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Un’oasi verde nasce tra ex serbatoi di petrolio nelle isole Canarie

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In occasione dei 25 anni dello Spazio Culturale El Tanque, Menis Arquitectos ha trasformato l’area pubblica circostante in un giardino di banani.

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El Espacio Cultural El Tanque es un antiguo depósito de petróleo, representativo para la historia industrial de las Islas Canarias, que ha formado parte de la geografía urbana de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Ante el inminente desmantelamiento de la misma, en 1995, la entonces Consejera de Cultura y Patrimonio Histórico del Cabildo de Tenerife, Dulce Xerach Pérez, impulsó la idea de conservar uno de sus grandes bidones y reunió apoyos alrededor de esta iniciativa sin ánimo de lucro, que acabó siendo la actual Asociación Amigos del Tanque. En tanto que miembro de este grupo de activistas, el arquitecto Fernando Menis realizó la rehabilitación y adaptación del Tanque a usos culturales y dio soporte a la Asociación hasta conseguir, en 2014, su catalogación como Bien de Interés Cultural.

En 2022, la Asociación celebra los 25 años de existencia del Tanque con un proyecto de restauración ecológica de su entorno, diseñado por el mismo arquitecto, y que aporta al barrio Cabo Llanos su primer espacio público verde. En la visión de Menis, el nuevo jardín de plataneras que rodea el vestigio de patrimonio industrial rememora el paisaje agrícola anterior a la industrialización, escenificando la ciudad como lugar de convivencia de las diversas épocas, culturas y sensibilidades que han ido modelando la identidad de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Espacio Cultural El Tanque de Santa Cruz de Tenerife: un antiguo depósito de petróleo se recupera para las actividades culturales de la ciudad
El Espacio Cultural El Tanque es el antiguo tanque 69, es decir un enorme bidón que sirvió durante muchos años para el refinado y almacenamiento de crudo, integrado en la refinería de CEPSA, la primera de de España, que se construye en Tenerife hacia 1930. Es una pieza cilíndrica de 50 metros de diámetro y casi 20 metros de altura que representa uno de los últimos vestigios de una industria que, en el último medio siglo, ha formado parte de la geografía urbana de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Conserva su aspecto exterior e interior original, habiéndose adaptado a su nuevo uso cultural con una mínima intervención arquitectónica mediante el reciclaje e incorporación de materiales procedentes de desguace. Así, una antigua pasarela de ferry abandonada en el puerto de la ciudad, se recicla para el acceso; la puerta de entrada al espacio y la rampa interior se construyen con grandes chapas metálicas rescatadas de los otros depósitos demolidos; y los lucernarios se hacen con barriles vacíos de CEPSA adaptados al nuevo uso.

En una época en la que el crecimiento urbanístico de la ciudad ya había convertido la zona industrial ocupada por la refinería de CEPSA en un barrio residencial, la conservación del bidón en su ubicación original, es decir en el barrio Cabo Llanos de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, fue una historia de activismo extendida desde 1997 hasta 2006 cuando, por primera vez, apareció reconocido en los documentos de planeamiento urbano de la ciudad. Ante el inminente desmantelamiento, en 1995, la entonces Consejera de Cultura y Patrimonio Histórico del Cabildo de Tenerife, Dulce Xerach Pérez, impulsó la idea de conservar uno de sus grandes bidones y reunió apoyos alrededor de esta iniciativa sin ánimo de lucro,que acabó siendo la actual Asociación Amigos del Tanque. El arquitecto Fernando Menis, en tanto que miembro del grupo activista, realizó la rehabilitación y adaptación del Tanque a usos culturales y dio soporte a la Asociación hasta conseguir, en 2014, su catalogación como Bien de Interés Cultural.

El Espacio Cultural El Tanque recibió varios premios que reconocieron la calidad de su remodelación y, durante sus 25 años de existencia hasta ahora, ha albergado todo tipo de actividades culturales. Sin embargo, el entorno del Tanque no recibió la atención necesaria y quedó casi abandonado durante dos décadas como ocurrió con otros muchos espacios púbicos del mismo barrio, que nacen tras la liquidación de la refinería.

El nuevo jardín de plataneras

El nuevo jardín de plataneras del Espacio Cultural el Tanque, de cuyo proyecto es autor el arquitecto Fernando Martin Menis, nació de muchas ideas compartidas con los Amigos del Tanque, de los que forma parte el arquitecto, y de algunas personas del equipo del festival KEROXEN, pero sobretodo es producto de un continuado amor a esa parte de la ciudad de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

El perímetro de El Tanque se cubre con plataneras como una forma de recordar la actividad agrícola que existia en esta zona antes de ubicar aquí la refinería de CEPSA, en los años 30. En la visión del arquitecto Fernando Menis, los vecinos y visitantes podrán intuir la evolución del lugar a través de un efecto sorpresa: a medida que el tiempo ha ido pasando, desde mayo de 2022 hasta ahora, la exuberante vegetación subtropical ha ido colonizando la reliquia industrial, enmarcando su fascinante presencia a la vez que restaurando la memoria del pasado agrícola para construir un sentido de continuidad cultural y pertenencia.

El proyecto paisajístico de Menis se basa en un enfoque botánico, buscando crear un jardín de alta biodiversidad en un barrio que carece por completo de zonas verdes públicas. Así, se han plantado más de 700 árboles, entre cipreses, ﬂamboyanes, palmeras Roystonea Regia, Monstera Deliciosa, Ficus Repen y arbustos, además de áreas con plantas aromáticas. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los árboles son Musa Paradisiaca, en homenaje a las antiguas plantaciones de banano que ocuparon el lugar antes de que fueran reconvertidas al uso industrial. Esta especie de banano es conocida comúnmente como platanera: crece rápido, alcanza los 7 m de altura, suele ﬂorecer en verano y necesita estar orientada hacia el sol, por lo que el lugar escogido es ideal por su clima.

"Realizamos una investigación hasta contrastar que esa zona era agrícola y estaba llena de ﬁncas plataneras y tomateras, además de plantas autóctonas de la costa como tabaibas, cardones, verodes etc., todas ellas comunidades vegetales nativas de las Islas Canarias, que requieren poco riego, son resilientes y duraderas. Recuperando la historia agrícola de Santa Cruz, desaparecida en todas su zonas de costa, el entorno del Tanque se plantó con plataneras de la especie Musa paradisiaca y los tomates vinieron solos pues debían existir cepas de más de 90 años, supervivientes increíbles a toda una época industrial, que, con una preparación del terreno y un poco de agua, volvieron a crecer porque la tierra, el suelo, tiene memoria, aunque a veces se nos olvida", detalla el arquitecto Fernando Menis.

