El Valle Trenzado Public Space
Spain CCC ES
Grupo Aranea
2014
Type
Park
Tags
public spaces, dealing with borders, Spain ccc
Visitability
Allowed
Description
The Valle Trenzado (Braided Valley) aims to recover the traces of pedestrian traffic prior to the channelling works that in the 1970s definitively severed the continuity of the Elche ravine. For years the citizens of the city crossed this place without being able to enjoy it.This geographical feature (which reaches a depth of 40 metres) offers the city a unique opportunity to travel in just a few minutes to a space of great environmental quality.We propose a system that can be adapted to the geographical and administrative complexities posed by the site, to make it more accessible and multiply the public use of the steep slopes.The system demonstrates its flexibility by adjusting itself through a participatory process that brought together citizens and groups of the city for a month. The main points to be connected, the areas of special interest, the most requested routes, a large collection of desired uses... were incorporated into the project and began to define the braiding.After this first step, the system was tested again by addressing the complex and contradictory relationships of the multiple administrative interlocutors responsible for the site: Jucar Hydrographic Confederation, Department of the Environment, Department of Heritage, Irrigation Community of the Acequia de Marchena, Aguas de Elche... and Elche City Council.The system finally aims to give a voice to the river Vinalopó. The winding braided paths no longer have anything to do with the orthogonality of the city. These meandering lines shape the slopes, offer more comfortable routes and incorporate the fact of crossing the river into the continuity of the walk. The floating paths on the concreted and untouchable riverbed become the heroes of this reconquest.The valley has already begun to braid itself, reducing itself for now to the infrastructural minimums that will eventually allow urban activities to flourish.(Description provided by Grupo Aranea)