PRECEDENT 2: LAS RAMBLAS
06: 06: CONCEPT CONCEPT AND AND DESIGN DESIGN DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT
Location: Barcelona, Spain
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Las Ramblas is a pedestrian plaza surrounded by shops and lined with trees in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarters. The plaza starts at Barcelona’s main plaza, Plaza Catalunya, and spans 1.2km to the Christopher Columbus Monument in Port Vell. Las Ramblas is a meeting place for the residents and tourists of Barcelona due to its central location and 10m – 25m wide central pedestrian route. The main route reverses the ratio of humans and automobiles, resulting in a reverse of the typical relationship between pedestrians and vehicles. The trees that frame the pedestrian routes act as barriers to guide the pedestrians and protect them from vehicles.
FIGURE 6.13. Image by Oh Barcelona on Wikimedia under Creative Commons License.
According to Campbell (2002), the promenade is constantly in motion and has vibrancy due to the plaza being full of retail stalls, food kiosks, and arts and crafts exhibits drawing people
