Avenida de Portugal

The Avenida de Portugal is part of the Madrid Rio project. Portugal Ave. is a large highway that is a major east west connection all the way to Portugal. But the section nearest to Madrid was buried. Most of the road was turned into a park with a surface road on either side. A dedicated bike lane was also added and now cyclists can cross the river and enter the large Casa de Campo park directly.

I initially thought I would not like the design of this piece because of the large graphic flower pattern. But on the ground level the 100' wide flowers do not read as precious as I anticipated. The scale makes it more graphic than literal. When the scale gets smaller the flowers are more legible like here in this cherry tree planting. But the Ave is lined with residential buildings that will view the space in plan and experience the patterning more clearly.

The voids in the pattern shaped the custom planters with seat walls. The contoured shape of the seating and smooth concrete was very comfortable. Large cherry trees were planted for a more instant effect. I was there while the trees were in full bloom. There was a slight breeze and petals were raining down. magical. I can only imagine the change for the adjacent residents whose previous view was a noisy polluting expressway!

The paving detailing was beautiful, a reference to the traditional paving techniques of Portugal. I can only imagine that these are hand set. I did not see joints of larger units but I will try to find out. I know in the US the labor for this type of work is too expensive and the skilled labor harder to find.

The raised planters acted as curbs in much of the linear park. This allowed the park and street to be at the same level. In areas with no planters angled granite pieces were used for protection and to delineate the end of the pedestrian zone. I thought this was a subtle technique which made the entire zone feel more pedestrian and caused the few cars in this area to drive more cautiously.


Water Systems in Southern Spain

At the main cathedral in Sevilla, there is a courtyard completely planted with orange trees in bloom. The smell was amazing! And orange trees are planted in the streets and plazas as well so it follows you everywhere.

I was even more impressed with the ancient irrigation system.

There is a maze of small channels that are all connected. There are fountains on the four corners of the courtyard that may have been used to fill the channels. Each orange tree is connected to the system. There is not an obvious slope in the channels but if filled from each corner the water might be evenly distributed and be taken up or evaporated across the courtyard. The only issue would be tripping hazards which could be easily fixed with a grate.    

The picture to the left shows a current tree irrigation technique in Retiro Park in Madrid. This simple detail channels the water to where it needs to go and uses the gravity on the sloped street to move the water.

                                        

Characteristic Pines

The characteristic pines of Madrid are like something out of a fairy tale or Doctor Suess book. As the pine ages the trunk warps and bends to wonderful affect en masse. I believe they are umbrella pines. Please someone comment if it is a different species. Pictured left is a large very mature stand in Casa de Campo (the largest park in Madrid. It used to be the royal hunting grounds until opened to the public in the 1940s)

Pictured left is a new planting of the same pine in the Madrid Rio project. Future generations will enjoy walking through the magical shady allees of twisted pines. I like the bright red tree stakes that are used throughout the park. The new trees are watered with rings of drip irrigation until established. Then they are watered with a series of triangulated perforated pipes underground to encourage lateral root growth and reduce evaporation, as Madrid has a very arid climate.