As a structural part of the project, the proposal developed by Ordaz Estudio de Arquitectura used various stone cuts from Alhama de Almería, resulting in a large paving carpet composed of a multitude of random shapes that created an interesting geometric composition.
Under the existing leafy trees, the renovation incorporated new seating areas, combining stone furniture and ornamental vegetation. In this way, the tree pits became central elements, giving way to large planters with shrubs and flowers that added color to the project. The proposal was completed with a series of tall, freestanding poles and spotlights with different optics that strategically illuminated and highlighted the paving and facades.
Constitution Square Urban Development Project in Almería by Ordaz Estudio de Arquitectura. Photography by Fernando Alda.
Project description by Ordaz Estudio de Arquitectura
Historical Background
The current Plaza Vieja (Old Square) or Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square) was the oldest square in the city during the Muslim era. At that time, it had an irregular shape and served as the city's main market.
After a period of prosperity, it was abandoned for centuries until 1842, when construction began on the town hall and the entire porticoed square as we know it today. These works were completed in 1912, giving the square its current configuration. This intervention generated a new, continuous facade with a classical and genuinely Spanish layout for the Plaza Mayor. This layout was formalized by a three-story bay with basket-shaped arches on the ground floor and balconies on the upper floors. All of this extended like a veil over the uneven complex of old domestic and municipal buildings.
In 1988, this space was redeveloped, adding two currently protected elements to the complex: a replica of a monument commemorating the "Pronunciamiento de Almería o de los Coloraos," located in the center of the current plaza, as well as a series of trees surrounding the monument.
General description and justification of the proposal
The new intervention aims to harmoniously integrate the protected preexisting elements, combining the beautiful geometric modulation of the built complex with the random arrangement of the vegetation.
In this context, the design responds to a plaza in which the pavement forms a large carpet, the fragmentation of which constitutes a series of basic figures that function as a flexible frame that allows for the integration of other, more random forms.
The intervention links ornamental vegetation and seating areas to each of the leafy trees, thus taking advantage of the shaded areas. In this way, the tree pits become large planters with shrubs and flowers that bring color and lightness to the intervention. The benches are made of stone pieces that reproduce the geometry of the pavement.
The use of different cuts of stone from Alhama de Almería allows for the generation of a pixelated shape that forms a figure: the symbolic Sol de Villalán, a characteristic of the city. This figure cannot be seen from the square itself, but rather from the surrounding roofs. The intention is for the figure to be intuited, like a shadow when squinting, an additional attraction of the proposal, avoiding literalism or immediacy in its appreciation.
The various interventions carried out on the buildings surrounding the square over the last 12 years have generated a situation of heterogeneity in the configuration and finishes of the perimeter gallery.
The developed proposal included a uniform treatment of this gallery, through the incorporation of a wooden ceiling that unifies the areas that retain their old ceilings with the newly built houses with concrete slabs.
The lighting is focused on a series of tall, isolated poles. These incorporate projectors with different optics to illuminate pavements and facades.
