Authors Alessandro Greco - Enrique Martínez Sierra - Valentina Giacometti - Gianluca Pietra Editorial coordination and front cover design Valentina Giacometti Graphic layout TCP-Pavia – February 2017 ISBN 978-88-98567-28-7 Copyright © 2017
Contents
Introduction Alessandro Greco - Enrique Martínez Sierra _________________________________
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Heritage Accessibility: three aims for a right Alessandro Greco ______________________________________________________
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Pavia-Toledo: Heritage prior studies Enrique Martínez Sierra _________________________________________________
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Plaza Marrón for All: teamwork approaches and methodologies Valentina Giacometti ___________________________________________________
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Plaza Marrón for All: the project Gianluca Pietra ________________________________________________________
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Drawings ___________________________________________________________
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Università di Pavia Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Architettura (DICAr)
Universidad Europea de Madrid Escuela de Arquitectura, Ingeniería y Diseño
Supported by EDiSU Ente per il Diritto allo Studio Universitario
An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
Introduction
This e-book contains the results of the research and applied teaching experience developed by the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the University of Pavia together with the Escuela de Arquitectura, Ingeniería y Diseño of the Universidad Europea de Madrid. These results, also organized in an exhibition, synthesize the first two years of activities, focused on the conservation and the valorisation of the historical and architectural heritage, with the design of solutions for the accessibility and usability for all. In particular, the e-book explains the survey and project activities on Plaza Marrón in Toledo (Spain), carried out between October 2016 and February 2017. The professors Alessandro Greco (Pavia) and Enrique Martínez Sierra (Madrid) lead a working team of 4 professionals (2 Italian and 2 Spanish) and 7 students of the Master Degree Course in Building-Engineering and Architecture of the University of Pavia. The survey was developed in October 2016, with innovative technologies made available by the Universidad Europea de Madrid (that also hosted the Italian delegation for the survey period); this activity was focused on the morphology and geometry of Plaza Marrón and it was completed by a didactic visit of Toledo: working on the existing heritage necessarily implies the awareness of the city and the lifestyle of the people living there. The project defines an accessible urban space, which transforms a crossing area into a real square; Plaza Marrón becomes an inclusive place for meeting and resting, for all users. The design was developed in team: the students worked first in sub-teams focusing on the needs of different users (people with mobility impairments, people with sensorial impairments and people with cognitive impairments) and then they synthesized the solutions into a single project. The approach is based on the indications of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the culture of sharing knowledge and innovation, to improve the environment in which the contemporary society lives and works. The project represents both a point of arrival and a starting point. For the students (whose activity has been recognized as part of the final Thesis Workshop with 2 ECTS) it represents a deepening of the themes of inclusive design at the urban scale. For the professors and the professionals it is the opportunity to strengthen researches and networking on the theme of heritage conservation and valorisation, which is the starting point towards increasingly detailed and structured activities, aimed at capturing national and international funds in the medium term.
