1st Prize:
Jardí Botànic Barcelona (Spain)
Downlaod: Laudation by Lieneke van Campen
The design for the Botanical Garden won the 1st prize of the international competition in 1989 and was built from 1999, with funds from the European Union. The site in the Monjuïc Mountain has been a landfill of urban detritus. The whole concept is the result of a cooperation between Carlos Ferrater’s OFFICE OF ARCHITECTURE IN BARCELONA S.L.P. (OAB), Bet Figueras, Artur Bossy, Joan Pedrola and Josep Lluís Canosa.
The new Botanical Garden works on the idea of fractality and Mediterraneanity, gathering the floras of the several Mediterraneans of the world: California, Eastern Mediterranean, Western, North Africa, Canary Islands and Chile in the South Parallel, together with South Africa and a part of Australia.
The garden is developed from the strictest sustainability, easy acclimatization of the species according to the types of soil as well as maximum efficiency in the drainage and irrigation network.
On the basis of the initial landfill, the landscape is constructed defining the criteria and solutions for a new contemporary landscape.
Since the year 1999 when it was built, several extensions have been made, including the maintenance building and the amphitheatre. The Botanical Garden attracts not only scientists, but an increasing number of Barcelona’s citizens and visitors.
