2006. Introduction of Altea-Portosenso project with Jean Nouvel

Urbanoticias.com. November 27, 2006

Josep Ribas Folguera and Jean Nouvel presented, in Altea Portosenso, the first residential project in the Valencian Community

An innovative and distinctive philosophy for a complex created for sensory delight.

Portosenso is the first residential project fruit of the collaboration between Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos Asociados and Jean Nouvel in the Valencian Community. Located in Altea, on the shores of the Mediterranean, it is distinguished for being an urban proposal that highlights the original natural values of the place, integrating itself in the environment and respecting the native flora of the area to the maximum. The farm, with an area of almost 136,000 square meters, is located on a slope that gently descends to a beach next to which is a small marina.

The originality of the project has meant that in just one month and a half more than 50,000 people visited the website of Portosenso. After several months of anticipation, the project will be presented to the public today, Monday, November 27 at the Palau de Altea at 12 noon. In this act, the architects Jean Nouvel and Josep Ribas Folguera will announce the main details of this urbanization located in the “Mar y Montaña” estate, one of the most beautiful areas of the Costa Blanca, due to its location and orography. With them it is intended to revalue the place and its past, without erasing its traces or altering its appearance.

Promoted by the company of Altea, Zontoga S.A, the Portosenso complex is part of the proposal made by the real estate strategy consultant, Ignacio Jiménez de Laiglesia, who is in charge of the coordination and direction of the project.

Community concept in which to live all year

Portosenso is conceived as a versatile urbanization for a public that is jealous of its privacy and at the same time needs to socialize and share. This versatility is also extrapolated to the concept of home, since it has the necessary characteristics to constitute a first residence and not only cover holiday expectations. The residence – workplace duality implies that both housing and public spaces are equipped with the most advanced means of telecommunication, designed for people who want to live and work in a suggestive place.

At the same time, the architects have designed a residential complex completely integrated into the environment, in which the residential area will occupy only 9.5% of the total surface. The choice of textures and materials, as well as the adaptation to the orography of the place, have been key choices to highlight the uniqueness of Altea’s landscape. In Portosenso, it is a priority to value the original landscape, without artificial transformations or re-creation of foreign models, so that the presence of the native flora will be respected, for which the existing forest mass will be returned to the farm before its intervention. To achieve such a landscape integration, the architects propose a night lighting project that avoids the pollution caused by luminaire saturation. This will allow you to enjoy the presence of the Mediterranean Sea and its sky at any time of the day.