Exploring the Ur ban Environment Work booklet
Camp d’Aprenentatge de Barcelona
Name: First / Second/First
• Throughout this booklet you will find different symbols in order to specify the kind of work you will have to do for each activity. Respond, write and complete Search, consult, investigate during the activity Respond, write and complete at Draw the center or home Observe, watch, examine, read Computer activity Take photos
Educational material developed by the Camp d’Aprenentatge de Barcelona and published for edu cational purposes. Copies of the material can be made towards that end. Edition: February 2008 Camp d’Aprenentatge de Barcelona Pg. Mare de Déu del Coll 41 51 08023 Barcelona cda [email protected] xww.xtec.cat/cda barcelona
2 Exploring the Urban Environment
Index 1. The City 2. Exploring Barcelona 2.1 Barcelona:Eixample 2.2 Itinerary 2.3 Transport in BCN Metro system Bus system 3. Exploration 3.1 Traffic 3.2 The street 3.3 A housing island 3.4 The market 4. La Pedrera
Material
Individual
• Pencil case (with pencils, pens, markers...) • Hardcover folder • This booklet Group • Camera • Map of Barcelona
3 1. The City
The majority of all the inhabitants of Catalonia lives in cities. Over 60% of the population of Catalonia lives in the metropolitan area of Barcelona alone (Barcelona and the surrounding towns). Barcelona, according to the census of 2005, has 1.593.075 inhabitants. Cities are complex and subject to change, depending on a city’s physical environment, its history, its culture... Cities have good and bad aspects, some of which can be measured easily (traffic, contamination, transport, imports and exports...) while some are less obvious (values of its citi zens, feelings...). If we know some of these aspects we can decide what kind of city we would like to live in, what we would like to change and how we could achieve this. We generally walk down the street without paying attention to our surroundings. If we begin to view our everyday life from a different angle, similar to that of an explorer, we can discover the different aspects that account for a city that is not exactly like a living organism, but rather like a large dwelling or environment resulting from the activities of its inhabitants, primarily those of humans.
4 2. Exploring Barcelona
A successful explorer has to plan his adventure very well, gathering as much information as possible about the place he is about to discover: • What is its nature. • What sites are to be explored and how can you move between them. • What kind of transportation is to be used. • What is to be done at each place and how. In order to realize your journey you will need: • A map (in the case of a city it’s called a street map). • A guide to take notes with and consult (this booklet). • A backpack with the material: to write, to observe, to count, to photograph or draw. Although the adventure will be fun, you also have to take possible threats or obstacles into consideration that you might encounter, so while exploring pay attention to: • Don’t go alone: always stay together with your friends and the guide (the profes sors...). • Be attentive when using transportation, making sure you are using the right one. You also have to know the direction of the journey and where to get off. • Always walk in appropriate places, respecting the sidewalks! • Ah! Your backpack is your most important possession, so keep an eye on it at all times so you don’t happen to lose it at some point... In order to make the most of our exploration and since we are many, we will split up into several groups. • We will go in groups of 15, which again will divide into groups of 5. • Each group of 15 does a different trip and observes and collects the data that corre sponds to its itinerary. • The groups of 15 reunite in the end and share their data in order to compare and come to conclusions.
5 2.1 Barcelona: Eixample
Barcelona constitutes a metropolis , which means that it consists of one principal and several satellite cities in its surroundings. In this case the urban agglomeration is called The Metropolitan Area of Barcelona . Since we cannot cover all of this vast area, we will focus on the most characteristic part of the city: the Eixample district. Towards the end of the 19th century Barcelona was walled and much smaller. A military law prohibited construction within 2km of the city (the distance covered by canons at the time...). The city there fore could not grow. When the walls could finally be torn down, in 1858, the “Pla de Barcelona”, city map, could finally be extended towards nearby towns such as Gracia, Sarria, Sant Andreu, Sant Marti... formerly independent (until 1897) and cur rently neighborhoods of the city. This new district, called the Eixample, was planned by the civic engineer Ildefons Cerda. It was formed after the principles of urbanism, although they reflected the needs of the time (there were basically no cars) and some negative reforms ensued that allowed the city to adapt to its current needs (if there weren’t many cars back then... Now there are many!). The Eixample district is shaped like a grid, with its wide streets between the sea and the mountains and others that run from Montjuic to the Besos river. In order to cross it more easily there are three large avenues, which are the Diagonal, the Gran Via and the Meridiana. One of the most genuine characteristics of the Eixample district are the blocks of housing islands. That is to say that the corners don’t form a right angle, but are “cut”. In this way cars can navigate , as well as load and unload more easily, just like Cerda had planned it. If the Cerda Plan had been executed perfectly, the inside of each island would have held a garden for people to relax in. Unfortunately this aspect was not followed through with, but fortunately some of these spaces have been recovered today, called the Insides of the islands .
