“Ecopolis” Complex in Valencia, Spain / by Luis de Garrido

Given the achievements in the design of “The Llum” to Manhattan, Luis de Garrido continued to explore their ideas for a new sustainable habitat, and offered the city of Valencia management an important area of â€‹â€‹the city: the area between City of Arts and Sciences and the neighborhood of Nazareth (Ecopolis Complex).

The aim is to show the citizens of Valencia as it can get a very high urban use (or whatever it is, the same business opportunity), but based on some premises 100% sustainable. Therefore Luis de Garrido offered a sort based on types of houses half-buried (up to 4 levels), and a skyscraper of 501 m. high.

The group achieved the same levels of urban exploitation that currently has the general urban development plan for the same area of â€‹â€‹the city of Valencia.

The aim of the new urban area proposed for this part of town basically consists of the nearly extinct orchard retake Valencia. Luis de Garrido therefore proposes a communication route that connects north-south access of the city to the south. In this way arise from winding shaft, a set of low-rise buildings and longitudinal half-buried in an east-west. The set looks like tree branches or growth of ferns … …

The buildings are partially buried in the north and south facades show, which gives it its bioclimatic extreme, and ensures that the resulting homes need no heating or air conditioning. On the other hand, half-buried the whole area is used for vehicular traffic roads, running in bike, pedestrian circulation, while serving as a parking space for residents of the area.

Thus, a citizen who travels through the south side of the river Turia would not see any building except a skyscraper. Only sinuous dunes would be visible green spaces and gardens …. And give the feeling there is nothing built. The same impression would be observed if the set from the air because the buildings are covered with gardens. The same land that is extracted to build, is the land needed to build the depth of the northern area of â€‹â€‹each set. Only the southern part of the whole glazed openings make it possible to observe the half-buried buildings.

The resulting organization tries to educate the citizen that the scarcest resource we have is the territory and to order the old strategies become obsolete every day, and only serve to channel the speculation and the business of the city, but not to satisfy the needs of citizens and the planet.