Study of the civic and road connection in the orchards of Sant Bertran, port of Barcelona

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to present a study / research entitled "On the waterfront" conducted for Barcelona Regional, on the civic connection (extending the urban plot of Poble Sec to the sea) and road (modification of the Carbonera and urbanization of the land of the Ronda Litoral in the passage through the Morrot). This work is part of a series of 12 works commissioned by B.R on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Rondas. The objective of the study is to rediscover the identity of the place and the maritimitat the uses that must configure the future civic and urban space of the Muelle de Sant Bertran, at the foot of the Morrot.

Have been built 34 records of elements, buildings, situations, existing (in general re-programmed), never built or disappeared. What Montalbán calls the soloists of the heart, those elements that at one time have configured a space, fundamental activity in the life of the port (the floating Maritime club on the quay of Barcelona in 1906 or the restaurant “Mar i Cel” at the lighthouse of the port in 1926) and that like so many others have disappeared due to speculation, other priorities or simply ignorance of the value that buildings have sometimes had insignificant but very important in the memory of the people.

Have been proposed 6 actions to generate a "multidimensional" city, a place with potential to generate multiple maritime activities, more closed, a place in evolution:

- Re-Program the Sant Bertran Warehouse in the Mar school and the Post building in social housing

- Re-inhabit the port. Bring Poble Sec to the front line

- Re-Urbanize the Port, eliminate fences, recover public space full of activities

- Re-Define the profile of the waterfront, compatible with nautical activities

- Re-Naturalize the platform released by the underground of the Rondas

- Re-Connect the swallow circuits, the streets of Poble Sec and Miramar

The problems that the port currently has can be summarized from the categories that we have deduced from the Typological Port Atlas:

1. The new buildings are functionally specialized, have no mix of uses and therefore serve a specific activity, difficult to reprogram, with limited hours, and isolated from public access.

2. They are not systemic buildings, connected to transport networks.

3. They are not hybrid morphology buildings.

4. Low architectural quality of public buildings.

5. Low quality of the port buildings: the last constructions that can be considered to be of good quality to be preserved are the Sant Bertran ships.

6. No accessibility to port infrastructures. The port is totally sectored and isolated from the city.

7. Low quality of public spaces. If in 1988 and 1929 the city configured the port, today it is a free territory, a place for transport vehicles, large roundabouts, customs, and total absence of walks.

8. Maritime profile that does not allow to approach the water.

9. Discontinuity in the circuits. Currently the cable car is a means of transportation for tourists, as are the swallows that make an open circuit, with no stops. Now the swallow announces as the means to "see Barcelona from the sea" or go to "see the cruises".