On a map of Barcelona identify the old city, as well as those that were annexed in 1897: Sarria, Gracia, Sants, Sant Andreu and Horta. Use a colored pen to mark the zone that you believe corresponds to the borders of each one. Explain the differences you see between these urban areas (nature of streets...) and the Eixample.
6 As the city is very big, it was divided into several smaller zones in order to facilitate its organiza tion. These zones are called the districts . The districts have jurisdiction in such matters as urban planning, streets, maintaining the infrastructure, operating staff and the population, amongst oth ers. The Eixample is currently one of the ten districts of Barcelona. Each district consists of differ ent neighborhoods, called barris .
The districts of Barcelona are:
01. Ciutat Vella, 02. Eixample, 03. Sants- Montjuïc, 04. Les Corts, 05. Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, 06. Gràcia, 07. Horta-Guinardó, 08. Nou Barris, 09. Sant Andreu, 10. Sant Martí.
Localize the ten districts of Barcelona in the following map.
7 2.2 Itinerary
We use the metro ( line 3) from the Camp d’Aprenentatge , located in the neighborhood of Vall carca (district of Gracia) until the Passeig de Gracia station. At this point we start walking. Each group of 15 has its own itinerary. The objective of the trip is to carefully observe everything we find in the urban environment that usually goes unnoticed by us. This excursion will lead us to discover things such as: • Public transport. • Traffic. • The streets. • The inner part of the housing islands. • The market. Along the way we will make stops in order to carefully observe these aspects and collect data. In the following pages you will find the materials necessary to do so.
Fill in the following table to properly plan the exploration.
START Camp d’Aprenentatge de Barcelona Address:
METRO Line: Departure station: Arrival station: FOOTPATH Group: 1 2 3 4 Guides (professors):
BUS Line: Departure station: Arrival station:
8 2.3 Transport in BCN
Barcelona, like all big cities, has a great number of commuters every day that go to work, to school, to university... They tend to commute by: bus, car, taxi, bicycle, metro, train, coach... A lot of people still use their own car in order to move within the city. This results in big problems in the interior of the actual city, since it is already saturated with cars with which the pollution increases significantly. A big part of the pollutants in the city comes from the gases released by the engines of cars. In a big city many vehicles circulate every day which release different pollutants to the air. In order to reduce the contamination and to improve the quality of life the use of public transportation should increase. Barcelona, like other big cities, has many different means of public transportation. In Barcelona concrete it is possible to use: the metro, bus, taxi, bicycle, tram, railway, car, motorcycle, and the funicular. In order to travel from one place to another we need to know the route of each of the different means of transport. The metro and bus maps provide us with the information we need to find the closest stop to the destination we are envisioning. It also allows us to select the most fitting itiner ary so we can move along very quickly.
Connect each definition with the equivalent concept.
Those are the vehicles that carry an individual Public transport person.
Private transport It is a means of transportation that everybody is able to pay for and use
Write down 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages that public and private means of transportation have according to you.
