The purpose of the proposal is to transform the area currently called Praça de Espanha into a public space of inevitable importance in the city of Lisbon due to its scale, centrality, and regulation of natural flows.
The new Praça de Espanha seeks to establish itself as a porous and permeable public space that is materialized through programmed pockets distributed across the intervention area. These pockets are permeable and programmatic areas and function as rainwater containment, storage, and retention areas. With the intent to reestablish Praça de Espanha drainage function and connection to the aquifers, it is proposed the creation of a system that reuses and optimizes the underground conduits.
Through the creation of a pavement of orthogonal geometry that contains the main meadow, it is intended to give this public space the character of a square, giving meaning to its toponym. The Praça de Espanha becomes a space for receiving flows and activities where its center is a huge permeable organic surface that can receive different uses and activities such as leisure area, informal games area, concert or festival arena.
The pavement, which extends in different directions and gains informal geometry to the west side of the square, seeks to create frank and direct relationships with the surrounding environment. To the west, it develops along paths that connect the central area to Sete Rios and areas near Monsanto Park, to the east it connects to Santos Dumont Avenue, and to garden and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to the south. The continuous pavement seeks to establish itself as a pedestrian interface that connects, distributes and welcomes.
The park project, with its multiple connections, seeks to function as a link between a system of parks and gardens that articulates with Gulbenkian Garden, Amnesty International Garden, Monsanto, and Edward VII Park. Establishing this link is particularly important for the network of public spaces and for issues related to the city’s ecological structure. The creation of connectivity between the Avenida da Liberdade Valley and the Alcântara Valley reinforces the desired natural continuum.
