espai verd in valencia is the absolute highlight of my recent trip.
this was not the first i wanted to come to benimaclet. but it was the first time i managed to make it. the valencian sun makes walking all day long a pleasure. so i walked all the way from my hotel, mainly in a winding manner, changing direction every time i saw something i liked.
and i browsed the entire neighborhood of benimaclet and it looked like there was no more city streets to walk on when i found myself in front of this awesome structure. while i was taking pictures of the facade i noticed that there was a garden inside. and that people were constantly going there. i thought it was maybe one of those shortcuts through a building and went closer to take it myself.
but when i got there, there was a door. a closed door! a door with an intercom! argh! i was very disappointed… that didn’t last long: a nice gentleman opened the door, held it open for me without a word and then left.
aaaa! i couldn’t believe i was in. as much as i could see was as, the place was as cool inside as it was outside. i could see elevators and postal boxes with the names of the lucky families. i walked in and it only got better: the building was hiding a garden indeed, but also full grown trees and an interesting fountain.
the complex has 13 levels and 105 (or 108) apartments, duplexes or triplexes. it was build in 1986 and the architect is antonio cortes ferrando.
i could see some maintenance people and i was nervous they may ask me why i was roaming around. but nobody said anything and i could walk around and see the common areas. actually, i could also see the terraces of the apartments.
there was a swimming pool as well. i imagined midnight swimming. nice!
when i finished the little tour of the garden i thought that i may get lucky and have some sort of terrace at the highest level. so i got into an elevator and pushed 13. unfortunately, there was no public terrace so i walked down the stairs and only managed to take some good pictures.
anyway, i left super happy. i intruded and saw it all and nobody said a thing. this is why i travel! to find the secret corners.
while doing the research, i came across apartments in this complex that were on sale or for rent. the prices were expectedly higher, but, for the right person, this could be a dream home.
i loved discovering this exceptional building hidden away at the valencian city limit. closer to the beach than to the city, this complex has now climbed to the top of my local dream locations.
when my boyfriend saw these pictures, he made me look until i found this monocle video about a similar structure in madrid called edificio princesa.
photo credits: little aesthete
