Oliva’s City Council and the Ministry of Housing today led a guided visit to the “Els Rajolars“ area of the city for participants in the project presented by Oliva and aimed at young architects, EUROPAN 15: Els Rajolars Resilient Regeneration.
We must remember the opportunity that this competition represents, both for the young architects participating, in terms of their professional development – just like any project that gives them opportunities and international reach – and for Oliva’s City Council, in terms of finding innovative architectural and urban responses to the new challenges ahead.
Around 40 young architects interested in Oliva’s project participated in the visit, of which 25 have already formally registered, which means that, at the moment, Oliva’s is the project with second highest number of architects interested in participating of all those involved in this edition of EUROPAN 15.
The Municipality of Oliva (as an associate), together with the regional Ministry of Housing, Public Works and Territorial infrastructure (as promoter), commit to working with EUROPAN to propose a new model for the city that addresses future challenges, to tackle territorial and urban planning, taking into account ideas and proposals from the owners of the affected properties, along with the citizens, social agents, productive sectors and specialists in different disciplines. In other words, it is keen to stimulate debate on the proposed area in the hopes of generating innovative ideas that lead to new urban dynamics.
Oliva’s proposal is entitled Els Rajolars: Resilient Regeneration, and involves the regeneration of the southern edge of the urban centre to improve its connection to the rest of the urban fabric of the town. The area covers 177,398 m². The objective is to transform the run-down area through urban innovation that respects the identity of the place and its environment, establishing a productive fabric within the city, that is adequately connected, and takes into account principles such as economic and environmental sustainability, respect for architectural heritage and engineering, diversification of compatible uses, non-motorised mobility, the appropriate governance of the adopted system, innovation in high-performance vocational training and citizen participation.
This competition commits the city council to the subsequent hiring of the winning team, so, initially and pending its result, it proposes the drafting of a Master Plan for Urban Development of the Els Rajolars Zone that addresses the essential issues surrounding the main objective, the manner in which it can be carried out and the possibility of its initial implementation via a flagship project, hence the suggested establishment of a high-performance vocational training centre. Always taking into account the requests of the local society and valuing quick viability and the creation of an economic stimulus for the city.
EUROPAN is a European federation of national structures that organise biannual competitions for architects under 40 years of age involving urban architectural projects, followed by projects or studies.
Its main objective is bifold: to help young professionals to develop their ideas and gain prominence on the European and international scene, and to assist the public administrations of the participating sites in obtaining architectural and urban know-how. This edition revolves around the idea of the productive city, which includes concepts such as the sustainable city, the saving of resources, new mobility, and the enhancement of natural spaces. The outcome of the contest is scheduled for November, with its announcement on 2 December 2019.