Agua Oculta

The work wants to analyze the changes that have invested the historic city of Granada focusing on the issue of the covering of its river, the Rio Darro, which took place from the Christian reconquest in 1492 and later developed throughout the romantic period.

Moving from the reflection about the option of taking Granada to it's past, it's the chance to come to a project that addresses the problem of recovery in different ways according to the specific context that encounters in each case, from a mere re-enactment, to a real urban redevelopment that would benefit the entire city as a complex organism that is affected by the changes and evolutions of all its parts. The study starts from an analysis of the transformations relating the historic centre following the covering, and then reserch new strategies to return to the city such an important part of its heritage, in order to bring it back to light and show it once again, but above all in order to use it to make things better for the present day city.The recovery of the river therefore entails a urban regeneration of the historic centre, which moves towards a pedestrian fruition of its streets by creating a green walk alongside the banks, limitating vehicle traffic which is nowadays affecting the city. The growth of green areas and the design of pedestrian paths, demonstrate how the rediscovery of this hidden part of the natural, cultural and historic heritage of Granada, the Rio Darro, might be not only the culmination but the tool through which it is possible to plan a sustainable city. In a context like Granada, the operation of restoring its river requires an effort worth making if you intend history and nature as a system: this is the reason why the uniqueness of Granada, a city that faces a territory whose panorama is always strongly present in the image of Sierra Nevada and of the views of the Alhambra, or of the Albaycin hill, where the remains of the ancient Zirì walls still wind, or of the Rio Genil, which slowly flows towards its "vega" to which the development of Granada is so strongly linked. Rio Darro is part of this system, and it is where we must look for a point of contact between history and landscape that characterize the city. If this contact represents the city’s evolution until now, it would be interesting to continue investigating the possibilities that this link can continue to offer for its future development.