project - *estel

Executive project of the Plaça del Pi (Phase 2)

The urbanization project is the second phase of the transformation of Plaça del Pi, in continuity with the works carried out on the other side of Ricardo Romero street, at the entrance to “Jaume II El Just“ public school.

The proposal is made of conversations held with the teaching team of the educational center. It aims to alleviate the public space giving priority to the pedestrian and increase the play and stay spaces of the Plaza del Pi to facilitate the development of related activities to everyday life and improve the relationship between the nursery building and the rest of the square.

The design of the square is organized from a large esplanade of compacted sand, the planting of new plant species, trees, and shrubs, and the installation of new living elements that also act as potential play areas. The project also seeks to redefine the perimeter fence of the building to improve the visual connectivity of the building with the street and to take advantage of part of the interior spaces as new public spaces available to the general public.

Place

Benifairó de la Valldigna

[1.592 inhabitants]

Scale

Public space

Type of project

Public space design

Duration

4 months [2020]

Promoter

Municipality of Benifairó de la

Valldigna and Diputació de

València

Team

*estel (Marc Deu Ferrer i

Konstantina Chrysostomou,

Alba Domínguez Ferrer, Arnau

Boix i Pla)

7a+i arquitectura i enginyeria

Collaborators

Educational centre of

Benifairó de la

Valldigna

project

Socio-Territorial Analysis in the Urban Landscape Study of Sants

02_PE2210_EPU_Sants_Esquema-de-la-identitat-col·lectiva

03_PE2210_EPU_Sants_Esquema-de-l’imaginari-col·lectiu

01_PE2210_EPU_Sants_Mapa-de-percepció-de-confort,-autonomia-i-seguretat-a-l’espai-públic

05_PE2210_EPU_Sants_Generadors--de-la-vida-quotidiana

06_PE2210_EPU_Sants_Tipologies-dels-espais-públics-i-dels-carrers

04_PE2210_EPU_Sants_Esquema-de-conclusions-propositives

The “Human Landscape of Sants” project is part of the Urban Landscape Study of Sants and aims to analyze and improve public space and quality of life in the district of Sants, Barcelona.

The project’s methodology is divided into two working groups: direct and indirect participation. Direct participation includes preliminary conversations with the involved stakeholders, such as technicians from the 4 neighborhoods, and citizen debates with individuals and local entities linked to the project. On the other hand, indirect participation is based on the observation of urban dynamics and fieldwork.

The project’s scope focuses on the district of Sants, which includes the neighborhoods of Sants, Badal, La Bordeta, and Hostafrancs. The project seeks to understand the collective identity of the people living in this area, highlighting the strong social network and the sense of community belonging.

The project also aims to analyze the structuring elements that shape everyday life in public spaces. Key spaces and facilities, such as parks, squares, and other meeting places, are identified, as well as the importance of activities carried out in these spaces. The diversity of uses and the presence of people of different ages, genders, and cultures are observed.

Additionally, a study is conducted on the typology of public spaces and streets in the area, emphasizing transit areas and neighborhood boundaries. The use of public space and its functionality are analyzed.

Finally, the perception of comfort, autonomy, and safety in public spaces is evaluated. The distribution of space, bicycle infrastructure, accessibility for people with disabilities, and vehicle speed are observed. Climate protection, the presence of urban greenery and water surfaces, lighting, and visibility are also considered. Overall, the space is identified as safe and inclusive, but there are areas with social conflicts that are highlighted.

Place

Barcelona

[1,620,343 inhabitants]

Scale

District

Type of project

Urban Strategies

Citizen cooperation

Duration

10 months [2022-2023]

Promoter

Municipality of Barcelona

Institut del Paisatge Urbà

(Urban Landscape Institute)

Team

B2B Arquitectes (Jordi

Bellmunt, Agata Buscemi)

Irbis, *estel (Konstantina

Chrysostomou,Marc Deu),

Fàtima López, Montserrat

Mercadé, Veclus S.L.

Collaborators

Technicians of the

neighborhoods: Sants, La

Bordeta, Sants-Badal,

Hostafrancs

Neighborhood entities and

collectives: Sants, La Bordeta,

Sants-Badal, Hostafrancs

project

Executive Participated Project for the Plaça del Sol

The drafting of a Participatory Executive Project to redevelop the Plaza del Sol in Puerto de Sagunto was based on a collaborative work methodology between the municipal technicians and technicians, the drafting team, and the neighborhood and the municipality’s social and economic agents.

