“Facing the sea, we are all the same”. That is the concept that architect Chus del Realstudio co-founder From Royal Consultinghas on the coast and that he wanted to reflect on the map of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a city that, for years, has turned its back on its coast. His sketches, which include several beaches in the center of the capital and long avenues for sports, are not science fiction, but part of a “realistic” project: “No one can say that this cannot be done, that a beach cannot be created in La Hondura or Los Llanos or unify neighborhoods like Ofra with Plaza Weyler through avenues.”
The architect’s Sustainable Urban Development Proposal pays special attention to what we know as “periphery”, putting an end to the idea that neighborhoods are isolated areas of the capital and understanding them as links between Santa Cruz and La Laguna: “Let’s think of a model of Global Planned City, in the entire metropolitan area, from the coast to La Lagunain such a way that the periphery is not the peripherybut an integral part of a city, improving its structure, road and pedestrian network, in order to better communicate it, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, creating a city”.
Another way of thinking about the coast of Santa Cruz
For the architect, what we know today as the ‘centre’ of the city should undergo multiple variations to become a more habitable place, with more parks, pedestrian areas and housing. So, where are you currently? the refinerywhose disassembly started in summerdel Real projects a large green area that doubles in size the current García Sanabria Park. Next to it are a new boulevardwhich connects with the existing one above, and a maritime avenue that leads to the future bathing areas on the coast: the beaches of Cape Plains Y The depth.
In the sketch of those more than 500,000 square meters that will be freed from industrial activity in the coming years, the Real also contemplates a possible solution to homelessnessa problem that afflicts Tenerife society.
Changes in the capital port
Image showing the lack of continuity on the Santa Cruz coastline compared to that of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. | Chus del Real
To correct the non-existent continuity and connection between the points “City – Maritime Avenue – Port – Sea” the architect proposes “extend the urban grid towards the maritime edge through parks and a large building, called port-city, which would resolve both the continuity towards the sea and the port, as well as the functional mobility of the maritime front”. This would be “something similar to what has already been successfully achieved in cities such as Las Palmas, Vigo, Malaga, Bilbao, Barcelona, Hamburg, Oslo, Helsinki or Sydney”.
The port-city building would have the characteristic of being somewhat further away from the center than the current one, freeing up space on the front of the capital to make room for places of leisure for citizens as a Nautical Spa Center or a beach, for example. The possibility of provide beach to that point from Santa Cruz is for Real “100% feasible” and it would be achieved by removing the storage area that the Port has in Cape Plains.
Current image of the Los Llanos Pier. Assigned
Projection of a beach at the Los Llanos Pier. Assigned
Despite the economic investment that betting on this type of project would entail for the capital, the architect believes that the return would always be greater, not only because it would increase the tourist attraction of Santa Cruz, but also because the quality of life of its citizens would be enhanced with Enabling new spaces for outdoor enjoyment in currently degraded areas. Especially it would be gained in avenues, parks and beaches: “The city could be a symbol of sustainable development”.
Chus del Real, un arquitecto que ve en Santa Cruz un mar de posibilidades
Jesús María del Real (Chus Del Real) began developing his ideas on how to improve Santa Cruz at a very young age. When he was little he played soccer in different fields of the capital, so he traveled through the neighborhoods to go to the games. During those trips he liked to observe the connections, or the lack of them, between each area of the city. Why can't you go from one end to the other on foot? Why are there hardly any green areas in the neighbourhoods? These were some of the questions he asked himself. And, with all that experience, plus what he learned in his studies at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the University of Granada, he created his final project focusing on the chicharrera capital. Over the years, the architect's desire to make Santa Cruz a better city has not gone away. In fact, in this 2022 he has taken his work on Sustainable Urban Planning of Tenerife to the National Congress of the Environment (CONAMA).
Photo: Fran Pallero
