building road tunnels provided
the design team with an
unprecedented opportunity to
situate the city of Madrid within
its surroundings. The project
establishes a physical and
conceptual continuity, which did
not previously exist, between
the city center and the valuable
24 Landscape & Urban Design
countryside that surrounds it,
and as a result the Manzanares
River has been transformed into
the point that connects the city
with its geography.
On top of this huge
“underground construction“
vegetation was used as the
main material, constructing
a dense and ecologically
rich plant structure to create
an artificial and urban but
living landscape on an inert
underground substrate. Almost
half of the project’s surface area
is on top of the tunnels and the
complicated technical facilities