Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo
12/04/2016.
by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez [Traspinedo] Spain.
metalocus, ALVARO LAMAS
metalocus, ALVARO LAMAS
Traspinedo is a small village located along Ribera del Duero. It’s named after the lush pine forests that surround it, complemented by the mighty Duero and the hills built by the depression of the valley.
General view. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail bench. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail slate bench. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail drinking fountain. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Triangle piece view. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Plaza Mayor and Church view. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail bench. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
General view. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail floor. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail road. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail bench and church. Plaza Maor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail olive tree. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail drinking fountain. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Slate bench. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Genaral view. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Detail olive tree and bench. Plaza Maor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez. Photography © Óscar Miguel Ares.
Location plan. Plaza Mayor of Traspinedo by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez.
The reform of the square held by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez was recently awarded the IX Prize of Architecture and Urbanism of the Castilla and Leon in the category of Design of urban spaces, gardening and landscaping. Square aims to concentrate all the natural resources that surround the village being a representative of the same canvas.
Description of the project by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez
The requested project was to remodel the town square in a town of just over one thousand inhabitants. Lack of character, the town hall was little more than a wide degraded street. It was necessary to act in order to provide the place with the representation and the multifunctional space required for festivities.
With one single material, slate, all needs were satisfied: The cobbles, natural textures, recall the plain of the valley and serve as place for activities; a wide line consisting in four centimeters saw cut plates, metaphor of the fast-flowing Duero, serves at the same time as a space limit, a bench and a fountain; a triangular surface, drawn by six centimeters thick polished plates, symbolizes the nearby hills and makes the function of dividing element between pedestrian and vehicular traffic as well as children’s area; wood boards rest on a block of slate which serve as seats surround the olive tree rooted in the landscape before the reform. We dare define this project as a symbolic, stone natured and poetic memory of the people of Traspinedo, resolute in its small Town Square.
More information
Architect
Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez
Collaborators
Bárbara Arranz González, Jesús J. Ruiz Alonso, Mario Rabanillo
Construction site supervision
DO.Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez /DE Javier Palomero Alonso
Contractor
Mestolaya SL
Date
2013
Area
1200sqm
OSCAR MIGUEL ARES
Óscar Miguel Ares. Valladolid, 1972. Archtiect from School of Architecture of Valladolid, in 1998. In 2010, he obtained the title of Doctor from the University of Valladolid - for the thesis "GATEPAC 1928-1939" - being his tutor Mr. Juan Antonio Cortés. Since 2013 he is professor of design at the ETS de Arquitectura de Valladolid. He has collaborated, as visiting professor, at ETSA La Salle (Ramón Lluch University, Barcelona), at San Pablo CEU University (Valladolid) and at the School of Design at Al Ghurari University (Dubai, UAE).
His texts and works on architectural criticism have been published in different publications as well as by the composition and projects departments of the ETSA Madrid, UPC in Barcelona –with whom he has assiduously collaborated as editor in the publication DC Papers-, ETSA in Seville and ETSA Cartagena. He has given conferences and lectures in Helsinki, Mexico City, Porto, Pamplona, Barcelona, Madrid or Seville. Author of the book: "Alternative Modernity. Transits of form in Spanish architecture (1930-1936)" University of Valladolid (2016).
Since March 2012 he has been carrying out his professional work alone, together with the architect Bárbara Arranz, under the Contextos de Arquitectura y Urbanismo brand. As an architect he has won various competitions, his work being awarded at the XIV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism 2018; work exhibited in the Spanish Pavilion of the XII Biennale di Venezia (May 2021); selected in XI Biennial of Ibero-American Architecture of Architecture and Urbanism Paraguay (October 2019); finalist in the 2018 FAD Awards; finalist in the 2017 Spanish Architecture Awards; selected Enor Awards (2020), Awarded with the American Architecture Prize (New York, 2017, Bilbao 2019); Awarded with the International Architecture Awards 2018 granted by The Chicago Athenaeum / Europeen (Athens, 2018); Awarded with The Plan Award, (Venice 2018, Milan 2019); more than a dozen awards and mentions at the Castilla y León Architecture Awards (2009, 2011, 2016, 2018 and 2020), as well as awarded at the Castilla y León Sustainable Construction Awards (2017 and 2018). His works have been published in numerous national and international magazines, including METALOCUS, Domus, Arquitectura Viva, Tectónica, Hic Arquitectura or Baumeister, On Diseño and he has exhibited in Madrid, Seville, Venice, Paris and New York.
Director, together with Anna and Eugeni Bach, of the XV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, "Empty Spain / Full Spain; conciliation strategies", forming part of the different juries of the awarded categories.
2016 
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