Estas son las especies que predominan en el Jardín del Tanque, constituyendo lo que se ha dado en llama r restauración ecológica, aunque no sea a gran escala sino creando una pequeña plaza-jardín público alrededor de un espacio cultural. En la vegetación se incluyó una única concesión a la nostalgia que rezuma la ruina industrial, incorporando algunos cipreses que envolverán de verde una esquina de la estructura de hierro del Tanque. Plantados estratégicamente para marcar el perímetro del muro histórico del depósito, los cipreses llegarán a medir 20 m de alto y unos 60 cm de diámetro, de modo que parecerán los guardianes del lugar y aportarán cierta monumentalidad al conjunto. De forma piramidal y de rápido crecimiento, desde sus primeros años, estos árboles de hoja perenne permitirán a los vecinos disfrutar de un entorno verde a la espera de que crezca el resto de la vegetación.

Siguiendo la misma lógica del re-uso y reciclaje que aplicó en la rehabilitación del Espacio Cultural El Tanque, el arquitecto diseña los elementos de la iluminación y del mobiliario con desechos. Así, se recuperan de la basura botellas de oxígeno de los buceadores y se adaptan a su uso como luminarias. Además, como unos de los principales usuarios del jardín son los niños, el aspecto de los mismas hace un guiño a los Minions, los personajes de dibujos animados tan queridos por los pequeños.

El cuidado por el impacto medioambiental también se percibe en la orientación de la lámpara que evita la contaminación lumínica del cielo, así como en el riego de la vegetación, que se abastece con agua reciclada.

Una acción que puede servir de ejemplo para recuperar ecológicamente otros espacios de la ciudad y de la isla.

"En suma, se trata de una acción con múltiples vertientes ya que se crean a la vez una plaza accesible, un nuevo espacio público verde, el primero en el barrio de Cabo Llanos, se evoca la historia agrícola de Santa Cruz de Tenerife y, al mismo tiempo, se recupera biodiversidad. Una acción que puede servir de ejemplo para recuperar ecológicamente otros espacios de la ciudad y de la isla", subraya Dulce Xerach, abogada y presidenta de la Asociación Amigos del Tanque.

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Nuevo jardín de plataneras en el tinerfeño Espacio Cultural El Tanque - NAN

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El Espacio Cultural El Tanque es un antiguo depósito de petróleo, representativo para la historia industrial de las Islas Canarias, que ha formado parte de la

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Art Style  |   Art & Culture International Magazine

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Spanish architect won the Exterior Spaces category for El Tanque Garden of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Built Heritage category was won by David Chipperfield for the Renovation of the iconic Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
El Tanque Garden of Santa Cruz de Tenerife won the Exterior Spaces category in the AHI European Awards for Intervention in Architectural Heritage. Designed by the Spanish architect Fernando Menis, this is the ecological restoration of a former industrial area, which has endowed the Cabo Llanos neighborhood with its first green public space. Around a former refinery tank, repurposed as a cultural space since 1997, and listed since 2014, this banana trees orchard recalls the agricultural landscape prior to industrialization, staging the city as a place of coexistence of different eras, cultures and sensibilities that have been shaping its identity.

"El Tanque Garden works with ecology and heritage to offer a creative, cultural and socially inclusive public space. It demonstrates sensitivity on all scales, including the reuse of industrial waste for the design of furniture and lighting". It is complete in terms of sustainability, social benefits and in relation to local identity and landscape design" - stated the Jury.

The Award in the category of Built Heritage went to the rehabilitation of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, carried out by the office of David Chipperfield, the last Pritzker winner. In the Urban Planning category, the Jury has awarded the Regeneration of the Gràcia neighborhoods in Barcelona, by the firm Jornet Llop Pastor Arquitectes, together with the Urban Planning Department of the Barcelona City Council. Finally, in the Dissemination category, the Prize has been awarded to the documentary "La vie en kit", by the Belgian architect and filmmaker Elodie Degavre.

In addition, the non-profit Asociación Amigos del Espacio Cultural El Tanque has been a finalist in the Dissemination category for its incessant activism over 25 years to rescue, defend and protect El Tanque as an element of the industrial and cultural heritage of the Canary Islands.

The Award is a biennial initiative of the Barcelona platform AHI Architectural Heritage Intervention; the Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Cataluña COAC (Architects Association of Catalonia ); Barcelona City Council; and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. In its sixth edition, a total of 241 projects have been entered by architecture firms from 28 European countries, the highest figure ever achieved.
The Cultural Space El Tanque in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a former refinery deposit, used as a cultural space since 1997: The El Garden Tanque is the ecological restoration of a post-industrial area in Santa Cruz de Tenerife:
The El Tanque Cultural Space of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the former tank 69, a huge container long used for the refining and storage of crude oil that was part of the CEPSA refinery, the first built in Spain around 1930. It is a 20 m high cylindrical piece with a 50 m diameter that represents one of the last vestiges of an industry that, in the last half century, has been part of the urban geography of the Tenerife island.

The adaptive reuse as a cultural space carried out in 1997 preserved its original appearance thanks to a minimal architectural intervention based on recycling. Thus, an old ferry bridge abandoned in the city's port was upcycled for the access; the entrance door to the space and the interior ramp were built with large metal sheets retrieved from other dismantled containers; and the skylights were made with empty CEPSA barrels adapted to their new use.

Coinciding with the preparation of the 25th anniversary in 2022 of this singular cultural space, the non-profit Asociación Amigos del Tanque and the Government of the Canary Islands promoted planting a garden that would cover its surroundings, to produce the first green public space in the neighborhood of Cabo Llanos.

The perimeter of El Tanque has been covered with banana trees as a way of remembering the agricultural activity that existed in this area before the CEPSA refinery was located here in the 1930s. As time passes by the exuberant subtropical vegetation colonizes the industrial relic, framing its fascinating presence while restoring the memory of the agricultural past to build a sense of cultural continuity and belonging.

The new garden respects the original layout and stone wall of the site, while the base of a dismantled adjoining tank is now the perimeter of a new semi-circular plaza. The exterior of the Tank and its elements have been rehabilitated and integrated into the general redesign concept that combines industrial heritage and nature.

