Sculpture as Playground: Barcelona

While I was in Barcelona for the landscape Biennial this past month I found a quirky neighborhood called V---. While I was there I asked some local residents if there were any more interesting neighborhoods like this. One girl sent me to an area near the Sants station. While exploring I found this amazing park called Parc de l'Espanya Industrial (Park of Spanish Industry... no wonder I liked it!)

It had a large lake, tall cylindrical towers, the use of which were unclear to me, and a large modern sculpture. Well I thought it was just a sculpture until I got closer and saw that it was a playground! You could climb through the mouth of a dragon and slide down the tail. There are also multiple other slides going in different directions. One slide is actually closed from the top and can only be accessed from the bottom as a skate ramp. Afterwards I went walking through the neighborhood and found a nice plaza. But on my way back to the metro I was amazed to see the variety of activity in the rest of the park. There were women dancing in traditional Catalan dress, people playing soccer, paddle, and roller skating. It was exactly what you want to see in a park, multiple user groups and activities all at once! 

from a distance it looks like a sculpture in a plaza

entry through the dragon's mouth

and the structure looked different from every angle 
















sculpture as skate ramp

the tail as slide goes over the water

The street design was very pedestrian oriented. Most had one lane of traffic, one lane of parking and palms all down one side. And when the street met the plaza the parking stopped and the sidewalk bumped out to fill that space with additional palms and benches. The street also ramped up for an on-grade pedestrian crossing. 

Then I went to Placa d'Osca nearby which was really very nice. It has rows of trees that were not entirely regular that you could tell have been replaced over time (some are very old and some younger). There was space for cafes to have tables outside and some open space where young children were riding bikes and playing ball. I sat at a cafe for awhile and watched. It was a simple space but well proportioned and used. The plaza had some great graffiti (above) and waitresses with really amazing dreadlocks. It was an interesting way to end my trip to Barcelona