Architect awarded for study of Benidorm urban development

THE Bakema Foundation, based in the Netherlands, has awarded the study of Spanish architect Elena Cabrera regarding urban development in Benidorm and Marbella.

The study ‘Beni-York versus Marbella Beach.

Urban Development which Devours the Spanish Coastline’ was chosen amongst 47 proposals from Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia and published in January in the A10 European architecture magazine.

The study understands that there are “two opposite styles of urban development in Spain.

The one in Benidorm, which deals with the massive tourist influx by building upwards in the city and towards the coast, and the one in Marbella, which is horizontal, devastating, and eats up everything in its path”.

Cabrera adds that Benidorm “represented a plan based on hard work and determination, while Marbella’s is carried out through corruption and uncontrolled evolution.”

She points out that although Benidorm’s model may be less attractive, the available is used relatively efficientely and makes it “an attractive area even outside the tourist season”.