Unparelld'arquitectes

摘要

The city of Olot, 100km north-east of Barcelona, is nestled in a field of sleeping volcanoes. The streets wind around the feet of four of them, pushed around their steep slopes. The last volcano erupted over 11,000 years ago, but the medieval town was destroyed in a series of earthquakes around 1428. Despite the danger, the city remained, farming the soils fertilised by the ancient ash and mining the craters for volcanic rock. The city has been steadily accreting and evolving since its rebuilding after the earthquakes in the 15th century. Most recently, the local government has turned its attention to revitalising the city's squares, around which the urban fabric revolves. Olot-based practice Unparell'darquitectes were first approached in 2015 to breathe new life into Placa Sant Miquel, a square developed in the 1980s along the road leading north-east to Girona. 'The city has traditionally been "dressed" during popular festivities,' practice founders Eduard Callis and Guillem Moliner explain, 'lining facades with damasks, carpeting the streets with flowers.' A playful Postmodern concrete-block amphitheatre and pergola structure are decorated with scalloped patterns, strung like bunting across steps and walls, while a geometric painted 'carpet' was unfurled across the large square: 'domesticating' the square to generate an outdoor 'community room'.