Restoration of the Tancada Salt Pans

The different requirements in terms of depth, isolation and slopes meant that the section of earth dykes between the pools were remodelled to diversify the amount of flooding and thus create an archipelago of islands between the tides. A construction of a landscape as a performative artificial ecosystem, which proposes transversing choreographic forms within a narrative, invites us to explore the intertidal lagoons, salt fields and crystallisations, flamingos, terns...

Site and precedents

The "La Tancada" project is located at the southern end of the Ebro Delta, one of the most important and abundant rivers on the Iberian Peninsula. Delta is a crucial passage on the Western European bird migration route. Over the last century the site has undergone numerous transformations. It was originally an intertidal saltwater lagoon. At the beginning of the 20th century it was transformed into a salt production field, and in the 1980s it became a fishing centre. The business collapsed and the site fell into the hands of Catalunya Caixa Bank. Through necessarily economic actions, the design deftly constructs a hybrid of nature and culture that celebrates the peculiarities of the site, both in terms of performative artificial ecosystems for endangered species, and in the construction of the landscape popular for tourism. It proposes choreographic forms on the site for visitors, within a narrative that invites them to explore what is consubstantial to this peculiar landscape: intertidal lagoons, salt fields and crystallisations, flamingos, terns...