Diagonal Mar (the Diagonal seafront district), a new district has sprung up and recently become an integral part of the Barcelona city. The district consists of residential areas, hotels and a modern shopping complex, as well as the new Centre Internacional de Convencions (International Convention Centre). The auditorium can host up to 3,200 people, making it the largest capacity conference facility in southern of Europe. The key element in the area is the Diagonal Mar Park, not just because of its 14 hectare site, but due to its design and characteristics.

The park was designed by the architect Enric Miralles, and combines the element of water with plants and a series of tubular structures on different levels, comprising an extraordinary ensemble which is ideal for a quiet stroll and where children can enjoy the large-scale play area. The 36 million-euro park is the third largest in Barcelona. This was the site of the first Universal Forum of Cultures held in 2004, involving debates, themed exhibitions and the World Festival of the Arts. By hosting this international event, it gave Barcelona a chance to revitalize decaying parts of the city infrastructure.

This land was an ex-industrial district. Diagonal Mar Park is a large urban redevelopment project centered on Barcelona’s famous ‘Avenue Diagonal’ near where the avenue meets the sea. This project raised questions about what was appropriate for an urban park. The discrepancy between brief and site required a preliminary exercise to invent an identity. The park and the later de-commissioned Civic Centre were conceived as a set of building forms hovering above a continuous landscape. A number of walls, resemble of nearby facades, are elevated above the ground, articulating the site and the surrounding housing blocks.

Diagonal-Mar Park is not the typical urban park with trees, lush lawns and colorful flower beds. Enric Miralles designed it as an open space that acts as a link, a gateway, between the city and the Mediterranean. It symbolizes a tree that was born from the sea and that branches out into an open hand, representing the different paths that we humans walk throughout our lives. The architects carried out a photographic survey of the area that provided a record of habitual imagery and an action register (for example ‘graffiti’ and ‘skating’), and revealed generic construction elements, such as cheap decorative ceramic.

The time needed to grow immature plants inspired a notion of artificial vegetation. Masses of vibrant color in the original sketches gain depth in their built form of colored cast concrete, creating areas of artificial life that organize the site into a number of activity areas. Artificial puddles, suggestive of local irrigation systems, are given a naturalistic appearance through a sprinkler system that stimulates intermittent rain. Cast concrete elements resembling graffiti, hung at a high level, which provide sheltered routes, compensating for the absence of trees. This literal translation of an imagined wonderland entailed an engineering effort that challenged pre-cast concrete technology.

35-acre Diagonal Mar Park is featuring three lakes, pedestrian walkways, bicycle and skating paths, three children’s play areas, a dog walk area and multiple water features. The Park combines hotel, retail, housing and offices into one planned community covering the equivalent of 15 city blocks. The Diagonal Mar Park is also viewed by some as an urban development disaster, although ironically winning an Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence. Criticism of the park stems from its perceived lack of human use and its barren surroundings.