Metropolitan Gravel Mine Park

In 2008 La Rinconada City Council launched an architectural competition to design a metropolitan park. Our proposal was awarded second prize.

MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos saw this project as an opportunity to make the most of the fertile lowlands fed with water by the River Guadalquivir. This water comes to the surface when humans excavate the land to exploit gravel mines. While the brief was to create a park in and around one such gravel mine, the area is littered with excavations made by humans for creating concrete all of which fill with water from the River Guadalquivir.

To avoid the creation of sparce abandonned areas, at MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos we saw this as a chance to create a network of open spaces that could create a matrix of green spaces connected to the town. In our project we proposed the creation of a new kind of park for adventure sports such as climbing, trekking, watersports and kayaking, as well as an ecological farm in order for it to attract users of different ages.

We proposed a flexible project which allowed for a period of evaluation. When deciding the distribution of facilities and the various activities on offer we proposed a timescale in which users would perceive a completed park at every phase. In this way visitors could enjoy and form part of the consolidation process of the activities on offer. In our proposal the areas of particular interest are incorporated within a network of footpaths or circuits including the didactic circuit or nature circuit and the sports circuit created with the specific objective of leisure, walking and enjoyment.

At MEDIOMUNDO arquitectos we conducted an environmental diagnosis which allowed us to create a proposal that both reconciles the recovery of the surroundings of the gravel mine and its transformation into a sports and leasure park.

Programme: Landscape design and metropolitan park located in an ancient gravel mine
Location: La Rinconada, Seville
Date of competition: 2008
Awards: 2nd Prize
Category: Park
Area: 30,000 m2
Developer: La Rinconada City Council