Spaingenieria

Well that was my dad-like way to create a portmanteau that set up the subject of this post.  (Ingenieria is engineering in Spanish). If you read my rants about the fractured hellscape sidewalks of Buenos Aires or you are familiar with my ongoing grievances with wayfinding incompetence (I'm looking at you Toronto!) you might find this a welcome respite to my cranky reportage.

Spaniards should take great pride in the quality of their engineering as it relates to public infrastructure. Very often their solutions to form following function are elegant and thoroughly considered. My first encounter with first-rate public engineering was in Japan. Time and again I was impressed with their 'people-first' philosophical approach to public infrastructure. From maps that provided direction specific to the pedestrian's orientation (positional, not gender), to sidewalk design that accommodated many types of disability, even the design of door handles and assistive mechanisms that made passage easier. It was a kind of revelation for me. 

All my life I've been annoyed or dissatisfied with the lazy and inappropriate design that we Canadians endure. It has improved somewhat in the last decade but walk into any pre-2010 seniors' home (warehouse) and, if you look through the lens of a senior who likely would have one or more issues with respect to vision, mobility, hearing, strength, language or memory you will likely be saddened. As I designer I have always held that good design need not be costly - it just needs to be thoroughly considered and stress-tested. The newish word for this discipline is Form Factor.

Ok. Way too much preamble.

When we stepped of the ferry in Algeciras I was instantly struck by the care that the designers of their new and beautiful port building had taken in all things WAYFINDING.

   'Braille' textures on the pavement to      indicate transitions and change in direction

The floors were level and non-slip. Lighting was excellent. No pinch points for traffic flow. Signage was clear and multilingual, services were immediately at hand regarding further transportation. Outside the sidewalks were embedded with raised 'braille' textures that function both as informational language for sight impaired individuals and improved traction. We had first seen this in Tokyo back in 2010. Toronto has embraced the idea somewhat but slowly and with large gaps in the contiguity.

    A 5 degree slope makes rising through     levels in this bus station fully accessible

As we proceeded I noticed that wherever there were level changes there were always ramps and stairs. There was an absence of curbs (this may not be possible in a cold country such as Canada) so pedestrian paths were protected from vehicular traffic by bollards of practical, sometime elegant, design. 

Ramps/Stairs

In the 'antico' section of Malaga roads are mixed use with a tiny fraction of vehicular traffic so that paths are never too dense.

Seville: Exiting traffic from a taxi stand, a two-way bike path and pedestrian traffic all have to share this space. A real challenge.

Different forms of traffic can sometimes present some very complex problems. The Spanish accommodate cycle traffic, motorized vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic and make great efforts in trying to resolve how those might all work when there are conflicting needs. Seville has  particular challenges because of the antiquity of the city. Sidewalks vary from a meter wide to several meters even in the space of one block so there are definitely unavoidable pinch points. Malaga has resolved that by reducing the amount of vehicular traffic in the old city and by eradicating curbs and planning with non-slip stone surfaces of different pattern texture and colour. I'm not sure that the latter could be achieved without the former being designed.

Seville has some real challenges when accommodating legacy issues. But there are actually a lot of positives here with respect to tonal and textural cues.

I think I'll wrap this one up. Probably not of interest to most of you. My engagement with St Joseph's Health Centre influenced my sensitivity to wayfinding and with in particular regarding perception, mobility, slips and falls which are huge issues. Add to that my own locomotive challenges over the past few years. It's just something that I think about a lot.