Public Private +
-
9 Write beneath each drawing whether it is private or public.
Metro system
Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is one of the best known me tropolises in the world. The city does not have extraordinary dimen sions (since it only has 1,6 million inhabitants). Yet Barcelona and the adjacent municipalities (including the cities of Montgat, Tiana, Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Montcada i Reixac, Castelldefels, Gavà, Viladecans, Sant Boi de Llobregat, el Prat de Llo bregat, l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Cornellà de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobre gat, Sant Joan Despí, Sant Just Desvern and Sant Feliu de Llobregat) form an enormous urban area with 3,1 million inhabitants, the Metropolitan Area of Bar celona. The Metro of Barcelona moves through the Metropolitan Area; there are nine metro lines, six (lines L1, L2, L3, L4, L5 and L11) are used by the Metropolitan Transport of Barcelona (TMB) and three (lines L6, L7 and L8) are used by the Catalonian Railway System (FGC). The network is 104,8 km long and has 144 sta 10 tions. The Metro system is comple mented by the Tram. In addition, there are also three funiculars in Bar celona (that of Montjuic, of Tibidabo and of Vallvidrera) and one ancient tram (the “Tramvia Blau”), but the Funicular of Tibidabo and the “Tramvia Blau” are solely touristic and are not integrated in the system. Each metro line has a number and color, for example, Line 1 is the Ver mella Line and Line 3 is green. In or der to find the correct information on the map we should concentrate on its various symbols. Some of the most impor tant ones are those that indicate the place of origin and destination of each line, the indicator of each station with the corresponding name or circle that tells us whether the station is connected to corresponding lines, which means that we can take another line by going down the corridors of the station.
Take a look at a metro station.
Name of the station: Line:
Changing line is possible □ With which lines ?
Adapted to the use of the disabled □
Elevator □ Escalator □
The platform
Ticket vending machines □ Ticket validating machines □
Manual vending □ Posters □
Shops □ Bar □
Main station office □ Information □
11 A person lives close to the metro station Rocafort and wants to go to the Sagrada Família in order to visit Gaudi’s church. What is the shortest itinerary?
Start Stations Change in line Stations through End through which which this new this line passes line passes Station: Station : Station: Line: Line: Line: Direction: Direction:
Bus system The bus network serves Barcelona and other municipalities within the Metropolitan Area. The net work surface consists of 109 lines that cover a total route of 920,62 kilometers (half the sum of a return trip).
The fleet of buses includes 1066 vehicles that all incorporate the newest advances in technology concerning comfort and quality. The entire fleet is accessible to disabled people and 1062 buses are also air conditioned, apart from the 4 local buses of the Barcelona Touristic Bus, of course. The medium commercial velocity of the buses is 11,68 km/h and the regulation of the services is provided by satellite through the System of Help and Exploration, Sistema d'Ajuda a l'Explotació (SAE).
Take a look at a bus station.
Name of the station:
Bus lines that pass through here:
Roof □ A bench to sit on □
Information by SMS □ People waiting □
How many people?
12 3. Exploration
In the following map trace the journey you made together with the group. Mark points of interest too: passage ways, insides of islands, traffic observations, streets, markets, metro and bus stations (
http://maps.google.com/
13 3.1 Traffic
Be well-organized and make sure to collect the necessary data! For example, you can count the vehicles in the following manner: 1. One person is in charge of counting the cars . 2. Another will count the buses and taxis . 3. Another will count the motorcycles . 4. Another will count the bikes and other vehicles (trucks, ambulances...). 5. One will be in charge of the timer (measuring the time and indicating the beginning and end of the exercise). You should follow the below procedure: 1. Go to the place that was indicated by your guide, such that you can see vehicles that pass through the traffic lights. 2. Wait until the traffic halts. 3. Begin to count when the lights turn and stop when it halts. Count the time (seconds). 4. Repeat. Complete the TABLE on the following page together >
From what you observed and collected in the table try to reach some conclusions. • How is the traffic in comparison to that next to your school? • What do you propose in order to make it quieter? Make five proposals.
Use the data you collected to calculate the percentage of the circulation of each type of vehicle:
• CARS: • MOTORCYCLES: • BUSES: • BICYCLES:
14 TET HOUR: STREET: OBSERVATIONSTRAFFIC 3 TRAFFIC INTENSITY= TOTAL OF VEHICLES / TIME (in (3) (1) Width of the street: (2) Data: Data: OBSERVATIONS: OBSERVATIONS: 2 1 Data:
Low
: a quiet conversation is possible;
(1) Width Vehicles
WIDE Cars , more than 4 lanes,
Buses
high Taxis : one has to speak up MEDIUM
Bikes vehicles/second vehicles/minutes). , between 2 and 4,
Bicycles
very high very Others NARROW
: one has to shout
TOTAL
, 1 lane. Note the number of roundabouts. Time
SITY (3) TRAFFIC INTEN
(2) level Noise Low
High Very high
☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ HOW DID YOU FEEL? FEEL? YOU DID HOW
15 3.2 The street
In this exploration we carefully observe a stretch of the street. We discover the things we can find here, how the buildings are around, which activities can be done...
