A new language in urban landscaping

Barcelona is a town full with points of interest, both architectural, parks and gardens. On what green spaces are concerned the offer is big and diversified which attracts many vistors.We are back to Barcelona, the most innovative and modern Spanish city and to do a walk in one of its most recent parks, opened in the spring of 2008.

Tha Parc Central de Poblenou, in one of the most famous artery – Diagonal,  it’s a very recent construction and we  hadn’t prior knowledge of it, only some images that aroused our interest.

Barcelona  and the way it was conceived from an architectural point of view invites us to walk. The Ramblas near Colombo statue had been the first stop of my visit, and after looking the city map (be aware that some older maps don’t refer this Parc),  we decided to go towards Poblenou. Distances in the map can be a bit deceiving and different from the real distances and our journey took us more than two hours to get there! As we get closer one of the main buildings which is a reference in the city is the Agbar tower, by Jean Nouvel the same author of the Parc Central de Poblenou.

Huge visual impact

I’m finally arriving to my destination facing a very unusual  iron gate, dissimilar entrance and the colours a mixture of rusty and pink. The walls are high and the big windows round shape allows us to have a look inside. This wall has been the motive of some controversy, Barcelona is by nature an open city, there isn’t a tendency to have walled  gardens and parks for almost all the inhabitants that’s how it works…aside these considerations I personally find very interesting the wall and the relation between the inside and the outside. Trough this truncated view given by the windows we imagine the rest of it. But this  is not the real picture, has we walked in, a all different universe  of an esthetical beauty like nothing else. We had never seen such an organization, where arches and climbers, sheds and cactus are all intertwined with sculptures, organic structures and aluminium furniture on a balance of colours and shapes very unusual.

With and aesthetic conception very trimmed the Parc Central de Poblenou its not just a space of contemplation. It’s all for the visitor and to interact with him, no matter wats the reason for your visit. In Poblenou there are playgrounds for sports, for children, a ground for the popular dances like “Petanca”, spaces for the simple gathering. With its triangular configuration the  Parc holds tree distinct areas on a physical sense but that work together as a whole. This kind of division is not very comfortable for the visitor for you have to cross streets with some traffic.

You can walk in the perimeter of the park along the wall and climbing trees. You can go inside as the points of interest appear.

Mixed feelings

We are divided on our feelings towards this place. On one side this is an overwhelming site with lots of points of interest, and usually solutions on the esthetical point of view, but with a little bit of a show off character. I was impressed but could not feel the soul of this Park.

Vegetation

Is the real actress here, with a coverage of bunganvilias in the entrance, Mediterranean vegetation is very strong in the Park,  witch helps to have the perfect conditions for all the plants. About 1000 trees, 35 palm trees, 5000 bushes and a similar number of cactus, 1400 plants and 48 different species that can be seen and smelled.

Useful information

Location: Av. Diagonal, 130 Barcelona, Spain

How to get there: Bus 7, 40, 42 and 71

Opening times. December, January and February from 10 to 18h

March and November from 10 to 19h

April and October from 10 to 20h

From May to September from 10 to 21 h

Coordinates: 41º 24´25.33´´ N / 2º 12´01.74

Internet: www.bcn.cat/parcsijardins