Alessandro Greco - Enrique Martínez Sierra
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
Heritage Accessibility: three aims for a right Alessandro Greco Professor - Ph.D. - Engineer Università di Pavia, Italy
Aspire to well-being is essential in architecture if we want to achieve harmony between the spaces we create and the activities that take place in them. (Jorn Utzon)
The question of accessibility of urban heritage is extremely complex and articulated in Europe, especially in countries such as Italy and Spain, that are characterized by a large number of towns scattered over a territory varied, ranging from coastal plains to high mountains, with morphological characters and topography non regular. The urban structure of many towns is often a real Cultural Heritage (for example Venice or Vicenza) transmitting the historical, social and cultural reasons that produced them. These towns are the environment in which thousands men and women with different abilities and age work, study and have fun but also the destination for many tourists moved by curiosity and the facility to travel that contemporary society guarantees. The “cultural tourism” includes: study holidays, participation in festivals and cultural events, visits to archaeological sites and monuments, pilgrimages; it is also about the pleasure of immersing in the local lifestyle and all that constitutes the identity and character of a place. It follows that the accessibility and usability of the urban system are prerequisites for both residents and visitors, and that these requirements should be met in conjunction with the objectives of conservation and valorisation of historical and architectural heritage. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (written in December 2006 and adopted in Italy with the National Law n. 18 in 2009) has a specific article (n. 30) about the importance of the Cultural Heritage: “Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport” and the subparagraph (c) invites to implement the necessary measures so that people with disabilities “enjoy access to places for cultural performances or services such as
Alessandro Greco
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An inclusive project for Plaza MarrĂłn: survey, analysis and solutions for all
theatres, museums, cinemas, libraries and tourism services, and, as far as possible, enjoy access to monuments and sites important for national cultural importance�. So when discussing about accessibility to the cultural heritage, must be taken into account both the importance of ensuring that all persons can enjoy in safety and independently and remember that these resources must be preserved and enhanced; thus, it is necessary a multidisciplinary and inclusive design, able to satisfy the different needs and based on a detailed knowledge of the urban structure, its historical development and growth, and the characteristics of the society that lives this space nowadays. This is one of the most explored topics of research by the University of Pavia in the last ten years, starting with the experience Pavia for all (20068) and than working on different towns (Voghera and Vigevano but also Valparaiso in Chile); applied researches and projects that are focused on the human being, with different needs and abilities. The researches at the urban scale, developed on the old town, were developed through a scientific methodology (based on data collection, analysis, synthesis and practical solutions) allowed to define some operating principles that are considered essential to ensure accessibility to cultural heritage but also ensure its preservation and enhancement. The pedestrian paths are the starting point to create an urban accessible cultural heritage; it is important to define recognized and protected ways, where people can move without dangers; the paths have not to be designed for a specific user, but it is important think in an inclusive way, in order to satisfy the larger number of persons. Pavements must be regular, offering smooth
Alessandro Greco
Figures 1 - 2 The use of different stones colours and dimensions at a crosswalk makes easier for the pedestrians to recognize the paths. Lisbon (Portugal).
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrรณn: survey, analysis and solutions for all
surfaces characterised by contrasting colours and different surface roughness to identify areas with different speed or use. The towns must be provided with aids, furniture and services that promote independent living and safe, where the aesthetic quality is combined with the functionality and ease of use. So, for example, it is important to ensure benches, seats and ischiatic supports at regular distances where people can seat and talk. Seats must be at different heights in order to satisfy the larger number of needs (children, adults, elderly) and the area with the seats must to be dimensioned and organised in order to accommodate also persons with wheelchairs or walkers. It could be useful to have some shaded areas and also protective elements from atmospheric agents; shelters must be designed in order to create a relationship with the historic environment: it can be a contrast relation (different colours and materials) or a connexion, but it is important to respect the existing environment and also the reversibility of the construction, in order to restore the state of origin. Standpipes and public toilets should always be taken into account in large urban interventions and in a systemic view of the town, however respecting the cultural historical value of the site. Architects and engineers must impulse users with multi-sensory stimuli that can support the recognition of places and characterize them through sounds, scents, lights and information. The insertion of green spaces, with flower and tree species that bloom in different time, can help the users to identify and recognize a place and can also improve the quality of the air and of the environment. These green spaces have to be organised with different heights to offer the chance to all people to approach them in safety and autonomy conditions.
Alessandro Greco
Figures 3 - 4 Tactile maps in the Museo Sefardy Synagogue of El Transito; tactile map of the building and its patios; the shape and the dimension of the metal bracket allow to point out the map also by children and people with wheelchairs. Toledo (Spain).