Menis's landscape design seeks to create a highly biodiverse garden based on native flora with more than 700 trees and shrubs, as well as aromatic plantes areas. There are mostly banana trees as a way to recall the banana plantations that grew on the site before it was converted to industrial use.
El Tanque Garden Facts:
"Our research work has confirmed that this area was agricultural. There used to be banana and tomatoes, as well as coast plants such as tabaibas, cardones, verodes, etc., all of them native plants of the Canary Islands, which require little watering, are resilient and durable. By looking back into the agricultural history of Santa Cruz, we decided that the area around El Tanque should be planted again with banana trees. And, the tomatoes have simply sprouted, since there must have been vines over 90 years old, incredible survivors of an entire industrial era, which, after having prepared and watered the land, have grown again because the earth, the soil, can recall, although sometimes we forget it", explains the architect Fernando Menis.

Following the same line of re-use and recycling that he already applied in the rehabilitation of the El Tanque Cultural Space, the architect designs the outdoor lighting and furniture of the Garden with waste. Thus, divers' oxygen bottles were recovered from the garbage and adapted to be used as lamps. And, since one of the main users of the garden are children, the lamps resemble the Minions, the cartoon characters who are heavy banana consumers. Care for the environmental impact is also perceived in the orientation of the lamp so that it avoids light pollution, as well as in the watering of the greenery, which is supplied with recycled water.

What used to be contaminated and underused land, although part of a protected heritage compound, is now a lush garden that will only improve as biodiversity recovers, offering a public space for social cohesion, reconnection with nature and the cultural heritage of Tenerife.

"In short, it is an action with multiple implications since we have got now an accessible plaza, which is also a new green public space, a first one in the Cabo Llanos neighborhood, the agricultural history of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is evoked and, at the same time, biodiversity is recovered. It is an action that can be an example to ecologically recover other spaces in the city and on the island", emphasizes Dulce Xerach, a lawyer and president of the Association Los Amigos del Tanque.

Address: C/Adán Martín Menis s/n 38003 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Completion: 2022

M2: 2.563,75m2 (environment 1.989,63 m2+ tank 574,12m2)

Cost: 480.086,74 €

Architect: Fernando Menis

Client: Consejería de Educación, Universidades, Cultura y Deportes del Gobierno de las Islas Canarias, Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural (The Government of the Canary Islands)

Initiative: Association Amigos del Espacio Cultural El Tanque

Design project team: Jesús Montejano, Javier Espílez, Joanna Makowska-Czerska, Yanira León

Consultants: Ruperto S. Hernández González (Technical Architect and Director of building works); Prisma Ingenieros SLP (Building services engineer); Interjardín SL (Gardening); Cristina Saavedra (Logo Graphic Design)

Companies: Señalizaciones VillarPlantas (asphalt); Interjardín S.L (soil and plants); Zumtobel (lighting); Refinería Cepsa (elements for recycled furniture); Eco Steel (locksmith); Hernández de la Guardia (paint); Fachadas Dimurol S.L (painter)

Construction companies: UTE Señalizaciones Villar S.A and Interjardín S.L.

Fernando Menis (1951, Tenerife). Witha professional career spanning more than 40 years, Menis's architectural production includes works of various scales and typologies, as well as long-term research projects. An expert in designing concert halls and auditoriums, he is internationally recognized and awarded for conceiving an innovative variable acoustics system for the CKK Jordanki Concert Hall (2015, Poland). Among the projects completed, alone and in co-authorship: the Church of the Holy Redeemer of Las Chumberas (2022), El Tanque Cultural Space Public Garden (2022), CKK "Jordanki" Concert and Conventions Hall, in Poland (2015) , Plaza Bürchen in Switzerland (2015), Insular Athletics Stadium (2007), Magma Arte & Congresos (2007), Floating pool in the Spree River of Berlin (2004) and the Presidency of the Canary Islands Government in Tenerife (2000). Among the ongoing projects, the following stand out: the Rehabilitation of the Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park, the Masterplan in Boa Vista, the Pájara Conventions and Concert Hall in Fuerteventura, the Rehabilitation of the Cultural Center in La Guanche, the Rehabilitation of the Teobaldo Power Performative Arts Hall in La Orotava. Distinguished on 10 occasions with the Canary Islands Architecture Prize, Menis also won: the Prize for the Best Cultural Building in Poland 2015 from the National Council of Architects of Poland; the CEMEX Award for Universal Accessibility 2016; the 2016 Taipei Design Award to the Best Public Building Award; the Stone Award at the VIII International Stone Architecture Award 2005; and the Prize of the V Spanish Biennial of Architecture 1998, among others. Architect Doctor from the Polytechnic of Valencia, his works have been shown in several editions of the Venice Biennale, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, at the Aedes Berlin gallery and the GA gallery in Tokyo. His project Iglesia del Santísimo Redentor is part of the permanent collection of the MoMA Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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Art Style | Art & Culture International Magazine

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Fernando Menis wins the AHI European Award for Intervention in Architectural Heritage for El Tanque Garden

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Spanish architect won the Exterior Spaces category for El Tanque Garden of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Built Heritage category was won by David Chipperfield for the Renovation of the iconic Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. El Tanque Garden of Santa Cruz de Tenerife won the Exterior Spaces category in the AHI European Awards for Intervention...

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Recuperación del paisaje pre-industrial. Jardín del Espacio Cultural El Tanque por Fernando Menis

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Recuperación del paisaje pre-industrial. Jardín del Espacio Cultural El Tanque por Fernando Menis

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designboom | architecture & design magazine

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a green oasis of banana trees by Menis Arquitectos

Conceived by Menis Arquitectos, a new banana tree garden adorns the El Tanque Cultural Space, a former oil tank in the Canary Islands. The green oasis recalls the agricultural history of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where Spain's first refinery was built. In 1995, the Councillor for Culture and Historical Heritage of Tenerife island's government, Mrs. Dulce Xerach Pérez, promoted the idea of keeping one of its large containers. The architect Fernando Menis undertook the rehabilitation of El Tanque into a cultural space, which was listed as a protected cultural heritage in 2014. This year El Tanque celebrates its 25 years of existence with an ecological landscape design, created by the same architect.

