The design of the La Petxina tile

The designer Ibán Ramón has presented the tile design for La Petxina, in a call for projects issued by the Urban Development Department of Valencia City Council. The design consists of a graphic pattern that will form part of the project for the first superblock (or grouping of blocks) of the city of Valencia, at the crossroads of the Palleter and Calixto III streets. A graphic motif intended to represent the visual identity of the intervention itself, as well as being a possible visual identity for the neighbourhood.

The Palleter superblock project, in the La Petxina district, will be the first tactical planning action to use this graphic tile. This type of urban development allows a fast and economic transformation of space with graphic, temporary and versatile elements that can be moved and modified as the need arises. 

The presentation took place at a press conference held by the Urban Development Department of Valencia City Council, together with the designer, the deputy mayor and councillor for Urban Development, Sandra Gómez, the president of the Associació València Capital del Disseny, Marisa Gallén and a member of the studio Leku Estudi, responsible for the architecture of the superblock.

“With this tile design signed by Iban Ramón, the Council aims to give the neighbourhood its own identity which can be extended to the whole city. It will also serve to identify these agile planning actions that can transform space with fewer resources and in less time,” explained Sandra Gómez.

The system for creation of the tiles is based on a grid, which will also be used to design the final graphic application and the furnishing elements: plant pots, benches, etc. “There are three variations of the ‘La Petxina’ tile in which the ‘x’ changes size, although all three are surrounded by the same clear space,” the designer explained.

The “clear space” between tiles defines the different patterns with each one of the variants, producing different options with more or less density and opacity, depending on the tile applied and the spaces between them. “The rhomboid compositions or those in the shape of an ‘x’ coincide with the design of future furniture elements or their possible groupings, and this allows a graphic application that can be reproduced at different scales,” he added.

World Design Capital Valencia 2022 accompanied the Urban Development Department of Valencia City Council in assessing this project, even participating in the call for selection of the designer and the presentation. For Marisa Gallén, “This is a great example of the institutionalisation of design and how to work on a project of this scale with the backing of a professional, which opens endless possibilities for a neighbourhood beyond the design of a tile. This is a project that can derive in a tool for identity and pride in belonging to the neighbourhood of La Petxina which, via the superblocks, is replicable in other neighbourhoods of the city. Pride, a feeling of belonging and recognition of these spaces which, furthermore, as we have realised in recent months, are our most beloved perimeter,” she explained.

The design follows the principles established in the Design Guide for the sustainable transformation of the public space of Valencia which was developed by the firm LekuStudio and approved by the Urban Development Department. This design by Ibán Ramón reinforces the concept of how design improves people’s lives. From pedestrianisation to the design of the superblocks, which bring space and wellbeing to local residents, giving these spaces a language of their own and a feeling of pride.