MADRID NUEVO NORTE

« The dimension of depth, always appears in one surface, so that this surface really possesses two values: one when we take it for what it is materially, the other when we see it in its second virtual life. In the latter case the surface, without ceasing to be flat, expands in dept in a fusion of an utopic, intellectual vision »

MADRID NORTE : SYMBIOTIC LIVING

The process of symbiosis refers to coliving in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms. Urban challenges of the 21st century do not limit themselves to the upholding of mankind but extended to the endorsement of both plant and animal kingdom. Urban sprawl and consumerist/industrial era have conducted to irrevocable changes to biodiversity within buffer spaces between urban civilisation and undomesticated landscapes.

As of repairing biodiversity and ensure its stability, it cannot be limited to preservation : initiative must reach beyond to provide emergency host structures for biodiversity to proliferate within cities, thus bringing the topic of the symbiotic paradigm for mankind to be pursued.

It is within this utopic vision that the project is developed, taking the barren surrounding of Madrid and the existing intention of expansion from the municipality as a base of discussion to make emerge a consensus in which both tangible parameters and utopic visions are brought.

This heterotopy, in the sense of Foucault means a mapping of a utopia onto a physical context, is conducted through a series of systems that are layered and stacked, entwined, intersecting, and expanding one in relation to another.

Through the re-appropriation of the rail tracks, the projects proposes a multiplicity of ways of introducing nature within host structures. Infrastructure plays a major role to interconnect elements while protecting areas from man actions : a significant part of the city is to become an undomesticated garden, seen as a land reserve for biodiversity cultivation.

ENSAM, 2020 Teacher : S.Zakarian Team work : Maja Dobnik

01. The Nature Proliferation, punctual circles of land are implemented around water sprinklers which dictate the shape and area of irrigation. The aim is to recreate a deep biodiversity above the railways through a new undomesticated valley which extend the land reserve of El Pardo Parque, situated north to the area.

02. The Suspended Station, and paths are thought as a new infrastructure layer upon the city. Dedicated to light mobilities and pedestrian, it proposes a new angle on cityscapes while preventing further land degradation. New advancement in textile material technologies enable the use of dihydrogen to lift the lightweight structure of the train station above ground.

03. The Water Dome, and distribution canals are renewed to better preserve the precious water resource that stream down El Pardon hills towards Madrid Rio. The water dome is an infrastructure to collect the rainwater of the neighbourhood to redistribute it to the integrated diverse greenery of Nuevo Norte.

04. The HouseScrapers, are a new typology for dense urban living. Small portions of lands are extruded which preserve a human size infrastructure network on the ground. The city scale feels like an urban village while high density is obtained through high structures. Each floorplan is to welcome a single unit, which fosters appropriation, shared living, and limit noise disturbances.

05. Hills’ Park, is the result of burying the car and heavy transportation systems to give back land to the citizens and the wildlife. Heights differences from the street differs as element of the park are to remain inaccessible to help wildlife to proliferate while other parts are within human reach and provide a communal gathering base precisely adapted for southern ways of living.

06. The Urban Crops, are a series of highly productive farmlands irrigated by the renewed water system. It tackles the challenges of relocating food production within cities and aims at providing vegetables and fruits for the needs of the newly created housing units.