This verdant project provides the Cabo Llanos neighborhood with its first green public space. The new banana trees garden, also featuring other Canary species, reflects the local agricultural landscape prior to industrialization, generating a place where different eras, cultures, and sensibilities that have shaped the region's identity coexist. Meanwhile, the design team created lighting and furniture elements made with waste materials, such as old diving bottles recycled and modified for new use.

exuberant subtropical vegetation celebrates El Tanque

The architects marked the perimeter of El Tanque with the vivacious subtropical vegetation in an attempt of recalling the agricultural activity that once existed in this area. Coinciding its 25th anniversary, the Association Amigos del Tanque promoted the creation of a garden that would occupy its surroundings, recovering both a trace of its industrial past as well as a memory of its agricultural history, which disappeared from the city at the beginning of the 20th century.

Measuring 50 meters in diameter and almost 20 meters high, the El Tanque Cultural Space takes shape as a huge container that served for many years for the refining and storage of crude oil. After its renovation into a cultural space, it mainly retained its original exterior and interior appearance, with minimal architectural intervention by recycling and incorporating scrap materials.

'The new banana garden of the El Tanque Cultural Space, whose designer is Fernando Martín Menis, was born from many ideas shared with the Association Amigos del Tanque, of which the architect is a member, and from some integrants of the team who organizes the KEROXEN festival, but above all it is the result of a continued love for that part of the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife that a few citizens have spent years committed to preserving and defending', states Dulce Xerach, a lawyer and president of the Association Amigos del Tanque.

the trees allow residents to enjoy a green environment while waiting for the rest of the vegetation to grow

Fernando Menis's landscape design introduces a green oasis with high biodiversity in a neighborhood that completely lacks public green areas. For this scheme, more than 700 trees have been planted, including cypresses, flamboyants, Roystonea Regia palms, Monstera Deliciosa, Ficus Repen, and shrubs, as well as areas with aromatic plants. However, as a tribute to the old banana plantations that inhabited the site once, the main tree found in the area is Musa Paradisiaca. This type of tree grows speedy and can reach up to seven meters high, while it blooms over summer, and needs sun orientation.

'Our research work has confirmed that this area was agricultural and was full of banana and tomato farms, as well as coast plants such as tabaibas, cardones, verodes, etc., all of them native plants of the Canary Islands, which require little watering, are resilient and durable. By looking back into the agricultural history of Santa Cruz, which had disappeared in all its coastal areas, the area around El Tanque has been planted with banana trees of the Musa paradisiaca species, while the tomatoes have simply come out, since there must have been vines over 90 years old, incredible survivors of an entire industrial era, which, after having prepared the land and with some watering, have grown again because the earth, the soil, has got memory, although sometimes we forget it', explains Fernando Menis.

Following the same logic of reuse and recycling, MenisArquitectos designed the lighting and furniture with waste elements. Thus, divers' oxygen bottles are converted and modeled into lamps exuding a playful attitude as they resemble the figures from the Minions cartoon. After all, one of the main users of the garden is children. The design also follows a conscious strategy in terms of light pollution, as well as the watering of the greenery, which is supplied with recycled water.

'In short, it is an action with multiple implications since we have got now an accessible plaza, which is also a new green public space, a first one in the Cabo Llanos neighborhood, the agricultural history of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is evoked and, at the same time, biodiversity is recovered. It is an action that can be an example to ecologically recover other spaces in the city and on the island', emphasizes Dulce Xerach, a lawyer and president of the Association Los Amigos del Tanque.

the first green public space in the Cabo Llanos neighborhood came to fruition

the lamps' appearance ressembles the Minions cartoon characters

the reservoir has a 50 meters diameter and is almost 20 meters high | image ©Hisao Suzuki
project info:
name: El Tanque Cultural Space

architect: Fernando Menis | @fernandomenis

design team: Jesús Montejano, Javier Espílez, Joanna Makowska-Czerska, Yanira León

location: Canary Islands, Spain
completion: 2022
M2 site: 5.714,55 sqm (2.210 sqm garden)
M2: 2.563,75 sqm (environment 1.989,63 sqm + tank 574,12 sqm)
cost: 480K €

client: Consejería de Educación, Universidades, Cultura y Deportes del Gobierno de las Islas Canarias, Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural (The Government of the Canary Islands)
initiative: Association Amigos del Espacio Cultural El Tanque

consultants: Ruperto S. Hernández González (Technical Architect and Director of building works); Prisma
Ingenieros SLP (Building services engineer); Interjardín SL (Gardening); Cristina Saavedra (Logo Graphic
Design)
companies: Señalizaciones VillarPlantas (asphalt); Interjardín S.L (soil and plants); Zumtobel (lighting);
Refinería Cepsa (elements for recycled furniture); Eco Steel (locksmith); Hernández de la Guardia (paint);
Fachadas Dimurol S.L (painter)
construction companies: UTE Señalizaciones Villar S.A and Interjardín S.L

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new banana garden by menis arquitectos takes over former oil tank in the canary islands

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Conceived by Fernando Menis, a new banana tree garden adorns the El Tanque Cultural Space, a former oil tank in the Canary Islands.

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Spanish architecture studio Menis Arquitectos has repurposed an oil tank as a new cultural space, recalling the agricultural history of Santa Cruz de Tenerife that preceded Spain's first refinery.

Named El Tanque Cultural Space, the 2,564-square-metre project, led by Menis Arquitectos founder Fernando Menis, includes the transformation of a former oil tank into a cultural space, which celebrates its 25 years of existence by opening the first green public space in the neighborhood where it is located.

Emerging as an adaptive reuse of the 1990s former oil deposit, the space was entriley conceived as a cultural space.

The new project is now culminating in an ecological restoration project featuring banana trees and other Canary species.

Image © Hisao Suzuki

The studio has created all lighting and furniture pieces from waste elements, such as recycled-old diving bottles were adapted to their new use.

The El Tanque Cultural Space is a former oil tank, representative for the industrial history of the Canary Islands, which has been a part of the urban geography of Santa Cruz de Tenerife since 1929 when the first Spain's refinery was built here.

Faced with its imminent dismantling, in 1995, the then Councillor for Culture and Historical Heritage of Tenerife island's government, Mrs. Dulce Xerach Pérez, promoted the idea of keeping one of its large containers and gathered support around this non-profit initiative, which ended up being the current Association Amigos del Tanque.

Image © Hisao Suzuki

As a member of this activists group, the architect Fernando Menis carried out the rehabilitation and adaptation of El Tanque to cultural uses and gave support to the Association until it was listed as protected cultural heritage in 2014.

In 2022, the Association celebrates the 25 years of existence of El Tanque with an ecological restoration project of its surroundings, designed by the same architect, and which provides the Cabo Llanos neighborhood with its first green public space.

