City, nature and sea

Parc de Diagonal Mar, set in the new Fòrum Barcelona on a disused factory site, is spread over 14 hectares that branch out in different directions, merging with the city and creating a very open, natural space.

Each part links with the others in a kind of puzzle through paths which also branch out and with the help of some very large benches that remind you of the sea’s waves.

The park was the brainchild of the husband-and-wife team of architects Benedetta Tagliabue and Enric Miralles. It opened in 2002 and marked the culmination of their idea of innovative and sustainable architecture.

Contemporary wetlands

According to people who worked with them, the day they visited the site it had rained and it was covered by pools of water and seagulls. That image immediately gave them the idea of creating a space that would evoke wetlands. A place where the green of the grass and plants would mix with the blue of the water in the big lake, the pools and the fountains, producing a fusion of colours right across the park.

A raised tubular structure, like a spider’s web and spreading out in all directions, watches over the park. Here and there this moving line coils round suspended plant plots in a style reminiscent of Gaudí’s organic architecture. This tube contains the water that, apart from irrigating the whole park, unites the different parts: a large kids’ play area, wavy tubular structures, a large central square, etc.

This immense sunny, open, accessible space makes Parc de Diagonal Mar the ideal place for walking, doing some sport, playing or even sailing some small model boats.