[Originally published in DETAIL Magazine 5.2023]
Project Gomila is a micro-urban reconstruction initiative by the owners of the Spanish global footwear brand Camper. When completed, it will provide 60 affordable housing units within seven highly differentiated mixed-use buildings in Palma de Mallorca’s eclectic but downtrodden El Terreno neighborhood. Ranging in height from two to six storeys, three of the seven buildings are new urban infill constructions, while four are refurbishments of existing buildings, including the adaptive reuse of a 1979 mini-mall by Pere Nicolau.
The diversity of Project Gomila’s forms, textures, and colors is conditioned by its chaotic urban context, a staple of Mediterranean vernacular urbanism. Originally consisting of finely grained clusters of low-rise courtyard buildings built by accretion between party walls, the traditional urban fabric underwent a transition toward “bigness” with the arrival of mass tourism, reinforced concrete, and real estate speculation.
Situated between Palma’s harbourfront and a forested hillside crowned by a Medieval castle, El Terreno was originally a collection of summer homes built by the local people, the Palmesano urbanites, outside the city’s defensive walls. Toward the end of the 19th century, it became a hang-out for artists (Santiago Rusiñol summered here), eventually transforming into a district known for its bars, nightclubs, and cafés. By the time El Terreno reached peak-bohemia (Jimi Hendrix inaugurated Discoteca Sgt Peppers in the summer of 1968), the area was already being invaded by enormous waterfront high-rise constructions, which eventually triggered the gradual decline of the cultural scene centered around Plaza Gomila in-behind.
Project Gomila seeks to reverse this decline with multiple urban infills and renovations. Each of the seven buildings of this restorative project is distinguished by a different dwelling type, roof, cladding material, and color; a veritable rainbow coalition manifesting unity through difference. The only common traits are Passivhaus construction standards and housing units that are destined for long-term rentals, not tourist apartments.
The rich diversity of materials, colours, and forms of Project Gomila recalls Barcelona’s famous Block of Discord, in which three modernista houses built in the early 1900s by the city’s top three architects (Gaudí, Domènech i Montaner, and Puig i Cadafalch) compete for attention; except here, seven buildings dispersed over four city blocks are designed by one team of architects. Indeed, the blue gradation of Project Gomila’s Fabri-Casas building can be likened to that of the famous underwater-themed lightwell inside Gaudí’s Casa Batlló, just as the Project’s red Las Casitas building is reminiscent of the late Ricardo Bofill’s La Muralla Roja, a labyrinthine megastructure of courtyards, stairs and roof terraces that overlook the sea near Alicante.
The coupling of traditional, small-scale vernacular urbanism with dynamic contemporary architecture falls squarely in line with the Camper brand’s credo of combining heritage with innovation and creativity, as well as with early MVRDV’s interest in urban density and new housing typologies. Project Gomila nevertheless marks a significant change from the iconicity MVRDV has become known for, proving that a scattering of infills and refurbs whose overarching architectural idea is differentiation can also make a splash, in this case with the added difference of making a difference.
Criticalista 