Image © Hisao Suzuki

According to Menis's vision, the new banana trees garden that surrounds the industrial heritage vestige recalls the agricultural landscape prior to industrialization, staging the city as a place of coexistence for the different eras, cultures and sensibilities that have shaped Santa Cruz de Tenerife's identity.

Image © Simona Rota

The El Tanque Cultural Space is the former tank 69, a huge container that served for many years for the refining and storage of crude oil, integrated into the CEPSA refinery, the first in Spain, which was built in Tenerife around 1930.

It is a cylindrical piece 50 meters in diameter and almost 20 meters high that represents one of the last vestiges of an industry that, in the last half century, has formed part of the urban geography of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

It retains its original exterior and interior appearance, having been adapted to its new cultural use with minimal architectural intervention by recycling and incorporating scrap materials.

Image © Simona Rota

Thus, an old ferry bridge abandoned in the city's port has been recycled for access; the entrance door to the space and the interior ramp has been built with large metal sheets retrieved from other dismantled containers; and the skylights have been made with empty CEPSA barrels adapted to their new use.

Image © Simona Rota

At a time when the urban growth of the city had already turned the industrial zone occupied by the CEPSA refinery into a residential neighborhood, the conservation of the tank in its original location that is the Cabo Llanos neighborhood of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, was a story of activism spanning from 1997 to 2006 when, for the first time, it was recognized in the city's urban planning documents.

The El Tanque Cultural Space received several awards that recognized the quality of its remodeling and, during its 25 years of existence until now, it has hosted from exhibitions, performances and on-site installations to cinema, theater, classical music and pop rock concerts.

It is also the venue of the prestigious KEROXEN Electronic Music Festival that is held annually. However, the surroundings of the Tank have not received the necessary attention and have been left almost abandoned for two decades, as it has happened with many other public spaces in the same neighborhood, which were born after the liquidation of the refinery.

Image © Simona Rota

Coinciding with the preparation, a few years ago, of the 25th anniversary of this singular cultural space, the Association Amigos del Tanque went one step further and promoted the creation of a garden that would occupy its surroundings: not only had they managed to leave a trace of the industrial history of Santa Cruz - the Tank itself - but now they were recovering another layer, the agricultural history, which disappeared from the city at the beginning of the 20th century.

Subsequently, it obtained the support of the Government of the Canary Islands, which assumed the cost of rehabilitating the environment, to give rise to the first green public space in the Cabo Llanos neighborhood.

Image © Simona Rota

It should be noted that the public garden of the Tank would not exist today if it were not for the resistance movement that the Association maintained against those who wanted to demolish the former oil depot to replace it with a simple private housing building, 10 stories high and bland architecture.

The process demonstrates that a city is not made only by politicians, urban planners and architects, but also by committed citizens.

The perimeter of El Tanque has been covered with banana trees as a way of remembering the agricultural activity that existed in this area before the CEPSA refinery was located here in the 1930s.

Image © Simona Rota

In the vision of the architect, residents and visitors will be able to sense the evolution of the place through a surprise effect: as time has passed, from May 2022 until now, the exuberant subtropical vegetation has been colonizing the industrial relic, framing its fascinating presence while restoring the memory of the agricultural past to build a sense of cultural continuity and belonging.

Fernando Menis's landscape design is based on a botanical approach that seeks to create a garden with high biodiversity in a neighborhood that completely lacks public green areas. Thus, more than 700 trees have been planted, including cypresses, flamboyants, Roystonea Regia palms, Monstera Deliciosa, Ficus Repen and shrubs, as well as areas with aromatic plants.

However, most of the trees are Musa Paradisiaca, a tribute to the old banana plantations that occupied the site before they were converted to industrial use. This type of banana tree grows fast, reaches 7 m high , usually flowers in summer and needs to be oriented towards the sun, so the chosen place is ideal.

Image © Hisao Suzuki

"Our research work has confirmed that this area was agricultural and was full of banana and tomato farms, as well as coast plants such as tabaibas, cardones, verodes, etc., all of them native plants of the Canary Islands, which require little watering, are resilient and durable," explained the architect Fernando Menis.

"By looking back into the agricultural history of Santa Cruz, which had disappeared in all its coastal areas, the area around El Tanque has been planted with banana trees of the Musa paradisiaca species, while the tomatoes have simply come out, since there must have been vines over 90 years old, incredible survivors of an entire industrial era, which, after having prepared the land and with some watering, have grown again because the earth, the soil, has got memory, although sometimes we forget it," Menis added.

Image © Hisao Suzuki

These are the species that predominate in the Jardín del Tanque, making up what has been called an ecological restoration, although not on a large scale but rather creating a small public square-garden around a cultural space. In the vegetation, a single concession to the nostalgia that oozes the industrial ruin was included, incorporating some cypresses that will wrap a corner of the iron structure of the Tank in green.

It is a natural species, adapted to the Canary Islands and harmless to the rest of the species that accompany it. Strategically planted to mark the perimeter of the historic wall of the reservoir, the cypresses will reach 20 m high and about 60 cm in diameter, so that they will look like the guardians of the place and will bring a certain monumentality to the entire compound.

Pyramid shaped and fast growing, from its earliest years, these evergreen trees allow residents to enjoy a green environment while waiting for the rest of the vegetation to grow.

Image © Hisao Suzuki

Following the same line of re-use and recycling that he already applied in the rehabilitation of the El Tanque Cultural Space, for the garden, the architect designs the lighting and furniture elements with waste.

Thus, divers' oxygen bottles are recovered from the garbage and adapted to be used as lamps. And, since one of the main users of the garden are children, the lamps' appearance may reming the Minions, the cartoon characters so much loved by children.

Image © Anna Tatarzynska

Care for the environmental impact is also perceived in the orientation of the lamp so that it avoids light pollution, as well as in the watering of the greenery, which is supplied with recycled water.

Site plan

Masterplan

Program elements

Section

Elevations

Sections

Sections

Vegetation plan

Vegetation section

Menis Arquitectos completed a church and a community centre with four massive volumes resembling large restless rocks on Canary Islands of Spain. The firm was selected to redesign a second headquarters of the Rodin Museum in Tenerife, Spain.

