Don benito (eS

LOCATION don beniTo – bAdAjoZ POPULATION 40,820 inHAb. STRATEGIC SITE 67.11 HA – 56.292 HA SITE OF PROJECT 7,360 m2

goVernmenT oF exTremAdurA And ciTy oF don beniTo

ciTy oF don beniTo And priVATe oWners

of the Site’S repreSentative víctor gErArdo dEl MorAl AgúndEz, regional MiniSter of DevelopMent, houSing, lanD planning anD touriSM, governMent of extreMaDura

Don benito is located in the east-centre of the extremadura autonomous region, a growth area in the vegas altas del guadiana district. because of their proximity and their interconnection, the twin cities of Don benito and villanueva de la Serena have become a business hub and a major demographic and financial focal point for the region, close to two major national motorways, the a-5 and the a-66. the economic driving force in this area is still its powerful agricultural sector and its primary produce processing industries, the main reason for the obviously dynamic local environment. Don benito’s compact radio-concentric growth until the 19th century loosened in the 20th century, with the construction of the first urban expansion areas. from then on, spurred on by the new road link to villanueva, a new focalised growth spine set the stage for the installation of new facilities for the district and the broader territory. this is the context of the site chosen for europan, in the heart of Don benito.

the growth of this town centre over time has resulted in the forced coexistence of different growth types, not always accompanied by the fluidity and continuity required for the easy use of a city. a sprawling city inevitably “attacks” its centre, forcing it to change. other ways of “experiencing the city” are now emerging, facilitating some of the normal uses of the centre and moving others away. in the course of this process of creating new areas, the old town centre has suffered from the emergence of degraded, empty areas that have been abandoned for more modern locations. new planning needs have arisen that require analysis: the recovery of urban forms in space and time, planning that integrates the new growth areas with the recovery of the centre, the revitalization of the old centre and the adaptation of the city to more flexible contemporary lifestyles.

the project area fits these parameters: it forms an architecture-scale site, encompassing the current void beside the Santiago apóstol church and the rundown buildings alongside it. the “adaptable city” will tackle this inbetween space by weaving the urban fabric back into place, looking for ways to ensure the rebalancing of public and private, open and built spaces, pedestrians and vehicles, day and night. a framework will be drawn up to absorb these transformations, integrating memory (legacy), proposals (new uses), reversibility, the passage of time (day-night, seasons) and sustainability as its premises. the success of the winning proposal will depend largely on this capacity for synthesis, its adaptation to changing, complex times given current economic conditions.

team point of view n´unDo proposes improvement based on no construction, Minimization, reuse and Dismantling, with a global long-haul project. acting through small sequenced interventions on a large localized scale, and giving priority to investment in the municipality’s typical pre-existing values and structures, the project seeks to recover and promote the grid of voids, public spaces and patios. No construction of new buildings; Minimization of barriers to accessibility, road traffic in the centre of the village and unnecessary signage and street furniture; Reuse of existing buildings for public use, revision of voids, empty plots and urban remnants, preparing them for public use; and Dismantling of buildings in poor condition or other elements that create a visual or physical barrier between public spaces.

jury point of view the project provides a sensitive municipal-scale analysis and proposes alternatives to increasing density on the competition site. Drawing on mechanisms that respect local realities, it suggests a new interpretation of the city and new itineraries, which emphasise its identity and its legacy. the proposal could be defined as fieldwork with minimal, temporally sequenced operations and a high priority on pedestrian routes.

car traffic roaDS. car traffic iS reDuceD in the toWn centre. juSt feW roaDS alloW free circulation peDeStrianization of Main roaDS in the toWn centre anD betWeen public SquareS parking pointS. locateD in eMpty areaS at the periMeter of the centre. that alloWS an eaSieSt peDeStrian circulation in the toWn centre public green areaS. Strengthening the exiSting oneS anD the peDeStrian oneS, for a cliMatic control.1car/1tree at parking areaS patioS connection. the teMporary opening of private. patioS alloW neW itinerarieS.

c/ MúSico hipólito Martínez 16-43 46020 valencia, Spain t. +34 620 931 946 eStuDio@jorgeruizboluDa.eS javier.cortinaMaruenDa@ gMail.coM WWW.jorgeruizboluDa.eS

team point of view the context of economic crisis is one of the starting points of the project. building the minimum m2 to solve the problems will be one of the aims. this will reduce costs considerably and give Don benito free space. a strategically located underground car park will be built. the area of action will be “cleared” of low quality buildings. the new voids will be filled with a centre for entrepreneurs to solve the problem of views obstructed by dividing walls, with a tourist information centre for the small voids. these buildings also revitalise the local economy. We also propose to generate a new, unique and versatile public space using a modular system of shadeproviding canopies. these, together with benches and new pavement, provide a unified response for the three squares.

