The Architecture of Seaside Promenades as Threshold.A Mediterranean Case
The Architecture of Seaside Promenades as Threshold.
A Mediterranean Case
by
Nuria Casais Pérez
,
Ferran Grau Valldosera
&
Francesc Xavier Roig-Munar
The Spanish Mediterranean coast is highly urbanized due to intense coastal development. During the second half of the 20th century, the seaside promenade emerged as an urban element designed to organize and protect the coastal environment. By defining the boundary of coastal settlements, the promenade became the solid articulation between two distinct environmental rationales — the rigid built system and the natural, dynamic seaside system. Thus, the promenade has represented the main architectural and urban transition element, directing the artificialization and confinement of beach-dune sedimentary structures.
Simultaneously, in areas lacking urban centers, dispersed tourist and second-home settlements have transformed the coastal landscape, beach, and parallel promenade into the primary public spaces. The role of the seaside promenade as a public space has led to a steady intensification of use, gradually shaping it into a rigid and complex environment. Due to the impetus of the recently established democratic period and the formal and conceptual freedom of Postmodernism, many interventions since the 1980s have associated the promenade with “signature architecture” while overlooking the dynamic conditions of the coastal border.
This research analyses a selection of representative promenades along the Catalan Mediterranean coast, examining their evolution from implementation to their current state. It explores their territorial, urban, architectural, and material configurations and their impact on the delimitation between a rigid system of settlements and a dynamic system of nature. Spatial transformations over time, driven by contextual changes — climatic, economic, and social — are highlighted. Local, regional, and national archives, orthophotos, and site visits serve as graphic sources of information to present the evolution of promenade architecture.
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