On a barren stretch of land, the site of a former sewage water treatment plant, an open steel grid stands. Making one's way up the approach road from its lower inclination, one encounters the grid framing a ramp. Following the ramp's slope, characterised by a minimal design and striking red railing, is a children’s playscape, with distinctive green barrel vaults in the background. The playground is framed with a steel structure, lending it a sense of movement. Beyond the green barrel vaults that stand out from the tree cover, Mallabia’s built fabric peeks through. The barrel-vaulted structure, like most of the sculptural forms on site, doesn't seem to serve a function. All the vaults seem to be for providing cover, while becoming a distinguishing element for the landscape design of the new Zubitegi Sports Park by Spanish architecture studio, BEAR.

With the design for the public park, the architects not only hoped to add to the public infrastructure of the city, providing a space for play and rest but also to recover the depleted natural landscape along the Zubitegi stream. Moving beyond the barrel vaults, the journey upwards finally culminates in a circular terrace, from which visitors can look over the site. The use of primary shapes and simple forms for the design conceals an otherwise radical approach to the architecture. The configuration of these subtle design elements also adds a sense of dynamism to the site plan for the sports infrastructure project.

From the roundabout, another ramp, parallel to the first one, descends. So the journey repeats. As the design team elaborates in an official release, the project is structured around the idea of “generating an accessible network of paths and connections that provide a new network of friendly paths for people". Further, these networks of paths that cross through the park generate a new connection between Mallabia’s urban landscape and the greenery beyond. The two ramps defining the spatial boundaries of the park provide an accessible design for visitors with reduced mobility.

Within the park's open space, different paved sections define the spaces for seating and play. Here, furniture and play equipment can be arranged in different configurations for many different uses as well as accounting for future purposes. According to the architects, the decision to design an open system for the park that functions less like a building and more as a space that facilitates interaction and engagement among visitors was inspired by Cedric Price’s design principles. The flexible and endlessly adaptable architectural form of the project reinterprets the British architect’s unbuilt design for the Fun Palace as they mention in the official release.

Moreover, the park’s design with the use of vibrant colours for minute design elements and an overall industrial design bearing brings to mind Price’s playful and disruptive aesthetics. Adopting a flexible approach to the design provided the design team with an opportunity to "think of an adaptive and gradual strategy from which to address a unique sports use that structures the southern part of the municipality and adds value and appeal to the region," note the architects. The use of simple elements, merely a steel grid, some ramps, defined pathways and distinctive barrel vaults create an open system for play, to be interpreted at will by the local community while acting as a bridge between the natural and the built.

Extending the idea of adaptable and modular designs, the structures created by the Spanish architects for the public park, what they term 'living infrastructure for the territory' were constructed using an industrialised dry construction method. With a focus on modularity for the elements, the designers wanted to ensure the project would reduce the impact on the ground, opting for lightweight foundations. Elaborating on their sustainable approach to design, "A construction is proposed that minimises demolitions and is capable of recycling what has been demolished in the form of gravel or aggregates for pavements,” they mention.

"Open program, time, open project, rotundity, clarity, geometry, structure, more structure, infrastructure,” the architects write, delineating the project’s conceptual underpinnings in verse form. The open infrastructure of the park, which functions as a condenser of leisure and sport for Mallabia, exemplifies an approach to architecture that is at once playful and serious. Considering the land regeneration while providing the local community with accessible public spaces, the park underscores Price’s tenets for architecture: low-cost, lightweight, open and spirited; leaving space for the people and endless possibilities of ownership. After all, “Technique is the answer. But what was the question? It is not a leisure centre. It is not a sports centre. Could it be a park? It can be an anti-building.”

Project Details

Name: ZUBITEGI KIROL PARKEA
Location: Mallabia, Spain
Client: Mallabiako Udala- Mallabia City Council
Design Team: Jaime Gutierrez, Itziar Molinero, Arthur Debelle, Julene Larrea
Collaborators:
Landscape: SOIL
Structure consultant: MECANISMO