The project is located in the main Plaza de la Vila in the little town of Sencelles, a crucial space for the citizens of Sencelles, bordered by the Parish Church, the Town Hall and the local bar “Café Cán Paris”.
During the last decades the plaza had lost its use as an effective public space and was used principally as a parking lot. The competition brief called for the reevaluation of the vehicular circulation in order to recover the plaza’s historic function as the town’s principal space of congregation, since for decades the plaza was used as a parking lot. A process of citizen participation in collaboration with the architects, further defined the needs and desires of the residents, which included shade, tranquility, vegetation, benches, flexibility of use.
One of the project’s main objectives was to provide universal accessibility. A new pedestrian ramp connects the two platforms that divided the space, while at the same time increasing visual and physical connectivity across the plaza. The ramp is integrated into a field of fixed stone bleachers that offer a spontaneous meeting space, a new geography for children’s play or seating for the events held in the plaza throughout the year.
Adapting to the local climate, four outdoor rooms shaded by pergolas, surrounded by abundant vegetation and furnished with colorful benches, provide areas of repose and sensory enjoyment. All the building and plant materials are of local origin and the employment of local crafts and construction techniques assured the square would have a decidedly Mallorcan character.
The new public space is now one of social integration and empowerment.
By eliminating the sidewalks, curbs and asphalt, the new continuous paving unifies and enlarges the square, erasing architectural barriers while maintaining a one-way vehicular passage delimited by bollards.
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