The Netherlands

West 8 urban design & landscape architecture b.v.

Nico Koomanskade 1021
3072 LM Rotterdam
The Netherlands

+31 (0) 10 485 5801

Belgium

West 8 Brussels urban design & landscape architecture bvba

Waaienberg 123
1745 Opwijk
Belgium

+31 (0) 10 485 5801

United States

West 8 urban design & landscape architecture p.c.

2133 Arch Street, Suite 101
Philadelphia, PA 19103
United States of America

+1 347 371 2252

Reimagining Infrastructure to Reconnect the City

Madrid Río - Infrastructure, Madrid, ES

By digging an incredible 43 km of tunnels under the city and burying over 12km of the city’s highly congested M30 motorway along the Rio Manzanares, room was created for a massive green corridor and a continuity of green spaces to connect the north and south sides of the city.

Understanding scale: A comparison of the sunken M30 (top left) with the Paris Peripherique (top right), New York City’s FDR Drive (lower left), and the Boston Big Dig (lower right).

The riverfront project for Madrid is an intervention with the highest ambition of environmental improvement by the city in the twentieth century.

 

Supervision through design, construction, and park installation.

Burying major thoroughfares in the city allowed for space to plant 43,000 trees, 460,000 shrubs and 211,000 m2 of grassland- creating a pleasant microclimate near the waterfront.

Client
Municipality of Madrid

Partners
Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos Asociados, Porras La Casta Arquitectos and Rubio & Álvarez-Sala (during construction period these 3 Madrid-based firms formed a joint venture for the project: MRIO arquitectos)

Consultants
Cascara Bridges | FHECOR-Hugo Corres

Imagery
© Jeroen Musch, © Municipality Madrid, © Richter Spielgerate, and © West 8