Project name: El Tanque Cultural Space

Architects: Menis Arquitectos

Location: C/Adán Martín Menis s/n 38003 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Completion: 2022

Site size: 5.714,55 m2 (2.210 m2 garden)

Size: 2.563,75m2 (environment 1.989,63 m2+ tank 574,12m2)

Architect: Fernando Menis

Client: Consejería de Educación, Universidades, Cultura y Deportes del Gobierno de las Islas Canarias, Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural (The Government of the Canary Islands)

Initiative: Association Amigos del Espacio Cultural El Tanque

Design project team: Jesús Montejano, Javier Espílez, Joanna Makowska-Czerska, Yanira León

Consultants: Ruperto S. Hernández González (Technical Architect and Director of building works); Prisma Ingenieros SLP (Building services engineer); Interjardín SL (Gardening); Cristina Saavedra (Logo Graphic Design)

Companies: Señalizaciones VillarPlantas (asphalt); Interjardín S.L (soil and plants); Zumtobel (lighting); Refinería Cepsa (elements for recycled furniture); Eco Steel (locksmith); Hernández de la Guardia (paint); Fachadas Dimurol S.L (painter)

Construction companies: UTE Señalizaciones Villar S.A and Interjardín S.L.

Top image in the article © Hisao Suzuki.

All drawings © Menis Arquitectos.

> via Menis Arquitectos
Project facts

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Menis Arquitectos repurposes former oil tank as a cultural space with new banana gardens in Spain

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The World Architecture Community has enabled architects around the globe to share, collaborate and showcase their work since 2006. The renowned WA Awards competition, which showcases the projects of our community members runs three times a year.

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AHI European Award 2023 honours inclusive and sustainable interventions

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With David Chipperfield Architects winning the built heritage category, the award recognises excellence in European architectural and heritage intervention.

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Project Authors

El Tanque Cultural Space, an industrial heritage asset El Tanque (The Tank) Cultural Space is an old oil refinery tank built in the '50s of the XXth century. The preservation of this industrial heritage facility in its original location, in the Cabo Llanos neighborhood of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, was decided in 1997 when the urban growth of the city converted the former industrial area occupied by the CEPSA refinery in a residential neighborhood. It was our founder architect who initiated the...

Project details

Client Gobierno de las Islas Canarias.Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural. Consejería de Educación, Universidades, Cultura y Deportes

Contractor UTE Señalizaciones Villar S.A and Interjardín S.L.

Status Completed works

Type Parks, Public Gardens / Public Squares / Adaptive reuse of industrial sites / Landscape/territorial planning / Art Galleries

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El Tanque Public Garden | Fernando Menis

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El Tanque Cultural Space, an industrial heritage assetEl Tanque (The Tank) Cultural Space is an old oil refinery tank built in the '50s of the XXth...

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El Tanque Garden by Fernando Menis Architects

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The new banana garden recalls the agricultural history of Santa Cruz de Tenerife that preceded Spain's first refinery

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Spanish Architect Fernando Menis Wins the AHI European Award Alongside with David Chipperfield

El Tanque Garden of Santa Cruz de Tenerife won the Exterior Spaces category in the AHI European Awards for Intervention in Architectural Heritage. Designed by the Spanish architect Fernando Menis, this is the ecological restoration of a former industrial area, which has endowed the Cabo Llanos neighborhood with its first green public space. Around a former refinery tank, repurposed as a cultural space since 1997, and listed since 2014, this banana trees orchard recalls the agricultural landscape prior to industrialization, staging the city as a place of coexistence of different eras, cultures and sensibilities that have been shaping its identity.

El Tanque Garden works with ecology and heritage to offer a creative, cultural and socially inclusive public space. It demonstrates sensitivity on all scales, including the reuse of industrial waste for the design of furniture and lighting". It is complete in terms of sustainability, social benefits and in relation to local identity and landscape design.

-statement by the jury

The Award in the category of Built Heritage went to the rehabilitation of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, carried out by the office of David Chipperfield, the last Pritzker winner. In the Urban Planning category, the Jury has awarded the Regeneration of the Gràcia neighborhoods in Barcelona, by the firm Jornet Llop Pastor Arquitectes, together with the Urban Planning Department of the Barcelona City Council. Finally, in the Dissemination category, the Prize has been awarded to the documentary "La vie en kit", by the Belgian architect and filmmaker Elodie Degavre.

In addition, the non-profit Asociación Amigos del Espacio Cultural El Tanque has been a finalist in the Dissemination category for its incessant activism over 25 years to rescue, defend and protect El Tanque as an element of the industrial and cultural heritage of the Canary Islands.

The Award is a biennial initiative of the Barcelona platform AHI Architectural Heritage Intervention; the Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Cataluña COAC (Architects Association of Catalonia ); Barcelona City Council; and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. In its sixth edition, a total of 241 projects have been entered by architecture firms from 28 European countries, the highest figure ever achieved.

The Cultural Space El Tanque in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a former refinery deposit, used as a cultural space since 1997

The El Tanque Cultural Space of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the former tank 69, a huge container long used for the refining and storage of crude oil that was part of the CEPSA refinery, the first built in Spain around 1930. It is a 20 m high cylindrical piece with a 50 m diameter that represents one of the last vestiges of an industry that, in the last half century, has been part of the urban geography of the Tenerife island.

The adaptive reuse as a cultural space carried out in 1997 preserved its original appearance thanks to a minimal architectural intervention based on recycling. Thus, an old ferry bridge abandoned in the city's port was upcycled for the access; the entrance door to the space and the interior ramp were built with large metal sheets retrieved from other dismantled containers; and the skylights were made with empty CEPSA barrels adapted to their new use.

The El Garden Tanque is the ecological restoration of a post-industrial area in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Coinciding with the preparation of the 25th anniversary in 2022 of this singular cultural space, the non-profit Asociación Amigos del Tanque and the Government of the Canary Islands promoted planting a garden that would cover its surroundings, to produce the first green public space in the neighborhood of Cabo Llanos.

The perimeter of El Tanque has been covered with banana trees as a way of remembering the agricultural activity that existed in this area before the CEPSA refinery was located here in the 1930s. As time passes by the exuberant subtropical vegetation colonizes the industrial relic, framing its fascinating presence while restoring the memory of the agricultural past to build a sense of cultural continuity and belonging.

The new garden respects the original layout and stone wall of the site, while the base of a dismantled adjoining tank is now the perimeter of a new semi-circular plaza. The exterior of the Tank and its elements have been rehabilitated and integrated into the general redesign concept that combines industrial heritage and nature.

Menis's landscape design seeks to create a highly biodiverse garden based on native flora with more than 700 trees and shrubs, as well as aromatic plantes areas. There are mostly banana trees as a way to recall the banana plantations that grew on the site before it was converted to industrial use.