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
There is an other important element that must be considered in order to realize an accessible cultural heritage and it is represented by the signs, both vertical and horizontal; they have to be recognizable, simple and clear to understand, homogeneous, right placed and able to transmit the information in different way and languages. It must provide different levels of information, from the general urban level to the scale of the monument or building considered. The signs must not only lead visitors through the heritage of the town but must also provide information about the heritage, in order to satisfy the curiosity and the desire of knowledge. Tactile maps and models and audio guides can help users to discover the heritage. These topics (paths, aids and signs) have to be considered in a general programme and designed with an approach able to put the different solutions in a unique and complete system, creating a dialogue (or a contrast) with the cultural heritage. It is not a simple task; architects and engineers have to follow some principles in order to create inclusive solutions to enjoy the historic and architectonic heritage. First of all it is important that they can recognize the importance of the heritage, its meaning (social, cultural and economic) for the society and its potential; so they have to study a lot in order to define the right strategy of intervention, especially when architectonic barriers have to be overcome (the first question must be: is it possible to remove them? Or is it better to find an other solution?). So it is important that who want to work on heritage is aware that can’t never stop to study, remembering that the knowledge is the basis of the creativity. Studying also means to share good practice, in order to create a culture for the accessibility and the inclusion. Many Countries have implemented the UN Declaration for the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities (written in 2006) but the way for the creation of an inclusive world is still long. There are still a lot of architects and engineers that do not consider the accessibility as a necessary condition for the valorisation of the cultural heritage. The professional associations organize training courses focused on this topics to encourage the adoption of an inclusive approach, in order to grow the sensibility of professionals, especially those formed before the new attitude that considers the disability as the result of the interaction of a person with an environment in a specific time and not as the characteristic of a person. At the same time it is important that architects and engineers entering in the building process are able to satisfy the society’s needs, knowing how much it is important for an inclusive world; the experiences like Plaza Marrón for all: University of Pavia and Universidad Europea de Madrid for the Accessibility of Toledo are useful for creating a new approach towards the urban environment. The students involved, focusing on different issues but working together for an accessible and safe project developed a new sensibility that will enable them to develop projects that can exploit the urban cultural heritage ensuring all to enjoy it.
Alessandro Greco
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
Pavia-Toledo: Heritage prior studies Enrique Martínez Sierra Professor - Ph.D. - Architect Universidad Europea de Madrid, Spain
Actions in patrimony should be the result of respecting our heritage, and of an exhaustive knowledge of the building and the initial conception from its original use. Given the importance of the interventions to be made in buildings categorized as heritage and because of their characteristics, it is necessary to carry out an analysis to obtain detailed knowledge of it prior to any intervention, to assess their physical reality and its evolution over the time. We study the collected data and observations, as well as documents and old publications in order to analyse the historical building. The findings of this study will render the answers about the reality of the work through the life of the historical building. The other approach to the reality of the analysed environments will be a research of the arising needs for an inclusive design and the adaptation of the historical centres over the time. In this approach to Heritage we have found methodological difficulties, since when we are facing an old quarter of these features its layout is very different to the usual in the architectural work. We face an element that already exists and that is not in our mind. Intervention in this kind of environments has been historically discussed and corroborated by international documents among which we can mention the last Krakow Charter1 or the Venice Charter2. Heritage can be impressive, generating very strong emotions and feelings. There is Heritage that has impact on the emotional capacity of people even today. What cause the emotions, 1 UNESCO. Krakow Charter. Principles for Conservation and Restoration of built heritage. October, 26th 2000 “The conservation of built heritage is implemented by the Project of restoration, including the strategy to conserve in the long term. This “restoration project” should be based on a range of appropriate technical options and prepared in a cognitive process of gathering knowledge and understanding of the building or site. This may include traditional and subsequent new materials, structural investigations, graphical and dimensional analysis and the identification of historical, artistic and socio-cultural significance. All pertinent disciplines have to participate in the restoration project and the coordination should be carried out by a person qualified and well trained in conservation and restoration.” 2 ICOMOS. International Charter for the conservation and restoration of monuments and sites. Venice Charter, 1964. “The conservation and restoration of monuments must have a recourse to all the sciences and techniques which can contribute to the study and safeguarding of the architectural heritage.”.”
