer to the Guadaíra river and the harvesting open territory. The pattern holds and articulates the weekly
community market area and the social neighbour orchards, in the north area of the park, and recognizes the river
as the main landscape articulator as it gets to the South. The vegetal pattern that fills the vegetal shapes in, follow
the opposite rule, becoming more quadrangular as they get further from the city. So, the double logic of the linear-
organic vegetal geometry remains always present and, at just one glance, the vegetation pattern gives an idea of the
position within the park.
Expected/reached results assessment. Social response.

As it is has been longer explained in the project memoir, the Guadaíra riverside project is framed in much larger
urban-scaled operation, that has implied, in the last few years, the environmental renewal of the whole Guadaíra
River course. The improvement has been very satisfactory and the water quality has improved patently. This new
qualified water, together with the hydraulic operations around the Teatinos watermill (that assure a permanent
water slap with a new built dam), has favoured the spontaneous regeneration of the riverside flora and fauna. The
Guadaíra riverside has so become a walk of high landscape interest that combines natural elements, contemporary
landscape operations and heritage buildings and infrastructures.

The new landscape intervention has acquired a great singularity, and the general view from the elevated train that
flies above the park, give to the citizens a precise idea of the whole operation. The recreation areas, with their
precise architectural and formal language, get integrated in the landscape without frictions and give to the park a
general sub-structure that makes it more comprehensive. The so called “vegetal geometric processes” have
proved themselves very effective. The sudden surprising appearance of vegetal geometries made of flowers, trees
of coloured leafs or higher tree species, create an exciting, amusing experience. As an everyday proof of the actual
social acceptance of the park, the inner cycling paths have become a usual way to the university, used by many
students that even make a small detour just to have the chance of experiencing the park on their way to class.

The combination of reforesting and pre-existent vegetation recovery (during the construction process every existent
tree was inventoried, diagnosed and specifically treated) has given to the park a high consolidated image, even just
after the construction was completed. The already existing trees, once treated, recovered its former splendour and
provided great vegetation masses from the very first day, which also created shadowed areas, so necessary in the
South of Spain.

Marginality has also significantly decreased and the area is beginning to recover its neighbourhood social life. The
weekly market and the social community orchards within the park create personal links with the community, and
will assure, in a long term consideration, the necessary implication and respect from the users. Besides, the
proximity of the recently-built underground station, less than five minutes away walking, will give to the park a very
important metropolitan component, suddenly opening the use of the park to the whole city.
Global action evaluation. Integration of landscape criteria (art 10 European Landscape Convention)

The main aim of the proposal was to reach a greater landscape coherence across the territory straps that initially
conformed the site. The across permeability has increased significantly and the whole area is now able to be
apprehended as a coherent landscape unit around the river. The park has actually built the city’s end up to the river,
creating a sponge area that softens the urban frictions and assure the permanent affluence of public. The precision
in the geometric insertion of the vegetation has clearly contributed to establish a balanced transition of the city into
territory.

Native vegetal species insertion and hydraulic recovery of the whole area have finally created a sustainable
environment, both natural and sociocultural, that integrates nature and the human dimension that territory should
never be indifferent to.

As it has been already said, the general layout that can be observed from the elevated train allows citizens to have
an idea of the whole intervention as a unit, which contributes to a better understanding and the popularization of the
park.

The actual environmental recovery of the riversides has exceeded the best initial expectations of the proposal, and
the area is now a living space, where autochthonous flora and fauna are thriving in a perfect coexistence with
contemporary operations and heritage items.

The city has finally recognized in the Guadaira river one of its most important structuring elements, and the green
sequence of parks that follow the river course has become not only a great green lung for the city, but also one of
its main public recreation areas.
[territorial insertion]
[urban insertion]
[vegetal
geometrization
urban
degeometrization]
[general floor plan]
[recreation areas situation plan]
[recreation area squeme]
[ground vegetation layout]
[solar geometries]
[insertion pattern for vegetation]
[vegetal solar strategies]