Antonia Myleus & Maisie Jenkins & Maria Petri & Hanna Czerniakowska
Erasmus Project
Note
This project was awarded with the highest grade in the class.
This project was awarded with the highest grade in the class.
Description
El Rocio lies South of Seville and borders the national park of Doñana and changes from a slow and quiet town during the winter to a bustling tourist destination in summer. Thousands of pilgrims descend on El Rocio annually, and the national park contains hundreds of endangered species and the town relies upon these assets to generate income for the town and the surrounding area.
El Rocio lies South of Seville and borders the national park of Doñana and changes from a slow and quiet town during the winter to a bustling tourist destination in summer. Thousands of pilgrims descend on El Rocio annually, and the national park contains hundreds of endangered species and the town relies upon these assets to generate income for the town and the surrounding area.
In it’s current state, El Rocio is disjointed; the rigid waterfront fractures the metabolic connection between the natural and urban landscapes. A vertical drop creates a physical and visual boundary, allowing visitors to view the marshland but not to experience it. There is a need to break down the rift between nature and the town and provide a dynamic and engaging extension of the public realm.
With this project, we have MERGED the two environments, fusing the organic marshland and the synthetic urban landscape, breaking down the edge of El Rocio to bring the public into the natural habitat. The natural park will be enriched and developed through the creation of a new National Park centre. Pavillions and viewpoints will highlight new hubs of public activity.
Our design is informed by the rigid human logic of the town grid, FOLDING in line with key axis, but the forms are inspired by nature. The irregular angles and shifting of the OBLIQUE surfaces imitate rock formations found at the shoreline, intended to erode and evolve as cliffs. The CONTINUITY of the design provides a subtle architectural language that could be translated for future development of housing and amenities as El Rocio expands.