Following the same line of re-use and recycling that he already applied in the rehabilitation of the El Tanque Cultural Space, the architect designs the outdoor lighting and furniture of the Garden with waste. Thus, divers' oxygen bottles were recovered from the garbage and adapted to be used as lamps. And, since one of the main users of the garden are children, the lamps resemble the Minions, the cartoon characters who are heavy banana consumers. Care for the environmental impact is also perceived in the orientation of the lamp so that it avoids light pollution, as well as in the watering of the greenery, which is supplied with recycled water.

What used to be contaminated and underused land, although part of a protected heritage compound, is now a lush garden that will only improve as biodiversity recovers, offering a public space for social cohesion, reconnection with nature and the cultural heritage of Tenerife.

Our research work has confirmed that this area was agricultural. There used to be banana and tomatoes, as well as coast plants such as tabaibas, cardones, verodes, etc., all of them native plants of the Canary Islands, which require little watering, are resilient and durable. By looking back into the agricultural history of Santa Cruz, we decided that the area around El Tanque should be planted again with banana trees. And, the tomatoes have simply sprouted, since there must have been vines over 90 years old, incredible survivors of an entire industrial era, which, after having prepared and wartered the land, have grown again because the earth, the soil, can recall, although sometimes we forget it.

-Fernando Menis

About Fernando Menis

With a professional career spanning more than 40 years, Menis's architectural production includes works of various scales and typologies, as well as long-term research projects. An expert in designing concert halls and auditoriums, he is internationally recognized and awarded for conceiving an innovative variable acoustics system for the CKK Jordanki Concert Hall (2015, Poland). Among the projects completed, alone and in co-authorship: the Church of the Holy Redeemer of Las Chumberas (2022), El Tanque Cultural Space Public Garden (2022), CKK "Jordanki" Concert and Conventions Hall, in Poland (2015) , Plaza Bürchen in Switzerland (2015), Insular Athletics Stadium (2007), Magma Arte & Congresos (2007), Floating pool in the Spree River of Berlin (2004) and the Presidency of the Canary Islands Government in Tenerife (2000). Among the ongoing projects, the following stand out: the Rehabilitation of the Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park, the Masterplan in Boa Vista, the Pájara Conventions and Concert Hall in Fuerteventura, the Rehabilitation of the Cultural Center in La Guanche, the Rehabilitation of the Teobaldo Power Performative Arts Hall in La Orotava. Distinguished on 10 occasions with the Canary Islands Architecture Prize, Menis also won: the Prize for the Best Cultural Building in Poland 2015 from the National Council of Architects of Poland; the CEMEX Award for Universal Accessibility 2016; the 2016 Taipei Design Award to the Best Public Building Award; the Stone Award at the VIII International Stone Architecture Award 2005; and the Prize of the V Spanish Biennial of Architecture 1998, among others. Architect Doctor from the Polytechnic of Valencia, his works have been shown in several editions of the Venice Biennale, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, at the Aedes Berlin gallery and the GA gallery in Tokyo. His project Iglesia del Santísimo Redentor is part of the permanent collection of the MoMA Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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Fernando Menis wins the AHI European Award for Intervention in Architectural Heritage

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El Tanque Garden of Santa Cruz de Tenerife won the Exterior Spaces category in the AHI European Awards for Intervention in Architectural Heritage. Designed by the Spanish architect Fernando Menis, this is the ecological restoration of a former industrial area, which has endowed the Cabo Llanos neighborhood with its first green public space.

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El Espacio Cultural El Tanque es un antiguo depósito de petróleo, representativo para la historia industrial de las Islas Canarias, que ha formado parte de la geografía urbana de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Ante el inminente desmantelamiento de la misma, en 1995, la entonces Consejera de Cultura y Patrimonio Histórico del Cabildo de Tenerife, Dulce Xerach Pérez, impulsó la idea de conservar uno de sus grandes bidones y reunió apoyos alrededor de esta iniciativa sin ánimo de lucro, que acabó siendo la actual Asociación Amigos del Tanque. En tanto que miembro de este grupo de activistas, el arquitecto Fernando Menis realizó la rehabilitación y adaptación del Tanque a usos culturales y dio soporte a la Asociación hasta conseguir, en 2014, su catalogación como Bien de Interés Cultural.

En 2022, la Asociación celebra los 25 años de existencia del Tanque con un proyecto de restauración ecológica de su entorno, diseñado por el mismo arquitecto, y que aporta al barrio Cabo Llanos su primer espacio público verde. En la visión de Menis, el nuevo jardín de plataneras que rodea el vestigio de patrimonio industrial rememora el paisaje agrícola anterior a la industrialización, escenificando la ciudad como lugar de convivencia de las diversas épocas, culturas y sensibilidades que han ido modelando la identidad de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Espacio Cultural El Tanque de Santa Cruz de Tenerife: un antiguo depósito de petróleo se recupera para las actividades culturales de la ciudad
El Espacio Cultural El Tanque es el antiguo tanque 69, es decir un enorme bidón que sirvió durante muchos años para el refinado y almacenamiento de crudo, integrado en la refinería de CEPSA, la primera de de España, que se construye en Tenerife hacia 1930. Es una pieza cilíndrica de 50 metros de diámetro y casi 20 metros de altura que representa uno de los últimos vestigios de una industria que, en el último medio siglo, ha formado parte de la geografía urbana de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Conserva su aspecto exterior e interior original, habiéndose adaptado a su nuevo uso cultural con una mínima intervención arquitectónica mediante el reciclaje e incorporación de materiales procedentes de desguace. Así, una antigua pasarela de ferry abandonada en el puerto de la ciudad, se recicla para el acceso; la puerta de entrada al espacio y la rampa interior se construyen con grandes chapas metálicas rescatadas de los otros depósitos demolidos; y los lucernarios se hacen con barriles vacíos de CEPSA adaptados al nuevo uso.