Enrique Martínez Sierra
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
in short, is not so much the physical fact but the immaterial, the sensations. In this sense we include the sensations to heritage3. This publication summarizes a part of the research activities that Università di Pavia and Universidad Europea are undergoing jointly since 2015, which objective is to offer a perspective of the opportunities of collaboration. The activities carried out by the University of Pavia are coordinated by Prof. Alessandro Greco, while I coordinate Universidad Europea de Madrid activities. The collaboration between both universities started in June of 2015 and is currently ongoing. We have been working simultaneously around locations in Italy (city of Pavia, Piazza del Lino) and in Spain (city of Toledo, Plaza Marrón). We have deployed methods and tools focused on implementing a Heritage prior study methodology. This methodology will be materialized to be used in historical towns. In order to analyse universal accessibility in this particular places. To carry out the research work, and previous to the field studies in the city of Pavia and Toledo, some materials and technologies of different features have been used, giving diverse results that, jointly analysed, gave us guidelines to reach some previous conclusions in the research. These are the materials that were used: • Camera equipment: Digital camera and tripod. • Measuring equipment: Analog and digital media have been used to take measures of the elements to study • Scanning equipment: Faro 3D laser scan. 3 Hernández Hernández, F EL PATRIMONIO CULTURAL: LA MEMORIA RECUPERADA: Editorial TREA.-Gijón.-2002.
Enrique Martínez Sierra
Figure 1 WUNDERLICH. Plaza de Zocodover, Toledo, Spain. Beginning of 20th century. Figure 2 Piazza del Lino, Pavia, Italy. 3D rendering capture. March 2016. Figure 3 Plaza Marrón, Toledo, Spain. 3D point cloud capture. October 2016.
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
The research focused on the use of new technologies for the detection and analysis of the urban fabric, especially accessibility and pavement, on an area of the historic centre of historic towns. The process was carried out with the collaboration of Eng. Valentina Giacometti, Arch. Gianluca Pietra, Arch. Santiago Díaz, Arch. Ignacio Taus, Eng. Natalia González and Arch. Alvaro Sánchez. The spaces of analysis covered a route of interest of the city of Pavia and a similar one in Toledo (Plaza Marrón), which had a great attractive to create a tourist route linked to their medieval parts. This activity represents the preliminary phase of a study of urban accessibility that was developed in the course of the stay and during subsequent work together. The intention is to improve the method used in these places, and compare the accessibility issues arose in both cities, to find a common pattern. This will allow to standardize the diagnosis of the problematic related to design for all in historical environments, becoming a huge step towards the intervention in historical centres. This research project addresses one of the themes selected by the Member States Horizon 2020 Program Committees, regarding inclusive societies (Europe is a changing word: inclusive, innovative and reflective societies). It links two disciplines: architecture at a urban scale and sociology through universal design. This approach has a huge relevance when applied to the existing cities, while becoming a useful tool for the design of new developments. Future lines of research will include not just physical disabilities but also intellectual ones. This collaborative work permitted to study and recognize the most common problems found in historical centres in terms of accessibility. This
Enrique Martínez Sierra
Figure 4 Manual measuring equipment, Scanner 3D Figure 5 Plan of Plaza Marrón with the disappeared Caleros Synagogue. Recreation sketch Figure 6 Plaza Marrón. Actual photograph
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
allowed to present some previous guidelines to start the study process and propose action plans around the critical points of accessibility in historical cities. The recovery of historical artistic ensembles means to keep them alive and with the greatest possible activity fullness. For this, in first place, we must count with the recovery of the public spaces, but also recovering the buildings dedicated to equipment unique of this environments, and we must coordinate the actions in streets and squares with the strategies of the city defined by the competent Governments. It is necessary, in the same way, to respond to other problems like interference with general urban facilities that compete with the accessibility of buildings and spaces that surround us. All of the above is aimed to help all people, with or without disabilities, to enjoy historical environments in conditions of full equality. • The concept of accessibility should be extended to the active participation of all the potential offered by the environment. • The historical evolution of the city has marked the today and tomorrow of urban spaces and its inhabitants. • The characteristics of the road system are defined by their use, materials for flooring and above all by the slope The experience has been highly positive, since it has allowed us to investigate and deepen into a subject with an architectural and social nature, such as accessibility, which is present in all the districts and corners of the cities we inhabit. This background allows us to know the methodology on previous studies on accessibility in historical centres from others technicians, addressing problems as complex as those investigated during the stay. On the other hand, having travelled and worked with various professionals from the construction industry has served us to highlight the concerns of each one of us to, in a next future, continue to work together and move forward not only in terms of accessibility, but in different lines of research. Finally, I’d like to highlight the great experience, not only professional but personal, that has meant my stay in the University of Pavia. I have been able to collaborate, side by side, with great professionals who have shown a huge spirit of collaboration.
