Herzog & de Meuron's plaza cover-up revealed.

Herzog & de Meuron's public space project at Plaza de Espana explores similar themes to its cultural complex, TEA (AR February 2009), also in Tenerife's capital. Built on reclaimed land, the Atlantic Ocean is concealed beneath layers of man-made crusts. New elements, therefore, are conceived as superimposed layers. The scheme centers on an 80m-diameter seawater wading pool; a crater-like expanse with a fountain that erupts four times a day at high and low tide. Beneath the surface, black granite traces the presence of the site's former occupant, the 16th-century castle of San Cristobal (its remnants still accessible underground), and around the perimeter are a number of craggy pavilions.

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