article_detail

Anyone who was in Cartagena last summer will probably remember being pretty uncomfortable a lot of the time. Businesses on Calle del Carmen and their customers sweltered while waiting for a shade system that simply didn't arrive in time, leaving traders furious and the council facing a wave of criticism. This year, they're clearly determined not to repeat the same mistake.

 

Work on the 'Teselas' project, named after the mosaic tiles it takes its inspiration from, has been pushing ahead since Easter. According to Mayor Noelia Arroyo, the trickiest part of the job, fitting the anchors and support structures to the building facades, was completed before the Easter processions, with particular care taken around the many listed buildings on the street.

 

The cables are now in place and are being tensioned overnight to avoid disrupting shoppers and pedestrians during the day. The fabric panels will follow, also fitted after dark, and the council has asked locals and businesses to bear with them for any disruption in the meantime.

 

The target is to have the first sections ready for the May Crosses festival, with the bulk of the installation wrapped up by around May 20.

 

The 'Teselas' system isn’t a conventional awning. Rather, the system is made up of textile rhombuses, essentially diamond-shaped fabric panels, suspended on cables above the street to create a lightweight, modular canopy that provides shade without hiding the architecture below. Where anchors can't be fixed to protected buildings, tension poles are used instead.

 

Researchers at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena carried out a detailed solar study to work out exactly where each panel should sit to cast maximum shade.

 

According to the university team's estimates, the finished canopy could reduce street-level temperatures by as much as 6°C, which on a peak summer afternoon in Cartagena is a significant difference for anyone shopping or eating out along the nearly 300-metre street.

 

If the pilot works as hoped, the council's plan is to roll the concept out to other streets in the historic centre.

 

Image: Ayuntamiento de Cartagena