Torroella de Montgrí, Baix Empordà, Girona, ES / 2019 / Ajuntament de Torroella de Montgrí
[ENG] In 2013 a new public Theater was built in the southern limit of Torroella de Montgrí in an effort to redevelop the area improving the town's connection with the "Ter" local river. Years before that, a skatepark had already been placed here, when it was just the outskirts of the town. With this new urban plan and having built the theater, right in front of it the skatepark seemed now to be misplaced. The original idea was just to move it and build a brand new skatepark somewhere else in the future. At the same time the skatepark was also in a very bad condition and demanded to be repaired urgently. This was our comission. The budget was rather small and the works had to be executed by the City Hall’s local task force. So they were certainly not used to build any kind of skate ramps but rather specialized in repairing sidewalks, pavements, urban furniture, etc.
As skaters we don’t always stay in skateparks but also use regular city plazas and streets. We are indeed public space users. So we tried to make the municipality see that skateboarding "spaces" shouldn't be marginal or isolated "sport facilities" always casted away in the outskirts, but that they could also be a part of the city. Our proposition was to redesign and even extend the existing sport facility so that it could be adapted and fit into the new urban context, making it possible to stay and saving the cost of a new skatepark. Despite a minimum budget, the renovation is conceived as a new plaza related to the Theater building and the urban grid, an opportunity to transform the old skatepark into a new open decent public space for the city. Standard public space materials are used to build the plaza such as pedestrian pavements or massive granite ledges. There also existed a visual alignment between the entrance of the "Espai Ter" Theater building and the opposite "Girona" street, a pedestrian walk that connects directly to the city center. Accidental or not, the Skateplaza renovation wanted to highlight this urban relationship. With the extension of the Skateplaza and a new pavement, now there is a clear visual architectural connection between the Auditorium, the Skateplaza and the surrounding urban grid. After concerts or events at the Theater, now pedestrians can also use the skateplaza to pass through as a shortcut to the center. So Skateboarding architecture can also be useful improving the city's urbanism for real, just like any other plaza would do.
[CAT] Renovació de la skateplaça situada a l’Espai Ter de Torroella de Montgrí.
[ESP] Renovación de la skateplaza municipal situada en el Espai Ter de Torroella de Montgrí.
Fotografia Copyright José Hevia