Vilamarina Housing Complex Faces a Self-Irrigating Park Outside of Barcelona

<a href="http://www.batlleiroig.com/" target="_blank">Batlle i Roig</a>’s colorful Vilamarina Building is a complex of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nowa-huta-is-a-sustainable-city-of-the-future-that-combines-urban-and-agricultural-areas/" target="_blank">mixed-use developments</a> on the edge of a lush self-irrigating park. With functional and decorative blue and green screens on each of the ten towers’ facades, the complex connects the area of Viledecans, Barcelona with the railway station. The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/new-master-plan-for-north-carolinas-research-triangle-park-will-stress-sustainable-development/" target="_blank">miniature neighborhood is self-sufficient</a>, combining retail space, residences, recreation and an expansive green park for the residents to enjoy.

The growing area of Viladecans was once hampered due to the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/meixi-lake-city-kohn-pedersen-fox-designs-a-water-centric-pop-up-city-for-china/" target="_blank">lowlands and waterways</a> that meander through the area.

With Batlle i Roig’s plan, the once unusable waterways were transformed into public space, by creating a series of elevated pedestrian walkways that emulate parkland. With the boardwalks, unused green spaces were also activated, as they became accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists. Ground level paths were also created, rising and falling with the natural terrain. Each path connects an amphitheatre, a showground, a playground, picnic areas and aromatic garden.

Batlle i Roig planted a series of trees to line the walkways, and connecting the mountainous region that borders the town on one side, with the expansive agricultural park on the other, which slopes in a gentle green hill into a valley.

The park valley was fitted with a rainwater collecting hydraulic system that <a href="http://inhabitat.com/former-director-of-nyc-dept-of-city-planning-says-giant-rotterdam-style-floodgates-could-protect-nyc-from-the-next-superstorm/" target="_blank">filters and directs rainwater</a>, as well as irrigates the plant life throughout.

The Vilamarina Building complex overlooks this agricultural valley. With a three storey mixed-use retail hub as its base, ten residential towers rise out of the complex, capped with open air terraces that overlook the valley or the mountains.

The complex provides its residents with a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/broadway-malyan-unveils-plan-for-convida-suape-a-sustainable-city-for-northeast-brazil/" target="_blank">self-sustaining parkland</a>, reactivating formerly unused space, while also connecting them to a transit system to connect them with the greater Barcelona area.