jury point of view the proposal is articulated around a large square at the rear of the church. the proposed new buildings are integrated delicately into the gaps, with an underground car park to address the parking problem in this area. the project clearly defines a wide yet restrained public square, where a set of lightweight awnings creates diffused shade. this treatment could be interpreted as a tablecloth spread across the site.

perrine Montfort (fr) architect juan SebaStian caMelo abaDia (co) art hiStorian florent lahache (fr) philoSopher

the lavaDero

team point of view behind Santiago apostol church, which is the centre of the town of Don benito, warehouses, factories, plants, some houses, a school and a theatre were erected a few years ago. those buildings, now destroyed, have been replaced with a large outdoor parking area. in entering a competition to restructure this square, the municipality’s intentions were simple: to turn this unfriendly place into a real public space. While those intentions were clear, the programme brief was more open, and it was up to the contestants to imagine the needs their project should address. With that consideration in mind, we spent a few days in Don benito. Strolling about for a couple of hours in the streets was enough to convince us that the city lacks nothing (or almost). Specific developments may certainly be needed, but as a whole, the city is fairly well-equipped. therefore, we decided to base our approach on this observation, to submit a project which, instead of adding elements to an already very substantial base in a context of future uncertainty, would rearrange the existing elements by attempting to exploit potentials still largely neglected today. as a result, we undertook a thorough analysis of the site and its surroundings, repeating the same question at every phase of our investigation: do we need something new here? against all the odds, the answer that usually came back was: no.

jury point of view the proposal avoids a comprehensive operation and instead proposes a thoughtful, varied collection of devices that administer the opportunities that the authors detect in the pre-existing context, the legacy of the site and potential activities in the surrounding public spaces.

prograMS

École Sarl D’architecture, nicolaS SiMon et Max turnheiM 9 rue Du Sentier 75002 pariS, france t +33 954820409 Mail@ecole.co WWW.ecole.co

arthur biaSSe (fr) alexanDre boulÉ (fr) ophÉlie Dozat (fr) SahanD eMDaDian (fr) paul garD-baholet (fr) haDrien gauthier (fr) gerta heqiMi (al) louiS latzaruS (fr) henri-pierre lecluSe (fr) StuDentS in architecture

perSpective vieW

team point of view the block centres are occupied to the benefit of residents. contained within its historic walls, the town takes over these liberated spaces to limit its own congestion and avoid the associated destruction. from this pedestrian network emerges the project’s central space: a substantial void right in the heart of Don benito, bounded by a four metre high wall. previously reserved for cars, the enclosure delineates an area that restricts the space to pedestrian use alone. this arbitrary intervention drives an infinity of practices to which the physical environment contributes. in encompassing the surrounding buildings, the enclosure defines public spaces whose shape depends on the intervals generated by the encounter between the wall and its context.

jury point of view this project prioritizes the recovery of the historic centre as a public pedestrian space in order to generate a new urban configuration. the broad aim is to design an initiative that will enhance the potential public usage of city spaces at all levels. the proposal seeks a form of innovation that takes risks in its proposal for the physical creation of a new urban element, and at the same time explores the existing fabric to identify other potential elements yet to be proposed.

MaSter plan public tranSportation Map

MAríA MEstrE gArcíA (eS) nAcHo MorEu fErnándEz (eS)

(eS) gIAMMAttIA bAssAnEllo (it) architectS Moreu MeStre arquitectoS, MaDriD, Spain M3@MoreuMeStre.coM WWW.MoreuMeStre.coM baSSanello MaMpaSo architetti, roMe, italy MaMba.office@gMail.coM WWW.MaMbaoffice.coM

team point of view to reflect on the “adaptable city” at Don benito, where historical growth has produced residual gaps in its consolidated urban fabric, means understanding the importance of the void into the transitional stages and proposing different answers depending on each void’s temporary status. the relationship and the rhythm between mass and void constitute the city’s identity. the void between walls and plots and beyond courtyards walls will be part of the solution and will configure urban voids the same way as does a street or square. the void style will establish material, dynamic and virtual relationships. When this porosity is extended to the housing, it generates a block of courtyard-houses in harmony with local housing and linking the city void with the private and semi-public spaces.

jury point of view treating the sequence of urban gaps with identical tools reinforces their relationship is reinforced and creates a new route through the town: a particular local landscape with materials, plants and operations on shared walls that helps the area to acquire an identity. the final picturesque, micro-scale construction aims incorporate various aspects of the site such as courtyards, lanes, party walls and the varying heights of the buildings.