European Landscape Architecture: Best Practice in Detailing

Spain

garden and to create suitable conditions for the

successive establishment of the different phyto-

episodes. During the execution of the civil work,

important formal and functional decisions were

taken, and only after the works ended did the gar-

den acquire its present appearance.

Since its inauguration in 1999, planting has con-

tinued and the aim is to complete structural

planting of all of the phytoepisodes by 2010, with

approximately 50 per cent of the potential species

represented. It is now possible to see that the ini-

tial dominance of the paths and walls is gradually

being balanced by vegetation. The experience of

the garden now is richer and more complex, and

the growing volume of trees and shrubs makes

the planned path layout ‘faceting’ more explicit.

Surprise and discovery have become two new

words to describe the garden.

The Municipality would like Montjuïc Mountain

to be known as Barcelona’s ‘Central Park’ within

the decade, and since 2000 has been investing

in this vision. Parks, gardens, sports installations,

museums and galleries, are being created, restored

or promoted, and public transport and pedestrian

accessibility from downtown are being enhan-

ced. The 14ha Botanical Garden remains one of

Barcelona’s biggest parks and keeps growing and

maturing within this ambitious project.

7.5
Masterplan, 1997