“El Firal” Boulevard

Bach Arquitectes shares with their project “El Firal” Boulevard”, located in the city of Génova, which seeks to revitalize public space and return this historic place to the city through different urban strategies.

The Miquel Blay boulevard, known as “El Firal”, and the Bisbe Guillament boulevard (El Firalet) are together one of the most emblematic places in the city. Located in the center, these two tree-lined streets contain some of the most relevant buildings in the city, including the City Hall, the Main Theater, Casa Sola-Morales and Casa Gaietà Vila.

Historically, “El Firal” was a space for meeting and coming together of the citizens. It currently hosts a large number of activities, including the weekly open-air market and the main Olot festivities such as the “Festes del Tura”, which require flexibility and versatility in this public space. In this sense, the proposal intended to reverse the situation of recent years, in which the pavement, urban elements and other pieces presented a high level of heterogeneity due to improvised solutions that had taken place across recent decades, limiting versatility and functionality.

Vista de la plaza / View of the square
Fotografía / Photography: Adrià Goula, Eugeni Bach

On the other hand, and as a central point of the intervention, the proposal aims to eliminate road traffic on the passage, limiting it to what is strictly necessary, and establishing a traffic strategy for nearby streets to peacefully manage this part of the city without problems.

Planta arquitectónica / Architectural plan
Ilustración / Illustration: Bach Arquitectes

In order to achieve these goals, the proposal uses different existing structures to provide a new sense of functionality to this space, so representative of the city of Olot. The strategy consists of defining the limits of “El Firal” and “El Firalet”, understanding that these spaces are protagonists both historically and culturally in the life of the city. Thus the project proposes a series of strategies for the materials of the different pavements, urban buildings and lighting to highlight the limits of these spaces, while at the same time they are totally permeable. In demarcating the geometry of these two boulevards, the interstitial space is solved with a simple topographic movement, providing a new plaza in the city, which brings together both public spaces while providing the functional capacity required by the municipality.

Espacio público en el Firal / Public space in “El Firal”
Fotografía / Photography: Adrià Goula, Eugeni Bach

This new central space between “El Firal” and “El Firalet” provides for a multiplicity of uses, thanks to its open character. It solves the topographic discontinuity, eliminating all barriers and providing for children’s play spaces, a stage and an open plaza for events of all kinds.