Located in Inca, Islas Baleares, Spain, at a key junction between a historic centre and different urban fabrics, this project by Son Estudi Architects sees the transformation of an existing public space into a revitalized plaza that promises to serve as infrastructure for future lives.
Marked by existing pedestrian and vehicular traffic flows, the existing site condition includes the presence of two parking floors with one emerging on the surface, causing the plaza to be divided longitudinally by a 4-meter high wall that acts as a barrier between the different levels of the public space and the public’s interaction with the place.
Responding to this condition, the project seeks to improve the integration of the different spaces of the plaza and surroundings while nurturing new possibilities within this public space. For example, where a wall once used to divide, there is now an artificial topography for interaction in the form of bleachers. Where people once crossed the site in the dark of night or full intensity of summer sun, a new pergola structure provides shade, vegetation and night lighting.
Designed in an interconnected way, the pergola system crosses the plaza longitudinally and is designed as an expandable system that reorganizes the plaza, taking the structure of the pillars and the waffle slab of the parking lot and then coordinating the geometric and structural logic as a whole.
The resulting public space enables a multitude of activities and situations by making the most of existing resources.
