This June, on Friday the 23rd, the Bachelor in Architecture students presented their final projects on “Finish Line”, as they have named the event. Their projects were proposals for the construction of works in a part of Mallorca, in order to rejuvenate the area, and create a space where the tourists and the local population can co-exist.
The students travelled in the first semester, to get a feel for the area, and examine potential sites which they could improve, through the use of the architectural and design skills they have learned over the duration of their course.
The students have all created very different projects, each reflecting their own personalities, as well different architectural views of the area in which they needed to improve. From the beachfront and tourist area at the front of the town, to the residential and forested area at the back of the town, projects have been created to use spaces both of these areas to improve the town’s tourist experience, as well as promote local life and culture.
One such project is that by Denise Gonzalez Uriarte, who has proposed creating “S’Arenal Market Strip” at the back of the town close to the forest. This well help improve a residential area of the town which has been degenerating in recent years, creating a nice space for locals to come and buy and sell goods in a regenerated and energized market environment. It will also prompt tourists to leave the beach front and experiencing more of the town and local culture, hence booting the local economy and traditions. It will feature a vertical market space, as well as traditional market space, terraces and plazas along the strip. There will also be a path that leaves the strip, going through a part of the forest then rejoining the strip later on.
In contrast, a project proposal by Nadine Kabbani seeks to develop the seafront attractiveness by building a new ´multipurpose facility´ named the “Vertical Seafront”, a space in which to enhance a tourist point, as well as attract locals in a recreational space that seeks to reactivate the waterfront along Avenida Miramar. The intended space will allow people to enjoy the landscape in an area consisting of commercial, sports, and recreational areas in an exciting Mediterranean atmosphere. The project will see an increase in tourists as a main attraction of the waterfront, but also a space in which locals can feel comfortable, prompting them to leave the residential part of town with which they are more familiar, and venture into that part which has become abundant with tourists.
A project by Julia Castaño takes a more environmental approach in the form of a ´gastronomic village´ in the woods. This will encourage people to leave the seafront and traditional activities of the town and get back to nature. The space itself will be immersed in nature, being built in amongst the woodland, blurring the lines between natural and artificial. The project will create a space for pleasure, rest and contemplation, and create a new image of Mallorca´s countryside, evoking its past and illustrating its future. The project will also seek to reduce the impact of building on the Mallorca landscape.
A project by Nathalie Lagard aims to create a space more centered towards the residents who call the city of El Arenal, home. So named, Constructing Encounters, is a project that rethinks how public space can become a tool to empower residents to revitalize their neighborhood. It offers to design for the residents first, believing that by reactivating a strong neighborhood life, by recovering the social role of public space, building flexible and re-programmable facilities and blurring the physical and perception boundaries between residents and visiting tourists, a new balance can be achieved between successful touristic activity and the unfolding of daily life.