The urban complex comprising the skatepark and sports park (calle Carlos III, Cartagena) is strategically located within the urban framework of the city, and consolidates the area as a center for open, public sports facilities. It is specially linked to the Polytechnic University, due to its proximity to the campus.
In order to provide the neighborhood and the city as a whole with new sports options, the skatepark and sports park create an appropriate space both for new urban sports (skating, skateboarding, basketball, acrobiking, and so on) and alternative activities related to them (music, break dancing, parkour,…).
The project arose in order to fulfill the needs of certain specific users – skaters – who also collaborated in providing technical definitions of the general concepts (street, bowl, etc.), as well as the specific pieces involved (pyramid, planters, double set of two stairs with handrail, etc.).
These elements, located at the center of the skatepark, were designed with the related techniques/usage in mind, regarding both their geometric shape and the material and finish used (concrete or steel), depending on the needs for each case.
Items such as planters, rails, curbs, stairs, and so on, were sized and built to adapt to their specific use, and arranged and organized based on the relationships created between them.
The complementary features that make the skatepark and sports park a recreational area are placed around the skating zone, creating spaces for playing sports, meeting, getting together…
Another recreational area was also defined, sheltered by a pergola that enables the skate slab to be used year-round. There is also a basketball court with stands and parallel circulation zones that make it possible to simultaneously watch and play these urban sports, while allowing the people nearby to move about safely.
The lighting – along with the concrete with different finishes/treatments, the steel for the structures and roof planes and metal mesh for the fencing on the perimeter – becomes one of the construction materials, defining the space, usage and traffic patterns, through its differentiated nature and application of the pieces.
The urban artwork of “El Tono”, who participated on several elements by applying his geometric codes of color fields, provides the finishing touches to the surroundings and confers a creative, uplifting atmosphere that also pervades the entire neighborhood.
