The new Piazza Ricardo Vignes is named after the famous pianist from this Catalan city, and its transformation was twofold - creating a dignified environment for an abstract monument dedicated to the musician, and creating a "gateway to the city": a highway leading from the northwest enters Lleida nearby, from Bilbao to the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Busy traffic flows through the city and fills the five streets that intersect in the new square. But now the cars had to make room: a free space was created in the center of the intersection, and it turned into a roundabout.
A small “circle” planted with grass is set aside for a monument to Ricardo Vignes, reminiscent of a totem pole made of silver metal: as is usually the case in such cases, it is not accessible to pedestrians. But the spacious middle of the square, no longer so regular in shape, and two of the adjacent streets are given to the townspeople. The combination of multi-colored pavement and greenery creates complex labyrinthine patterns there. The architect turned to different interpretations of this ancient symbol and chose the most pleasant one: the lines of her labyrinth represent the movements of the “dance of spring”.
Piazza Ricardo Vignes also serves a purely practical purpose: under its surface there is a garage for 450 cars. The area of the new space is 9,200 m2, the project budget is 3.5 million euros.
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