Plaça Major and cultural centre of Palma

Publications

Awards

Client:

Ajuntament de Palma

Location:

Palma, Spain

Year:

2025

Surface:

18.000 m²

A new social, cultural, and commercial agora for the center of Palma

The intervention responds to the challenges and potential of a site as delicate and strategic for Palma as Plaça Major. The proposal seeks to reinforce the continuity of the urban fabric, giving spaces new social, cultural, and commercial uses that enhance their vitality. Public space is conceived as a place for gathering and activity, where both the city and its inhabitants see their identity recognized and reinforced. The new areas add value by integrating harmoniously into the historic fabric of the Old Town.

The proposal transforms the Plaça Major and its lower levels into a vibrant and accessible space, designed as the epicenter of cultural, social, and commercial life in the center of Palma. Recovering the memory of the original cloister and the surrounding urban traces, new connections to the Rambla and a network of intermediate spaces—viewpoints, atriums, and sloping streets—are introduced to reinforce urban continuity. The project highlights the heritage, activates the lower levels, and offers a renewed landscape of coexistence and opportunity.

A contemporary agora in the heart of the city

From the generous atrium to the sequence of courtyards, stairways, and viewpoints, the proposal works with a deep sensitivity toward the experience of place. The new space acts as a climate refuge, incorporates local vegetation, maximizes natural light and ventilation, and embraces a more sustainable model of energy management.

Cultural and commercial facilities are organized around a central, flexible axis, adaptable and ready to meet the city’s changing needs. A place designed to be shared, celebrated, and used to build community.