Plaça Elisa Antonella
Location: BarcelonaYear: 2022
Client: BIMSA
Surface: 541 m2
Status: In process
Més description, Team, and Advisors
The Elisa Antonella Square project is a proposal that seeks to offer an inclusive playground where all children can play with each other. For ease of orientation within the playing area, the program is organised in bands.
- Team: Més arquitectura
- Advisors: Chiara Prandini (architect), CVC Ingenieros (engineer), Lil'structures (structural design).
Located on infrastructure
Plaça Elisa Antonella is located on a concrete slab surrounded by heavy traffic roads. The slab covers the Travessera de Dalt tunnel between Carrer Escorial and Ca l’Alegre de Dalt. The intervention seeks to enhance socialization in public space by connecting the playground with the existing avenue through pedestrian circulation and vegetation.
The new playground aims to provide an accessible space where children with and without functional diversity can play together.
Urban design strategy
Inside the playground, a new language of curved lines and colors is introduced, bringing a new sensory experience within the city. Existing urban elements on the outside are recovered and integrated, such as the tiles that are used on the perimetral walls.
The perimeter is protected with vegetation allowing visual contact with the environment. To make the transition between the existing park and the children’s playground smooth and intuitive, paths from both areas are connected.
Before and after
On April 9, 2023, the Spanish newspaper El Periódico did an extensive report on the new 10 totally accessible playgrounds in Barcelona with a graphic material comparing the sites before and after the project. Elisa Antonella playground is one of the project featured in the article.
Photo of current state
Proposal image by Binil arquitectura.
Bands and sensorial experience
For ease of orientation within the park, the proposal organises the program in bands. In the shortest side, the most dynamic activities take place in the center and in the back, away from traffic, while the quieter games take place on the perimeter and at the entrance. In both long sides, activity is organised by a sequence of greenery at the perimeter, an accessible path and a playing area, providing accessibility throughout the area, while guiding children and carers through different experiences.
The choice of the vegetation responds to the will to offer different textures, colours and smells through the seasons, so 4 in total. Each one is connected to a quality: introspection, creativity, movement and exploration, encouraging a healthy development.
Totally accessible children’s playground
A participatory process was held during the design process, involving families and organisations linked to the Nexe Foundation, which helps children with functional diversity. Thanks to the co-creation sessions with carers and families like Marie-Pierre‘s one, special elements such as a changing table, a hanger for mobiles and accessible benches – inside – and a fountain and a bin – in the exterior- were added .
Playful, diverse and inclusive space
