The port of Barcelona is an infrastructure that, over its history, has only faced the sea and it has served to what came and left here. One symbol of this place is the Statue of Columbus, right at the end of the Ramblas, that points with its index into the direction of the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, the expansion of the Port of Barcelona into the logistic zone might allow the Port Vell to face the city and be colonized by the citizens. This is the time to renaturalize the space, to fill it with life, so that neighbours can not only visit it, but use it and enjoy it.
Can you imagine the port changing into an urban park with a lake in the middle? A park that can be enjoyed by the inhabitants of Ciutat Vella, Poble Sec, the Raval, or Barceloneta? A park that connects Montjuic, Ciutadella, and the beaches? A park to take a walk, to run, to practice sports, a park with beaches to swim and islands to practice surf or canoe? A space full of leisure, culture, biodiversity, and relaxation where the water is the perimeter. Then, welcome to “Parc Blau” by ON-A.
The Statue of Columbus pointing to the sea.
The evolution of the Port from 1974 up to now, and public accessibility from Port Vell or Port-Ciutat perimeter.
We propose to transform the Statue of Columbus using AR technology in a big tree which is going to be the symbol of accessibility from the Ramblas to this new park (Parc Blau). The project includes transforming an iconic monument that is located there to be observed and that only looks at the sea and commemorates colonization that occurred a long time ago into a symbol of new colonization. The Colon-iser Tree, an image of the openness of the port to the city, is an element full of biodiversity that all citizens can enjoy and visit.
Overlap of the Colon-iser Tree vs the Statue of Columbus.
The Colon-iser Tree represents a big holm oak, the most representative tree of Catalonia.
As part of the intervention, we propose two points of visualization, one for totems of information and one for QR codes leading to AR visual displays. Point 1 will face the Statue of Columbus from the Ramblas, Point 2 faces the statue from the port towards the Ramblas.
View from Point 1 (Ramblas-Port) and view from Point 2 (Port-Ramblas).
View from Point 1 (Ramblas-Port) and view from Point 2 (Port-Ramblas).
During the festival, participants will see the transformation of this space, dominated by the Statue of Columbus on one side and the Colon-iser Tree on the other. This big structure has elevated platforms for everyone, is full of biodiversity, and serves as a door and viewpoint for the new park called Parc Blau.
Augmented-Reality view from Point 1
Augmented-Reality view from Point 2