Enrique Martínez Sierra
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
Plaza Marrón for All: teamwork approaches and methodologies Valentina Giacometti Ph.D. - Engineer Università di Pavia, Italy
The project “Plaza Marrón for All” is aimed at improving the accessibility of Plaza Marrón in Toledo (Spain) designing inclusive solutions. The main challenge is to guarantee its safety and enjoyable use for everybody, regardless of people physical, sensorial or cognitive abilities. This work is the result of two main phases: • Survey activities. On October 13-14-15, 2016 seven students from Università di Pavia and two tutors from Universidad Europea de Madrid were in Toledo (Spain) for the survey of Plaza Marrón with the 3D scan technology; • Design activities. From November 2016 to February 2017 the students from Università di Pavia worked together to develop architectural solutions able to turn Plaza Marrón in an accessible and inclusive urban space. Focusing on the design activities (the survey ones are already described in the previous chapter) it is important to explain the specific methodology applied. These activities were coordinated by professor Alessandro Greco with the help the engineers Valentina Giacometti and Gianluca Pietra as tutors. They included individual work, teamwork and periodical revisions to guide the students from the ideas till the construction details. In order to investigate (and solve) different aspects in quite a short time (four months of work), the seven students were firstly separated into sub-teams. This choice mainly derives from the need to take into consideration all the different, and sometimes conflicting, aspects implied by the specific project theme. We have to investigate in deep the particular needs of people with disabilities and all the requirements of accessibility and inclusivity of an historical urban space. The Italian Ministerial Decree 28 March 2008 “Guidelines for the overcoming of architectural barriers in the places of cultural interest” underlining the new consciousness introduced by the ICF Model (WHO - World Health Organization, 2001) and reinforced by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), stresses the importance to
Valentina Giacometti
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
study the different types of disability and the related physical, perceptual and intellectual problems. In particular, it is necessary to critically and consciously investigate the environment, because the same object can be an obstacle for some people or a fundamental element for others. For example: a step is a physical barrier for people with mobility impairments, but an important element for the orientation for people with visual impairments (DM 28 March 2008, chapter 2.1). But unfortunately after more than 10 years from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (which is a milestone also for the social aspects) the disability is still considered more in relation to the mobility impairments than to the others. This imply that in most cases the analyses are focused only on the physical barriers and not on the obstacles to the perception for people with sensorial or cognitive impairments, like the lack of multisensorial information or design precautions. With the aim to equally take into consideration all the aspects of disabilities and accessibility, we decided to give students a particular methodology to carry out the design activities. This structure is made up of three main steps: • Analyses. The students were divided into three sub-teams to work on detailed analyses, focused on specific topics (mobility impairments, sensorial impairments and cognitive impairments); • Synthesis. The different information and knowledge coming from the focused analyses are mixed to develop a uniform idea; • Developments. The final project is deepened in details to answer the specific needs (mobility, sensorial and cognitive) with uniform and coherent solutions.
Valentina Giacometti
Figures 1 Scheme of the teamwork organization, divided into three main steps: analyses focused on different needs, synthesis to propose a single project and coherent developments to detail the idea.
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
Analyses First of all we identified three main topics (needs) to be investigated: the accessibility for mobility impaired people, for sensory impaired people and for cognitive impaired people. The seven students from the University of Pavia were divided into three different teams. Each team was given one topic: • Rossella De Grazia, Fabiana Murgia for the mobility accessibility; • Mattia Bentivoglio, Giulia Leone, Alessandro Marino for the sensorial accessibility; • Claudia Bonora, Lucrezia Castagnoli for the cognitive accessibility. These three teams separately worked on Plaza Marrón for two months. They detailed three different critical analyses of the urban space, underlining the main problems affecting the square and the main opportunities to be valorised. After the analytical phase, they studied specific examples of good practices and they proposed different architectural solutions, according to their specific topic, like a brainstorming of possible solutions answering specific problems. The analyses and the initial proposals allowed to cover a big range of needs, requirements and possible solutions. The solutions are taken from examples of similar historical sites, but also from different contexts. This phase is particularly important to create ideas and start the design process, postponing the judgments and the coherent questions to the next phases. In this phase it is not important if the punctual solutions are in contrast each other: a unique solution can not answer all the topics (needs).
