Lanzarote Dynamic Square | Stratigrafie c.arch

CONCEPT
The idea of realizing a public space on an isle like Lanzarote is very challenging. On one side there is the city of Arrecife, an urban development overflowing of contructions with very fews green areas and its typical white buildings. On the other side you can find the rich natural habitat that pervades Lanzarote: the vivid greens of the vegetation with the typical cactus, the brownish reds and ligthing warm yellows of the sands, the grey blacks of the volcanic stones and, of course, the deep blues of the seas.
From this conflict the concept for the proposal of the new Plaza de l’Almacen has brought out: a project with the intent to create a complex system of stratified layers.

MORPHOLOGICAL PATTERN OF THE PLAZA
The plaza has two main features: to be part of the urban morphology of Arrecife, to call back the richness of the nature of Lanzarote. It’s a mixture of geometrical and formal shapes (the wall and the terraces create a mirrored relation with the Almacen building) with an urban flooring that dwells with the landscapes, its materials and its colours: the greys and the yellows of the territory dwells with the wide, non permanent, stretch of water that evokes the maritime nature of the site.

FLEXIBLE BUT SUSTAINABLE
The aim of the proposal is to create an integrated architecture, flexible and multipurpose. If this strategy has influence on the construction costs, otherwise it will mitigate the future management costs for the several usages of the plaza.
The bars can be used permanently, but they are structural elements to aid the exteriors ladders, and they become also a landmark.
The geometry of the terraces and the wall (choosen to be permanent and “founding” for the entire design of the plaza) has be designed with a strong relation to the environment and the sun path; it’s a mitigator for the urban noise, an efficient tool to guarantee shaded living areas all the day long without blocking the natural ventilation of the site.
The terraces can host people, but during the day they are collectors of solar energy, the wall produces shade, but is also a noise mitigator and a photocathalitic tool that eats cars pollution.
The area of the plaza its a void ready to host events, exhibitons and the market, but it’s also a water playground and a natural tool to refresh the air.

VEGETATION
The important work of César Manrique has influenced the proposal and the idea of the vegetation to be used for the plaza. So together with the inplant of local palms the plaza hosts a rich number of cactus.