New sustainable and useful urban uses for the Delicias area

Source:  nebrija.com

The practical application in real cases of the theoretical concepts acquired in the classroom is part of the DNA of Nebrija University, which has the learning by doing methodology as its flagship.

An example of this is the latest project carried out in the Advanced Urban Planning Workshop of the Master's Degree in Architecture. The students of this subject have carried out a research and analysis of the areas of opportunity or vacant spaces in the area of Delicias, in Madrid, to make urban design proposals and to be able to give a new use to these spaces that is more useful for society. These proposals have been made from a" context of energy transition, stimulating new alternatives through a sustainable and productive development of these opportunity spaces", explain professors Alexandra Delgado, director of the Advanced Urban Planning Workshop, Juan Tur and Edzo Bindels, architects of the West 8 studio and also directors of the Advanced Urban Planning Workshop.

"The area of study and intervention will be an area of 20 hectares in the surroundings of the current Railway Museum, the former Delicias Station, with special attention to the vacant spaces surrounded by a dense and complex city. It can be considered one of the few spaces of opportunity within the Calle 30 or M-30 in a dense urban context, with the peculiarity that it allows at the same time a dialogue with the industrial and infrastructural past of the south of Madrid, in an area that is currently booming".

The aim of this project is to "establish a new model of productive mixed-use settlement, for work and residence, linked to innovation around renewable energies, and which could become a benchmark for a sustainable and integrated neighbourhood within the urban landscape of the consolidated city that surrounds it".

Present at the presentations of the proposals, which were carried out by the students in working groups, were - in addition to the workshop directors - Mariano Fuentes, delegate of the Sustainable Urban Development Area of Madrid City Council, and Daniel González, architect and technical advisor to the delegate of Sustainable Urban Development.

Edzo Bindels thanked Mariano Fuentes for "dedicating some time to the work of our students" and highlighted how interesting the area chosen for the proposals was from the point of view of urban planning and architecture. It is an area where pedestrian and bicycle areas are very present and it is necessary to include this in all the proposals because "the aim is that bikes, pedestrians, cars and public transport can coexist".

Alexandra Delgado also said that "energy transition strategies are very present in all the proposals because we must design our future by introducing nature into cities".

The students' proposals included designs to connect the green axis of this area of Delicias and the cycling route of the green ring with the centre of the metropolitan area of Madrid. They also included new cultural and sports buildings and the creation of sustainable urban facades taking into account the carbon footprint generated and the life that already takes place in this neighbourhood.

The delegate of the Sustainable Urban Development Area of the Madrid City Council was very satisfied with all the proposals because of the thorough prior analysis they had carried out of the area. According to Fuentes, all the proposals were very realistic because "you have understood very well the longitudinal nexus of this project and the connection with the rest of the city". For Fuentes, participating as a member of the jury for these presentations was a reminder of his years in the university classrooms and his enthusiasm for creating something that would leave its mark and be useful to society.