MADRID RIO by West 8

Project Name: Madrid Rio
Landscape Architect: West 8
Year: 2006-2011
Location: Madrid, Spain
client: Municipality of Madrid
partners: MRIO arquitectos, a joint venture of three Madrid-based firms - Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos Asociados, Porras La Casta Arquitectos and Rubio & Álvarez-Sala 
awards: Conde Nast Traveller Innovation and Design Awards (nominee 2009),
team: Adriaan Geuze, Christian Dobrick, Edzo Bindels, Alexander Sverdlov, Claudia Wolsfeld, Enrique Ibáñez González, Freek Boerwinkel, Joost

The city of Madrid dug 43 kilometres of tunnels into which the exit routes and motorways of the six-kilometre section along the River Manzanares disappeared. West 8, working together with MRIO arquitectos, a joint venture of three Madrid based firms led by Ginés Garrido Colomero, designed the master plan for the reclaimed riverbanks and the new urban area.Development plans were then prepared for the individual components: Salón de Pinos, Avenida de Portugal, Huerta de la Partida, Jardines del Puente de Segovia, Jardines del Puente de Toledo, Jardines de la Virgen del Puerto and Arganzuela Park.

The most important of which include: the Salón de Pinos, designed as a linear green space, which will link the existing and newly designed urban spaces wi each other along the Manzanares River, located almost entirely on top of the motorway tunnel, with a "choreography" of the 8.000-fold pine tree planting with a repertoire of cuts. 
Avenida de Portugal, one of the most important roads into the centre of Madrid, relocated in a tunnel and providing underground parking, converting the space into a garden, benefitting the local residents in particular with cherry.

Huerta de la Partida, the old Royal Palace is now a modern interpretation of the orchard and a wide variety of fruit trees in groups, formed from skipping ranks. For the Arganzuela Park, the dominating motive is the water. The canalized and damped river Manzanares is surrounded by his architectonical walls. The different streams have their own characters.

Puentes Cascara, sevring as bridges and iconic landmark, creates a place where the river is really experienced. They are designed as a massive concrete dome with a rough texture which have the scale of park elements with more than one hundred cables resembling whale baleens wearing the slim steel deck and the ceilings of a mosaic by artist Daniel Canogar.

The first parts of the project were completed in spring 2007 and in spring 2011 the project has approached its completion.
Arganzuela Park and the Salon de Pinos are connected by two slow traffic bridges, the Cascara Bridges.

Article & Images Source: West 8