Montseny Square is in the village central area, extending before the Town Hall and next to a busy county road. It serves as a gateway to the old town, with various facilities and shops.
Originally, the square was laid lower than the county road. This difference in elevation was bridged by poorly positioned steps hidden by vegetation. More significantly, the main road pavement adjoining the square, required a railing for safety, acting as a barrier, hindering smooth connection even with the crosswalk and therefore, for pedestrians.
Therefore, despite its centrality, it was a hidden, sunken plaza, unused, disconnected from its surroundings, and uncomfortable to use due to the priority of vehicular traffic and very narrow sidewalks. It was barely recognizable, heavily concealed behind poorly distributed vegetation and the Lottery kiosk, which also obstructed the view of an iconic modernist building included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia.
In the streets, the sidewalks were also very narrow and often invaded by poorly parked cars and tree pits and because of their position so close to the facade, the trees could not develop properly.
The City Council’s commission was motivated by a Sustainable Urban Mobility Study carried out for the village. The study indicated that the sidewalk widths needed improvement for an environment with pedestrian traffic of over 1000 people/day, and it concluded that interventions were necessary in Montseny Square and Alfou and Santiago Rusiñol streets to improve accessibility, promote social interactions, and enhance sustainable mobility.
The objective of the intervention is to convert Montseny Square and its adjacent streets into a single platform, expanding the pedestrian priority area of the town.
The project incorporates these premises and places emphasis on pedestrians designing a continuous pavement, from facade to facade without distinction for occasional vehicular traffic, with a diagonal line pattern marked by the layout of the Town Hall Square across the road. To make this connection more evident, white lines are drawn across it, linking the patterns of both squares and alerting road traffic of their passage between squares, thereby forcing a reduction in speed.
In addition, the diagonal layout makes the crossroads appear wider and are perceived as small squares where benches, seats, and loungers have been arranged to form seating areas.
In the square, to overcome the nearly one-meter elevation difference with the road, a large plant bed is designed with organic shapes using sinuous traces of brick, forming walls of varying heights adapting to the topography. It narrows in its central area to accommodate a wide staircase that continues the pedestrian path through the existing crosswalk. The area in contact with the road is no longer perceived as a sidewalk but as a fluid and sinuous passage zone amidst vegetation.
Several oak trees with attractive autumnal colours dot the square, providing shade in summer and allowing sunlight in winter, which is highly appreciated as the square is quite shaded due to its orientation. Under their canopies, a series of prefabricated concrete benches specifically designed by LEA atelier for the project are distributed.
On Alfou Street, a new alignment of trees of the same species, centered on the street’s axis, gives prominence to pedestrians and sidelines vehicular traffic.
To not forego greenery in the narrow stretch of the street, climbing plants are distributed, which, supported by cables, will over time form a vegetal gallery. This way, each street section has a distinct character and contributes to the diversity of the urban area.
Despite its centrality, the area was not adequately illuminated, creating a sense of insecurity at night. The project addresses lighting comprehensively, giving equal importance to the entire space: square and streets. A domestic and aesthetic scale lighting scheme runs throughout the intervention. A zigzagging layout of catenaries, dotted with light points, unifies the entire project area and acts as a focal point from the adjacent streets, guiding pedestrians. Additionally, the chosen colour temperature creates a warm atmosphere in the town centre. In summary, it creates a cheerful, festive, and lively environment that invites people to enjoy these urban spaces.
Furthermore, by relocating the Lottery kiosk to the underutilized space across the street, under a Ginkgo tree where now the vendor’s friends sit and chat in the shade, a new larger space has been gained where the worker is now much happier.
The square is now much clearer, comfortable to traverse, flowing smoothly without level differences, and connected both visually and physically to its immediate surroundings. The visual field is expanded in all directions, with even the Montseny Mountain visible in the background. “Now one feels the spaciousness,” as some neighbours have commented once the works were completed.
Location:
Plaça Montseny,
08459 Sant Antoni de Vilamajor (Barcelona), Spain
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pla%C3%A7a+del+Montseny,+08459+Sant+Antoni+de+Vilamajor,+Barcelona/@41.6731915,2.4005541,20z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x12a4cc14d9fc7585:0x49664681df81c61a!8m2!3d41.6731338!4d2.4004585!16s%2Fg%2F11gbxcp2d9?entry=ttu
Design year: 2021
Year Completed: 2023
