Archello Awards 2026 · Enter your projects before 30 September 2026
Archello Awards 2026 · Enter your projects before 30 September 2026

Dressing up the square

Dressing up the square
Roger Serrat-Calvó

Dressing up the square

The comfort and feeling of public spaces determine how we as citizens use them and make them ours. Showing off its new attire, Olot's Sant Miquel Square takes on a domestic hue, leading people to view it as a community space for the neighbourhood. At a minimal cost, the foundations were laid to make it the centre of social life once again, an inclusive area where all the neighbours meet up to chat and socialise and can feel at home. 

photo_credit Roger Serrat-Calvó
Roger Serrat-Calvó
photo_credit Roger Serrat-Calvó
Roger Serrat-Calvó

By applying layers of paint selectively, the work clearly comprehends and then enhances the spatial quality, geometry and construction systems of the square’s architecture. Crowning touches, patterns and carpets imbue the concrete-block walls with lightness, luminosity and colour, following their modulation and reinforcing the textile feeling of the medium. 

photo_credit Roger Serrat-Calvó
Roger Serrat-Calvó
photo_credit La Comarca d'Olot
La Comarca d'Olot

The geometric patterns are evocative of domesticity, as well as the events that identify the neighbourhood, like the paper-costume parade, the musician's troupe dance and outside concerts under the marquee. This action strengthens the uniqueness of every space but – most importantly – creates a backdrop that can easily host and be home to a wide range of activities and users, including games. 

photo_credit Roger Serrat-Calvó
Roger Serrat-Calvó
photo_credit Roger Serrat-Calvó
Roger Serrat-Calvó

The project defines and develops one of the actions set out in the Comprehensive Plan for Urban Regeneration, the outcome of the participative process led by Paisaje Transversal. Just like salt enhances the taste of a stew, the perfect amount of paint strengthens the identity and integrating character of the square and – by extension – of the entire neighbourhood.

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Project credits

Project data

Project Year
2015
Category
Playgrounds
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