First of all you need to fill in the TABLE on the following page together.
Do a little photo essay . Take photos of: • The plaza with the street name. • Any object of urban furniture (trash can, bench,...). • A type of vegetation or animal you can see. • Some building that caught your attention.
From what you observed and collected in the table, try to reach some conclusions: • What do you think is missing or is superfluous in the street? • Would you like to live here? Why? • What would you do in order to improve it?
16 (2) los 2 floors. (3) (1) Between the streets______STREET______ between the one lane Sidewalks adapted to people with disabilities High: more than 6 floors; medium: between 2 and 6 f Width of street: WIDE, more than 4 lanes, MEDIUM, ATTENTION: YOUR CAUGHT THATSOMETHING SMELLS (6) TRAFFIC NOISE ACTIVITIES ANIMALS VEGETATION TRANSPORTS RE FURNITU-URBAN (2) BUILDINGS WIDTH (1) Which? Which? SMELLS LIKE... LOW SMALL INDUSTRIES BANK COMMERCE DOMESTIC TREES METRO STATIONS BUS STATIONS RECYCING CONTAINERS TRASH CONTAINERS TRASH CANS BENCHES HIGH WIDE 2 to 4, SMALL, loors; low: 1 or Which? SMELLS BADLY OF... BUSHES HIGH RESTAURACION / BARS SCHOOL/EDUC. CENTER BIKE STATIONS (BICING) TRAM STATIONS ADAPTED STEPS (3) STATUES LANTERNS MEDIUM MEDIUM _ and ______ numbers ______and______ (5) (6) very high: one has to scream. (4) Civic center, house, public information, library, . Low: a quiet conversation is possible; high: one ha Mailboxes, telephones, parking meters, information Which? WILD NO SMELL GRASS / PLANTS EYHG VERY HIGH SANITARY SERVICES OFFICES TAXI STATIONS SEMAPHORE PLAYGROUNDS FOUNTAINTS LOW NARROW ______ ______ ______ ______ (5) PUBLIC SERVICES OTHERS OTHERS(4) .. s to speak loudly; panels...
17 3.3 A housing island
As we said before, the way Cerda imagined the Eixample was that there would be a garden or plaza in the space inside of each housing island. Unfortunately this was not realized since indus tries, factories, warehouses etc were put there instead. A few years ago some of these housing islands were recovered in Barcelona and it is possible to visit them today.
First of all you need to fill in the table on the following page TOGETHER >>
Also do a little photo essay. Take photos of: • The plaza with the name of the housing island. • One general photo. • Some sign of vegetation or an animal that you can see. • Something that caught your attention.
From what you observed and collected in the table, try to reach some conclusions: • What do you think is missing or is superfluous in this housing island? • How would you improve it? • What were the reasons for which Cerda’s original plan was not respected? Ex plain them.
18 3 See if the island is adapted to disabled visito (3) High: more than 6 floors; medium: between 2 and (2) Consider a space “big” when it is about 100 x 1 (1) OF INSIDE THE AN ISLAND HOW DID YOU FEEL? FEEL? HOW YOU DID SMELLS (4) TRAFFIC NOISE ACTIVITYHUMAN ANIMALS VEGETATION FURNITURE URBAN (2) BUILDINGS SHAPE (1) DIMENSIONS ATTENTION: YOUR CAUGHT THATSOMETHING Which? Which do you know? SMELLS OF... LOW WALKING DOMESTIC TREES CONTAINERS______ TRASH CANS BENCHES HIGH RECTANGULAR BIG rs. ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ 00 m (aprox. an island in the Eixample). 6 floors; low: 1 or 2 floors.
Which? Which do you know? HIGH PLAYING MEDIUM TRIANGULAR MEDIUM SMELLS BADLY OF... NON DOMESTIC BUSHES ADAPTED ACCESS (3) STATUES LANTERNS Address: c/Address:
VERY HIGH RESTING LOW OTHER SMALL NO SMELL GRASS / PLANTS PLAYGROUNDS FOUNTAINS
19 3.4 The market
At the same time that the Eixample was built, and following the urban planning of Cerdà, the mar kets necessary to provide for the citizens were built as well. The new technology of using cast iron to lift these buildings greatly facilitated the removal of their structures. Up until now, in the old part of Barcelona, purchases are made at markets in the open air that are situated at the plazas; hence the expression “anar a la plaça” (go to the plaza) which means going to the market, an ex pression that is still in use today.
