My preferred idea of a super-block is Plaza Catalunya. I already know that the concept of "superilla" is distorted, and that some of us have been deeply opposed to the Consell de Cent operation, but it's precisely not that the idea is wrong, but, in any case, where it is applied: everyone likes the photo of a street without cars, but not everyone likes, neither merchants nor drivers nor judges (according to a firm ruling), how it has been done, nor, especially, having been done on one of the central streets of the Eixample.
I maintain this position, precisely, because I know two places where the super-block concept would make three times more sense: one is the Sagrada Família, due to direct demands of Gaudí's script and by overwhelming logic of the dignification of such a charismatic temple, but also because Provença and Marina have already been almost pedestrianized and because there are already two parks on both sides that would only need to be connected by eliminating vehicle traffic through Sicília (I no longer dare to say Mallorca, which is another topic) and making the entire area a single continuity in the form of a park. But the other location where I believe it would make sense is Plaza Catalunya. A square that, moreover, let's admit it, doesn't quite shine with its own light for several reasons.
Picasso already said that it was necessary to remake the square from top to bottom. Bohigas did the expansion of El Corte Inglés, one of the many reasons why I will never understand the great applause generated by the architect and urban planner. Subirachs placed his monument to Francesc Macià, initially controversial and now accepted, and children play at touching the bottom of Clarà's La Deessa. The rest, as is known, are sculptures by Josep Llimona or Enric Casanovas placed at the accesses of this iconic compass rose that points to the precise and cardinal heart of the city. Fortunately, the heart of Barcelona is not an axis, nor is it an avenue. None of the streets surrounding the square is a main artery of the city; one can live perfectly well in Barcelona and go down to the square leaving the car on Gran Via, in Urquinaona or in Universitat. As for the Plaça Catalunya parking, it can perfectly continue to exist because it can be the way to create two unique road accesses to the square: from Pelai or from Paseo de Gràcia (not to mention the connection with the train and metro stations, of course). The rest, imagine, for a moment, a large park. Not a large hard square, no: a large park. With the roundabout in the center.
The lack of large parks in the city center has no excuse if we think about transforming its most famous, and most central, square precisely into a large (and central) park. The square would become a place of much more citizen transit, because right now crossing the square is usually not very good for anything, and would possibly recover its spirit of the years when theater was performed there (Buen Retiro, Eldorado, Barcelona...) or where the terraces of cafes or restaurants and hotels were spaces for gatherings and meetings (today only the Zurich can be said to obey this definition). It would even make sense to recover the Avinguda de la Llum, with cinema and underground galleries.
It is understood that the square has had a difficult solution until now because it is still a vestige of the spaces that touched the walls before they were demolished and, therefore, the primordial clash of civilizations between Eixample and Ciutat Vella when cars were just beginning to roll (a moment in which, by the way, Cerdà's rigid mind did not even contemplate the square as something central or truly important). Now, however, cars do not need to go so far down: to get to the port they already use La Rambla or Via Laietana (or Paral·lel or Picasso), no one needs Plaza Catalunya to go from Eixample to Ciutat Vella on wheels, nor to go from the right to the left of Eixample (for which purpose there is already Gran Via, Casp or Diputació). The existing road traffic today, for example, in Rambla Catalunya at Triangle corner, nor in Paseo de Gràcia at Corte Inglés corner, nor in Ronda de Sant Pere at Apple corner, would not be missed at all. At most, the traffic that goes along the sea side between Rambla and Fontanella, to be able to go from Pelai to Urquinaona, could be missed, but I dare say that if we have gotten used to not circulating through Consell de Cent we can get used to making this journey through the streets above the square. I would say. In any case, I would admit the debate on this specific section.
The lack of large parks in the city center has no excuse if we think about transforming its most famous, and most central, square precisely into a large (and central) parkThe more I think about it, the more convinced I am: it makes much more sense to make a large park that encompasses the entire Plaça Catalunya than to put pedestrian paving stones in Girona or Consell de Cent, as the Colau-Collboni governments have promoted. In the middle of Plaza Catalunya, no one lives, no one works, and no main artery that needs to be fluid crosses it. We would go for a walk from Paseo de Gràcia to Canaletes or to Portal de l'Àngel, we would lie on the grass or contemplate the fountains, we would chat on the benches or on the neighborhood terraces, we would attend the shows or leisure activities that could be hosted and we would have, for once, something similar to a park in the city center.That later the monstrosities of El Corte Inglés fall, with or without Bohigas' expansion, would only be a matter of trusting in good taste. Those of us who live in the Sagrada Família, for example, do not have these types of problems.
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