Valentina Giacometti
Figures 2 - 3 - 4 Teamwork during the design activities: students and tutors work together to develop the project. (Università di Pavia, Italy).
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An inclusive project for Plaza MarrĂłn: survey, analysis and solutions for all
Synthesis After the analytical phase, the three teams are gathered and the different analyses and proposals are mixed. The aim is to develop a uniform and coherent project able to answer the needs of as many users as possible. During this phase the students identified a uniform Masterplan, coherent with the main needs resulting from the three analysis. They worked together to detail the project, match all the ideas and create inclusive solutions. This phase is a continuous iteration of compromises, as in any design process. In this case it is also emphasized by the subjectivity and variability of the project theme. In fact, the disability is not a determinate feature, but it is a variable condition caused by the interaction between the person’s abilities and environmental factors (bio-psycho-social approach, ICF, WHO 2001). For this reason, the proper design of the environment with multisensorial elements and inclusive solutions become fundamental. The synthesis phase led to a single project, based on the idea to realize a sequence of three main spaces (on different levels) connected by linear ramps. Along the ramp the multisensorial elements are integrated to create accessible rest areas.
Developments After the definition of the unique project, the students continued to work all together, but keeping in mind their specific topics and guiding the team according to it. All the details coming from the three topics are discussed together. The final project is the coherent mix of the three topics (mobility accessibility, sensorial accessibility and cognitive accessibility). Thanks to this project Plaza MarrĂłn turns into an accessible and inclusive space, letting new urban connections and adding value to the historical centre of Toledo.
Valentina Giacometti
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
Plaza Marrón for All: the project Gianluca Pietra Engineer - Architect
Intervene with activities that have the aim of overcome architectural barriers is an opportunity to give a new feature to public space. To analyse disability’s topic and solutions that can reduce to minimum its perception, means analyse social aspects of utilization of public space. Therefore, means work on it introducing solutions that, apart from the technical purpose, reconsider the way of using and perceiving street, square and in general constructed space. Plaza Marrón in Toledo has been an opportunity to generate a new urban activity, defining in the respect of morphology of spaces, new paths which would give a new feature to spaces that would have been defined earlier as transition spaces for people with mobile disabilities. It has been an opportunity to put in discussion norms regard the overcome of architectural barriers and it value for space renovation. Plaza Marrón is in “flag” relation with calle de Alfonso XII and represents a natural urban connection with the below calle de Trinidad. Relevant streets for urban morphology structure it, degrading from West to Est, describing a natural orography of the urban settlement surrounded by Tago river. Urban settlement’s streets are lines that adapt easily to slope. Their movement looks like water stream that goes down from the cliff and reaches Tago. A sinuous, irregular and natural movement. The two streets run in two different heights and define urban quarters that keep the irregular spontaneity. Building settled on these “lines” keeps their orientation, showing that these are generator elements of urban design. Walking throw Toledo means reading this urban spontaneity, where architectural heritage melts with city structure in a unitary space continuum and architectural complexity. Calle de Alfonso XII and calle de Trinidad, proceed together going down towards the river Tago. Between them pedestrian connections and empty spaces, emphasise the difference in height these streets have, which, talking about plaza Marrón is of 4 metres. The topic is to overcome this drop, today represented as narrow paths of possible usage only by normally endowed people. The topic is to feature this paths putting them in places
Gianluca Pietra
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
and giving recognizability to the spaces that they redefine. Design what has left from new paths of urban connection. Make the north south crossing easier, simplifying its relationships and generating new social environments. Design these paths with correct technique so that slopes are correct, loges are recognisable and of a coded geometry, so that plants smell can show the paths, but also that spaces that these paths define will be lived, narrowing the two streets. Using a kind of “carruggi” equipped. Recall element through plaza Marrón is public space opposite to the archive and project hypothesize that, with the intervention completed, will simplify the paths and define new spaces, can create curiosity in citizens in order to live the space nowadays used only by normal endowed, to any kind of user. Not only transit spaces but also stop, rest and idleness spaces. Requalification places and urban simplification. From calle de Alfonso XII new elements on the ground move the attention towards plaza Marrón, creating a discontinuity and recall re-orienting urban interest. The square “leaning” on the calle is not any longer its enlargement but becomes an element of urban penetration becoming finally a “place” declaring its presence and availability. It is not just a system to permit to people with disability to reach the calle below. It becomes a collective interest space. From enlargement of a street that does not have enough character to repolarize urban interest, it becomes articulation of three levels squares. Composite clarity of the paths will declare to urban user, who walks
Gianluca Pietra
Figure 1 The idea is based on the creation of new accessible squares, linked through a ramp and green areas, with multisensorial and inclusive elements.