The mercat de la Concepció was constructed in 1888 in the center of Barcelona, in the Eixample district, in a detached building between the streets of Aragó, València, Bruc and Girona, with the main entrances at Aragó and València. It covers and area of 4.010 m2 , and is 105 meters long and 38 meters wide.
On the following map, mark the route that you made through the market. Also mark 2 or 3 stands you observed and add the information to the table. Take a photo of each one of them.
C/ València C/ Bruc C/ Girona C/ Girona
C/ Aragó www.laconcepcio.com
Name of the stand Products 1 2 3 20 (1) Fresh, dry, farm, fishing. fishing. farm, dry, Fresh, (1) Adress: Place: (MARKET) ORIGIN PRODUCT MEAT: FISH: FRUIT: VEGETABLES: OTHER: ATTENTION: YOUR CAUGHT THATSOMETHING
MEANS OF MEANS TRANS- PORT PRODUCTION (1) PACKAGING MATERIALS PACKAGING (1) PRODUCTION PRICE / KG / KG PRICE
21 4 La Pedrera
In 1906 Gaudí Pere Milà and his wife, Roser Segimon, commissioned Gaudi to construct this big apartment building. They wanted him to make an original and exclusive building (Milà liked Casa Batlló very much). It was so original that the citizens of the time criticized it very much and only saw it as a mountain of stones. This is the reason for which it was called La Pe drera, the stone. At La Pedrera there is basically not a single straight line. It is like a big sculpture that may seem like a sea of stones or an undulating mountain. The building included great advances for the time in which it was built: a base ment parking lot, separate elevators, central air conditioning and hot water, folded blinds...
Follow with a red pen the lines that separate the different floors, attic and roof of the Pedrera. What shape do these lines have? What do they remind you of?
Then identify the different levels by placing the number in the corres- ponding squares in the picture.
1 Basement (coal) 6 Third floor 2 Mezzanine 7 Fourth floor 3 Main floor 8 Attic 4 First floor 9 Roof 5 Second floor 22 When it was built Casa Milà was compared with a parking airship, with a den of dragons, with a cave, an Easter cake... Many jokes appeared in the press for mocking it. You’ll find some of them below:
LA CASA PEDRERA It’s great, I like it, but you can’t rent any apart ment! Why? Because with those artistic railings you can’t even put damask on the balcony.
What can I say... I like it more artistic. FUTURE BARCELONA
Now that you have visited La Pedrera, what is your personal opinion?
23 METRO MAP OF BARCELONA
Can Cuiàs
Ciuta t Meridiana
Montbau Mundet Torreb aró Vallbona Vall d'Hebr on Valldaur a Canyelles Casa de l'Aigua Horta Trinitat Nova Pe niten ts Trinitat Nova Zona Universitària Via Júlia Trinitat Vella
Va llc arc a Cornellà Vilapicina Lluc major Tor ra s i Bages Bar ó de Viver Pa lau Reial Lesseps Virrei Am at Ma ria Cristina Sa nta Coloma Alfon s X F abra i Puig Sa nt Sant Andreu Ildefons Ga varra Maragall Can Can P ubilla Boixer es Casas Vid alet F ontan a Collbla nc G uina rdó Les Corts Congrés
Can Serra Florida Joa nic Hospital de Camp de Badal Sant Pa u l'Arpa L1 Plaça del Centre Torr assa Sagrera Plaç a Hospital S agrada de Sants Sants Rambla Just Enten ça Clínic Verdag uer Família Fondo Olive res Estació Artigues Ver neda Sant Adrià Diagonal Encan ts Na vas Av. Carrilet San ta Merca t Nou La Pau Eulàlia Tarra gona Girona Bellvitge Clot Mon umental Hosta francs Bac de Sant Martí Universitat Pa s se i g Rod a L1 Rocafort Urgell Tetua n Sant Roc Gor g de G rà c i a Besós Glòries Sant Antoni Hospital de Bellvitge Espanya Urquinaona Besós Ma r
Catalunya Selva de Mar Pep Ventura M arina Arc de El Maresm e Poble Sec Triomf Fò rum Poble nou Jaume I Lic eu Bog atell L lacuna Pa ra llel
Ciutade lla Drassa nes Villa Olímpica Parallel Barceloneta