"RAMBLA DE MAR", MILLOR IDEA PER A LA REMODELACIÓ DEL CONTRAMOLL-MOLLET DEL PORT DE PALMA
03/10/2018
The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has awarded the first prize (€20,000) of the ideas competition regarding the remodelling of the Contramuelle-Mollet at the Port of Palma to the team comprising architects Pere Rabassa and Toni Forteza, and engineer Toni Ramos, for its proposal entitled “Rambla de mar”. The second prize was jointly awarded to the proposal of engineer Javier Bespín and architect Josep Wennberg, entitled “A port obert”, and to that of the architects Juan Palencia and Marta Colón de Carvajal and the engineer Noelia Ruano, entitled “La mar es mi tierra”. Both teams were awarded €10,000 each. The third prize of €5,000 went to the architect David Tapias and the engineer Oscar García for their proposal entitled “La Mirandilla”.
For Joan Gual de Torrella, the president of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) and the chair of the panel, the aim of the competition was to bring the city and the sea closer together, “with a discreet change in which citizens notice an improvement, but that suits the current setting”.
On conclusion of the competition, governed under its rules, the APB will be able to use any of the ideas submitted in the undertaking of future actions relating to this area at the Port of Palma, without any obligation to form a contractual relationship with the contestants. Furthermore, the APB may push forward the drawing up of any specific construction project in order to incorporate the ideas obtained in this competition.
Decision of the judging panel
The members of the panel have highlighted the discretion of the winning project, “Rambla del Mar”, as well as the role of the Seafront Promenade as a main element as regards people and vehicles. The proposal entails the demolition of the fish market, merging it into one building with the Maritime Museum. One of the requisites under the rules was to conserve the arches of the Fisherman's Wharf. Forteza and Rabassa integrate the arch-work into the new building proposed, said the panel. “A solution that is not garish and does not excessively change the appearance of the city”.
For the members of the panel, this solution brings vessel manufacturing work spaces to mind, “with somewhat timeless architecture and style” and constitutes continuance between the city and the sea promenade it proposes.
“A port obert” stands out for the compactness of the building, the liberation of spaces and the suggestive reminder of the Atarazanas building, according to the panel's decision. The other second prize-winner, “La mar es mi tierra”, which envisages an underground parking area, was considered “as it incorporates an element of interest, which is the museum”.
The third prize was awarded to the project “La Mirandilla” due, according to the panel, to its “constructive rigour, serious approach, and its unique and coherent image regarding all the buildings considered”.
Finally, the panel awarded three honourable mentions or runner-up prizes of €2,500 each to the proposals “Nova Plaza elevada”, by architect Jerónimo Junquera and engineer Macario Fernández “Tela Marinera”, by architects Kevin Penalva, Daniel Abella and María Gómez, and engineers Rafael Pons and Juan José Lemm and “Dits dins la mar”, by architect Eric Jorgensen Roca and engineer Joan Caldentey.
Composition of the panel
The panel in charge of making the decision comprised the following people:
Acting on behalf of the APB: Joan Gual de Torrella and Juan Carlos Plaza, the APB president and his director, respectively, Jorge Nasarre, head of Planning and Sustainability, and María Antonia Ginard, secretary. Acting on behalf of the Council of Palma: Joan Riera, Town Planning Manager, and Pilar Simón, municipal architect. Acting on behalf of the Civil Engineering Association: Pedro Puigdengoles, a director of the association, who acted on his own behalf and on that of Juan Antonio Esteban, another director. Carlos Puente and Guillermo Vázquez, architects appointed by the Official Association of Architects of the Balearic Islands, and Pedro Bonet, architect from the Mallorca Island Council. And finally, Albert Forés, head of the Consorci Museu Marítim de Mallorca.