En una época en la que el crecimiento urbanístico de la ciudad ya había convertido la zona industrial ocupada por la refinería de CEPSA en un barrio residencial, la conservación del bidón en su ubicación original, es decir en el barrio Cabo Llanos de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, fue una historia de activismo extendida desde 1997 hasta 2006 cuando, por primera vez, apareció reconocido en los documentos de planeamiento urbano de la ciudad. Ante el inminente desmantelamiento, en 1995, la entonces Consejera de Cultura y Patrimonio Histórico del Cabildo de Tenerife, Dulce Xerach Pérez, impulsó la idea de conservar uno de sus grandes bidones y reunió apoyos alrededor de esta iniciativa sin ánimo de lucro,que acabó siendo la actual Asociación Amigos del Tanque. El arquitecto Fernando Menis, en tanto que miembro del grupo activista, realizó la rehabilitación y adaptación del Tanque a usos culturales y dio soporte a la Asociación hasta conseguir, en 2014, su catalogación como Bien de Interés Cultural.

El Espacio Cultural El Tanque recibió varios premios que reconocieron la calidad de su remodelación y, durante sus 25 años de existencia hasta ahora, ha albergado todo tipo de actividades culturales. Sin embargo, el entorno del Tanque no recibió la atención necesaria y quedó casi abandonado durante dos décadas como ocurrió con otros muchos espacios púbicos del mismo barrio, que nacen tras la liquidación de la refinería.

El nuevo jardín de plataneras

El nuevo jardín de plataneras del Espacio Cultural el Tanque, de cuyo proyecto es autor el arquitecto Fernando Martin Menis, nació de muchas ideas compartidas con los Amigos del Tanque, de los que forma parte el arquitecto, y de algunas personas del equipo del festival KEROXEN, pero sobretodo es producto de un continuado amor a esa parte de la ciudad de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

El perímetro de El Tanque se cubre con plataneras como una forma de recordar la actividad agrícola que existia en esta zona antes de ubicar aquí la refinería de CEPSA, en los años 30. En la visión del arquitecto Fernando Menis, los vecinos y visitantes podrán intuir la evolución del lugar a través de un efecto sorpresa: a medida que el tiempo ha ido pasando, desde mayo de 2022 hasta ahora, la exuberante vegetación subtropical ha ido colonizando la reliquia industrial, enmarcando su fascinante presencia a la vez que restaurando la memoria del pasado agrícola para construir un sentido de continuidad cultural y pertenencia.

El proyecto paisajístico de Menis se basa en un enfoque botánico, buscando crear un jardín de alta biodiversidad en un barrio que carece por completo de zonas verdes públicas. Así, se han plantado más de 700 árboles, entre cipreses, ﬂamboyanes, palmeras Roystonea Regia, Monstera Deliciosa, Ficus Repen y arbustos, además de áreas con plantas aromáticas. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los árboles son Musa Paradisiaca, en homenaje a las antiguas plantaciones de banano que ocuparon el lugar antes de que fueran reconvertidas al uso industrial. Esta especie de banano es conocida comúnmente como platanera: crece rápido, alcanza los 7 m de altura, suele ﬂorecer en verano y necesita estar orientada hacia el sol, por lo que el lugar escogido es ideal por su clima.

"Realizamos una investigación hasta contrastar que esa zona era agrícola y estaba llena de ﬁncas plataneras y tomateras, además de plantas autóctonas de la costa como tabaibas, cardones, verodes etc., todas ellas comunidades vegetales nativas de las Islas Canarias, que requieren poco riego, son resilientes y duraderas. Recuperando la historia agrícola de Santa Cruz, desaparecida en todas su zonas de costa, el entorno del Tanque se plantó con plataneras de la especie Musa paradisiaca y los tomates vinieron solos pues debían existir cepas de más de 90 años, supervivientes increíbles a toda una época industrial, que, con una preparación del terreno y un poco de agua, volvieron a crecer porque la tierra, el suelo, tiene memoria, aunque a veces se nos olvida", detalla el arquitecto Fernando Menis.

Estas son las especies que predominan en el Jardín del Tanque, constituyendo lo que se ha dado en llama r restauración ecológica, aunque no sea a gran escala sino creando una pequeña plaza-jardín público alrededor de un espacio cultural. En la vegetación se incluyó una única concesión a la nostalgia que rezuma la ruina industrial, incorporando algunos cipreses que envolverán de verde una esquina de la estructura de hierro del Tanque. Plantados estratégicamente para marcar el perímetro del muro histórico del depósito, los cipreses llegarán a medir 20 m de alto y unos 60 cm de diámetro, de modo que parecerán los guardianes del lugar y aportarán cierta monumentalidad al conjunto. De forma piramidal y de rápido crecimiento, desde sus primeros años, estos árboles de hoja perenne permitirán a los vecinos disfrutar de un entorno verde a la espera de que crezca el resto de la vegetación.

Siguiendo la misma lógica del re-uso y reciclaje que aplicó en la rehabilitación del Espacio Cultural El Tanque, el arquitecto diseña los elementos de la iluminación y del mobiliario con desechos. Así, se recuperan de la basura botellas de oxígeno de los buceadores y se adaptan a su uso como luminarias. Además, como unos de los principales usuarios del jardín son los niños, el aspecto de los mismas hace un guiño a los Minions, los personajes de dibujos animados tan queridos por los pequeños.

El cuidado por el impacto medioambiental también se percibe en la orientación de la lámpara que evita la contaminación lumínica del cielo, así como en el riego de la vegetación, que se abastece con agua reciclada.

Una acción que puede servir de ejemplo para recuperar ecológicamente otros espacios de la ciudad y de la isla.

"En suma, se trata de una acción con múltiples vertientes ya que se crean a la vez una plaza accesible, un nuevo espacio público verde, el primero en el barrio de Cabo Llanos, se evoca la historia agrícola de Santa Cruz de Tenerife y, al mismo tiempo, se recupera biodiversidad. Una acción que puede servir de ejemplo para recuperar ecológicamente otros espacios de la ciudad y de la isla", subraya Dulce Xerach, abogada y presidenta de la Asociación Amigos del Tanque.

Imágenes cedidas: Hisao Suzuki

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El nuevo jardín de plataneras del Espacio Cultural El Tanque

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El nuevo jardín de plataneras del Espacio Cultural El Tanque El Espacio Cultural El Tanque es un antiguo depósito de petróleo, representativo para la historia industrial de las Islas Canarias, que ha formado parte de la geografía urbana de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

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The winners of the 6th edition of the European Award Architectural Heritage Intervention | Livegreenblog

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Read The European Award Architectural Heritage Intervention is a biennial event organised by the Barcelonabased AHI Architectural Heritage Intervention platform and

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Check Out This Intriguing Banana Garden Designed by Menis Architects

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To add more texture, green space, and a more interesting view around the tank, a banana garden has been born in the Canary Islands, and here is everything you need to see.