Inspired Architecture III: This is how a lost natural space has been resurrected in Pontevedra

Embraced by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and protected to the east by the Serra da Groba mountain range, the area of Pontevedra known as "the horizon" reveals itself as a privileged topographic enclave: a prominent granite mass rising above the coastal plain. This natural feature has historically shaped both the shape of the landscape and the way humans have inhabited it. The structure of the territory can be interpreted through its cross-section: from Mount Torroso, the terrain descends steeply towards the ocean, crossing a narrow, intensely anthropized coastal strip that reveals the passage of time and the imprint of past generations . The patiently constructed agricultural terraces form a geometry that speaks to human adaptation to the relief, the collective effort to domesticate the land and make it fertile. The granite material descends steeply, giving rise to a complex orography, until it reaches the inhabited area. There, the topography softens and folds, generating optimal conditions for cultivation.

In 1994, during the widening of the PO-553 highway, the natural profile of the coast was drastically altered . The "horizon" was filled with debris from the road construction, creating a large artificial platform: the so-called horizon esplanade. This intervention resulted in a radical disruption of the natural section, an irreversible impoverishment of the soil, and the loss of the memory of the place. What was once a landscape full of meaning was buried under rubble . However, the memory remained latent.

This project began as a commission to create a public park , taking as its starting point this large esplanade located in Pontevedra , specifically in Portecelo, O Rosal. However, the work process exceeded the initial limits of the assignment. During fieldwork, it became evident that the esplanade was a hostile space : contaminated and compacted soil, covered in invasive species, and with completely inefficient drainage. As we explored the site, local residents, intrigued by the continuous visits and measurements, began to approach us. They shared memories, anecdotes, childhood games among the rocks, stories of salt mines, hiding places, and makeshift cabins. In the area, dormant for decades, a collective memory began to awaken.

Thus, the initial objective—to build a park—evolved into a much deeper purpose: to recover the original coastal section , restore the continuity between the mountain and the sea, and return to the site its form, its memory, and its dignity. The proposal was then to redesign the territorial section, not from a technical abstraction, but rather from the vocabulary of the place: traditional agricultural terraces. The functional program was divided into different levels or terraces that would accommodate the various uses of the park, organized according to their intensity and connected by ramps and stairs that allowed for fluid circulation and a constant view of the ocean.

Projecting toward the landscape also means allowing oneself to be transformed by it. As the work progressed, the excavation revealed the ancient granite slabs hidden beneath the artificial fill. Terrace by terrace, more than 420 square meters of bedrock were uncovered. This discovery triggered an unexpected emotional process. Neighbors, pilgrims, and visitors approached with curiosity and respect to contemplate the stone masses that had once again seen the light of day after half a century. There was something sacred in this reopening, as if the place were regaining its breath. The architectural gesture was doubly careful. Each discovered rock was cleaned, respected, and enhanced. Up to 11 different versions of the original plan were drawn to adapt to the new morphologies of the terrain, generating a sensitive dialogue between the rectilinear walls—built on-site—and the free, sculptural forms of the slabs. The entire process was almost artisanal, executed on-site, where the design doesn't impose but measures, observes, and accompanies.

Plant regeneration , for its part, was not understood as an immediate solution, but rather as a patient and adaptive process. The highly degraded soil required a strategy of gradual recovery. It began with the planting of pioneer herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees that improve the soil structure, but whose presence is temporary. These species prepare the ground so that, over the years, other, more robust species can take over, brought in by the wind, birds , or the ecological dynamics of the environment. There is no irrigation, no apparent order, no ornamental flowers. Only a series of initial conditions from which time and land create their own garden.

The park's pavements and walls were designed with different grain sizes of local granite, seeking to blend with the solidity and texture of the slabs. In contrast, lightweight elements such as playground equipment, benches, and lighting appear to float above the rock , without touching it, as if seeking permission from the site. The geometry adapts to the topography until it once again reaches the natural elevation of the terrain, without artifice or impositions. The architecture inserts itself into the territory without violating it, revealing what was already there, waiting to be heard.

The resulting atmosphere oscillates between the gray of the mountain and the blue of the ocean, stillness and movement , gravity and lightness, sunrise and sunset. Pure forms that are embedded in the pavement and merge with the surrounding landscape. A place to experience the land and its forms, to feel the tectonics that emerge from the ocean until it touches our feet.

Project credits:

Author: María Fandiño Collaborators: Víctor Adorno, Isabel Villares, Melantho Theodosopoulou, Laura del Valle Photography: Héctor Santos-Díez

Selected production archia/next 2024

Embraced by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and protected to the east by the Serra da Groba mountain range, the area of Pontevedra known as "the horizon" reveals itself as a privileged topographic enclave: a prominent granite mass rising above the coastal plain. This natural feature has historically shaped both the shape of the landscape and the way humans have inhabited it. The structure of the territory can be interpreted through its cross-section: from Mount Torroso, the terrain descends steeply towards the ocean, crossing a narrow, intensely anthropized coastal strip that reveals the passage of time and the imprint of past generations . The patiently constructed agricultural terraces form a geometry that speaks to human adaptation to the relief, the collective effort to domesticate the land and make it fertile. The granite material descends steeply, giving rise to a complex orography, until it reaches the inhabited area. There, the topography softens and folds, generating optimal conditions for cultivation.