“…It is vestiges like these which take us back to the times of an unbridled industrialism that did not question its rights, whether legal or aesthetic, to colonize urban centers. Economic rationalization and a new sensibility have closed down many factories, or shifted them to the city outskirts and estates. The factories of Besos are so striking because, seen from one of Vallbona’s hilly viewpoints, they share the typology.“
Sometimes culture comes welded together, encased in concrete and filled with heavy machinery. Over time, these places become part of our city and part of our lives. Barcelona without its industry would be another city.
It is vestiges like these which take us back to the times of an unbridled industrialism that did not question its rights, whether legal or aesthetic, to colonize urban centers. Economic rationalization and a new sensibility have closed down many factories, or shifted them to the city outskirts and estates. The factories of Besos are so striking because, seen from one of Vallbona’s hilly viewpoints, they share the typology.
Vallbona is a garden city situated on the edge of Barcelona along the Besos. Its charming location makes it a special case to look at. It has a residential zone that is a quiet place to live in the valley along the hills and the river. On the peripheries we see developed industrial zone, with all its machines and infrastructure. Along with the green belts that are omnipresent and dominant, agricultural lands around the river makes ‘Vallbona’ not only the ‘good valley’, but a very special one as well.
THE GARDEN CITY
Planned, self contained communities surrounded by green belts. These communities are proportionate areas of residence, industry and agriculture. It would be self-sufficient, and when it reaches its full capacity another garden city would develop nearby.
Road structure mainly composed of boulevards, avenues and railroads. Greenbelts are composed of a central garden and exterior greenbelt. Buildings structure is divided into areas. Public buildings in the center, Housing in the middle, and industrial in the peripheries.
VALLBONA
The residential area in Vallbona constitutes a very efficient urban fabric that is also the core of the town. The greenbelts are the hill in the center of the industrial zone, the hills overlooking the whole area in the peripheries, and the Besos river. Industrial zones are divided to the outskirts of the city and secluded with infrastructure.
BESOS
An essential ‘greenbelt’ of the site, that the town is not profiting from. How to make it accessible and valuable.
RESIDENTIAL
One of the most important goal for the residential area is to enhance the urban connections (from the urban corridors) to the Besos as a public space and greenbelt to the residents. Also, creating the Vallbona Central Garden which is the hill as a public space and greenbelt. For a nice and efficient mobility in the city, a ‘corniche avenue’ is an essential promenade along the river and the valley.
GREEN BELTS
Buffer between towns, or town and countryside. They can be used to link town and cities, help us with climate change problems, ecological network providing breathing places for people and for nature long into the future. Also, they help us with food production, here come the very important role of urban agriculture in 2014.
INDUSRIAL
Is one of the main characteristics of the river Besos. It holds many types of industrial zones. It could be surrounded by railway, roads or waterway. Its factories constitute the industrial typology.