Exploring Parque Juan Carlos 1

After a failed attempt to reach Parque Juan Carlos 1 by bicycle, I decided to finally take the metro. It's just a couple stops before the airport in Madrid and is a large sculpture park built in the 90's. I could see this strange series of sculptures on a hill and from a distance they looked like buildings. 

Now, in my Valencia post I complained a lot about the disregard of context. But I have to say, that in this park, it is so large that defies the context of the area around it if there ever was any. It is far out, near the airport, near a large modern business complex hosting a large building for congress and many corporate headquarters. On some of the other sides there is residential that is relatively new as well. So the area may have been planned together. But it made me wonder about the handling of context when you are designing in the middle of nowhere with little context to draw from? 

The park plan is a large circle of water with large hills, monumental sculptures, and grids of trees. Its geometry creates an internal logic that, while a little strange, is very strong and consistent. And it was very purposeful the way that the columnar trees and vertical elements reflected in the waters surfaces (below)

There was also a lot of careful consideration to the horticulture. The park was divided into zones of planting types. Above shows a more tropical zone. It was much more lush and varied than other Madrid parks I have seen.

Some of the sculptures were interesting and playful

I especially loved this landscape sculpture covered in fake turf! I saw some kids riding BMX bikes on it so I assumed it was a play structure. But when you get close you can see it has a moat around it with signs to keep off. It was meant only as sculpture, but it does cry out for interaction!

Towards the end of my tour I came upon two large green hills. Most of the park is not irrigated so the lush grass really made the land forms stand out. They were very large hills so I am not sure if they were part of a landfill or just made to create vistas. One hill has a grove of mature olive trees on the top shown above. The other has a metal dome and 4 cypress trees. I spent some time on top of the hill looking out at the park thinking about context. And like most things, I decided that "it depends". There are times for connection and there are times for standing apart, and times when parks create the logic for the areas around them. Juan Carlos 1 may be a strange park but it does successfully create its own little world!

Anillo Verde Ciclista: Part 2

I honor of the Vuelta 2012, I set off today on another journey down the Anillo Verde Cicista! This time I headed east and then north counterclockwise around the loop riding through Madrid Rio Park and through Parque de Manzanaras.

Parque de Manzanaras: My trusty rental steed with basket of course

Parque de Manzanaras: Most of the main walkways and spaces in the park are paved in wood which is something we wouldn't even think of in the Northeast US because of the rot and maintenance but here the arid climate of Madrid wood lasts for a very long time. But it would have been very expensive because there is not a large natural supply of wood like we have at  home. 

 The wood and grass amphitheater is very dramatic. But it is not part of any natural landform. There are two other large hills on the site which I can only assume are former landfills. The amphitheater may have been built to buffer the park from the nearby expressway.
                                                                                                                                                                   

South of the city the river is not channelized and looks much more natural 

Photinia Maze! This could be great for all my southern landscape friends. They grow quickly so you wouldn't have to wait too long to get a functioning maze. Of course I'm not thrilled about the way the flowers smell but in a large park it wouldn't be intrusive and the red new growth looks dramatic.



Then heading further on the Loop it got to be a bit less picturesque. Many parts were along service roads and there was even a tunnel with a narrow pedestrian crossing to navigate

 So far this section of the loop is extremely exposed. Definitely bring extra sunblock and water because once you get outside of Madrid Rio Park there is nowhere to stop to get more. 

 The tunnel connection looked a little dodgy but was rideable.

Throughout the system there are these "rest stops" Most of them have benches, bike racks, and signage. The stops on this end of the route were very exposed, poorly maintained and had no signs. There looked like there was a water fountain at one time but it wasn't working. There was really no point in "resting" at any of these stops. The signage in general in this leg of the route was horrible. It was impossible to tell where to turn sometimes. The western leg I covered in an earlier post was not great but there were standard signs at most critical points. There may be some guerrilla signage actions in my future:)

A pretty rundown skate park along the Parque Lineal de Palomeras near the M-40 expressway

This video is along Parque Lineal de Palomeras. I was grateful to finally get some shade! 

But as a warning it is a very long steeper grade here, so be ready! It's a lot more fun on the way home. I saw some old men playing bocce ball (its called Petanque here in Spain more related to the french version of the game). The park wasn't that great but had some interesting landforms as a buffer from the M-40.

This was about where I think I lost the trail. After this pedestrian bridge I spent about 45 minutes riding around with another lost couple from Barcelona trying to get back on the trail to Juan Carlos I Park. But we ended up circling back to Parque Lineal de Palomeras. It was getting late so I just decided to call it a day. But this just emphasizes the real problem with signage on the route. I will go back to this point next time and try to figure out  where I went wrong. I've been told the historic gardens at El Capricho are really nice and that Juan Carlos I is interesting so it will be worth another try (or I could take the metro but what fun is that!)

On the way back to the bike rental place I ran into a pre-celebration for the Vuelta! There were tons of cyclists, families, and kids with numbers on their bikes having a blast. There was music and stationary bike races too.







People were really having fun with it. I loved these girls dressed in the scene from ET!













So hopefully I'll post again soon with guerrilla bike signage updates!