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
through the calle Alfonso XII, the presence of “something” that recalls his/her attention. A game of three square is what has been design through a ramp that goes down toward calle Trinidad. The ramp, an “inconvenient” element in architecture, because too long and invasive, becomes element that disappear in the intervention dimension. Necessity to design “so much ramp” to overcome “so much height” is opportunity to re-signify “so much space” as service of urban settlement. The ramp here is not a limit but a solution to create three squares. The ramp runs following the behaviour of the buildings surrounding the narrow street (carruggio), it narrows like a funnel arriving to destination and becomes an element full of symbolism and urban recognizability in Toledo. The dynamism of the ramp that, in plan, tighten as it goes down, is opposite to the static nature of the three squares newly defined. The project, considering urban orography, could be repeated, adapting to necessity that would face case by case. Every situation could have a different solution for public space, a different series of stop areas and different paths. The repetition is the type of intervention that, starting from the analysis of urban morphology, could be replied in different city situations. Toledo is emblematic regard intervention of overcoming height difference, because its nature as “rock” carved by Tago. In Toledo in these last years several interesting actions that aim to find a solution regard accessibility showed up, also through majestic architectural work, describing Toledo’s urban structure. A challenge to difficult urban orography. Inventive to be enriched through interventions
Gianluca Pietra
Figures 2 - 3 - 4 Views of the project. The ramp connecting the different levels is architectural language organizing the urban space.
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An inclusive project for Plaza Marrón: survey, analysis and solutions for all
that starting from the analysis of complex morphology, suggest solution that add value to space and make “readable” natural conformation of urban settlement. Intervene with solution technical declared that respect the history of the city, and show contemporaneity and favour the accessibility, is the main topic of this project. The project develops urban topics described, through the insertion of new urban furniture and new materials and new colouring that highlight “new usage” of the intervention. Insertion of declared false elements on the stairs of plaza Marrón, interactive installation made by independent elements in colour and material respect the pavements on which they settles, is an opportunity to repeat them on the three squares. Recognizability of the intervention through the repetition becomes a unifying character of the project. Plaza Marrón has green elements that has been supposed to keep and add value through circular seats that surrounds the tree. Lightness and permeability of project solution conserves the importance of natural element. The introduction of a contemporary design of the furniture underlines the presence of the project into the historical context of Toledo. Rises the attention level of users and creates a natural interest toward topics of accessibility of spaces, sensitizing the topic of overcoming architectural barriers. An compositely declared intervention becomes tool to declare a social and cultural aim that here is will to offer to urban users. Perceptive and feature elements of the project become re-entry elements of the intervention design in urban scale. Elements that allow a reading of urban project. Pavement and railing materials play the same role and feature with the same strength new intervention framed in historical context. Loges of vivid colours, in addition of being functional to low vision people, becomes instrument to underline the new path giving recognizability and character to intervention. The “buttercup” of the seats in plastic material and “parrot green” of Loges in Gneiss becomes so representative in the project giving immediate reading.
Gianluca Pietra
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Professors: Alessandro Greco - Enrique Martínez Sierra - Natalia Gonzalez Pericot - Álvaro Galmés
Tutors: Gianluca Pietra - Valentina Giacometti - Álvaro Sánchez - Ignacio Taus - Santiago Díaz
Students: Mattia Bentivoglio - Claudia Bonora - Lucrezia Castagnoli - Rossella De Grazia - Giulia Leone Alessandro Marino - Fabiana Murgia