The resulting document incorporates, on the one hand, the political-technical and citizen perspective and the recognition of their contributions; on the other, management strategies, dynamization, or change planning. These strategies are proposals for interventions (short, medium, or long term) that do not necessarily involve works and that accompany the transformation process of the square but, above all, in the “meanwhile,” that transformation does not take effect.

This collaborative work, beyond the formal result of the new Plaza del Sol, has settled the decisions taken on, among others, the following agreements:

Design criteria: respect and reinforce the itineraries of passage and connection between neighborhoods and recognize the square as a crossing point. Promote living and permanency spaces, have urban elements that facilitate this and identify the square as a meeting place. Incorporate and apply the concept of climate shelter in the square and reuse or rehabilitate existing urban and material elements as much as possible.

Management criteria: promotion of co-responsibility with the maintenance of the square by involving the CEIP Nuestra Señora de Begoña so that the students promote dissemination actions on the importance of cleaning the public space or that include didactic units in the school curriculum related to the care of urban nature. Promote artistic interventions in the public space that reinforce the Plaza del Sol’s identity and facilitate the neighborhood residents’ feeling of belonging. Enable the permanent availability of public toilet services in the Municipal Market building.

Planning criteria: carry out public communicative actions related to the transformation process of the square, its calendar, and the final result after the works. Incorporate evolutionary or progressive shading elements to condition the plaza climatically while the new vegetation needs to acquire a sufficient size. A general performative activity of identity transition could also be carried out: a ceremony of removal and change of location of the statue of the worker, and putting into value the new character of the sun and the shadow.

Place

Sagunt

[67.043 inhabitants]

Scale

Neighborhood

Type of project

Urban Strategies

Citizen cooperation

Public space design

Duration

6 months [2021]

Promoter

Ajuntament de Sagunt

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix,

Konstantina Chrysostomou,

Marc Deu, Alba Dominguez)

SUC arquitectes

Maria Pedro

Ivana Ponsoda

AIG (arquitectura ingeniería y

gestión)

Collaborators

Sagunto City Council

technical team,

Neighbors and municipal

entities

Press

New uses for the former Col·legi del Carme

Incorporating the old Col·legi del Carme into the municipal resources and equipment is one of these draft projects that need to contrast the starting assumptions of the Caldes City Council with the vision of the people who will use it, the final recipients of the space. And it is particularly because of the symbolic charge and the deep roots in the collective memory that this building has.

The work process we propose, in close collaboration with Equal Saree, aims to make visible this collective memory of the future tools, making it possible for citizen participation to give it use and function. But above all, it is an active part of its creation, promotion, and management, so it is guaranteed that the proposals launched for this new use make sense for the municipality and offer a space to recognize each other.

The participatory sessions are focused on the will to open spaces of cooperation between the political-technical team of the City Council, the group of drafting architects (Mangrana architects) of the preliminary draft of the new proposal for the old Col·legi del Carme, and the associated citizens and not associated with Caldes de Montbui. Through restricted technical sessions and workshops open to the public held in the equipment area, a process of cooperative work takes place in which the architectural decisions advance at the same time as the joint report on technical requirements, community needs, and citizen wills.

The participatory process “El Carmen s’obre al poble” developed progressively and cumulatively from face-to-face meetings and digital support tools, including the municipal platform “Decidim” and an electronic suggestion box. It was about, based on the recognition of historical use and the memories and experiences accumulated in the old school, contrasting the current technical and citizen needs of the municipality and trying to distribute them among the different spatial resources offered by the equipment.

Thus, the program of needs enjoyed broad agreement among all the participants, assuming, among others, the opening of the large patio of the equipment as a new public space of the municipality, underlining the importance of the flexibility of the spaces and the maintenance of the social and historical essence of the whole building.

In addition, the Follow-up Commission established during the participatory process assumed the proposal of citizen involvement throughout the planning, transformation, and commissioning process. The method of transforming the equipment will necessarily take time, and we did not want to miss the opportunity to carry out activities in the “meanwhile,” to give continuity to the reflections on co-management initiated in the process and to advance the feeling of belonging and citizen reappropriation of the future equipment.

Place

Caldes de Montbui

[17.797 inhabitants]

Scale

Municipal

Tipus de projecte

Cooperació ciutadana

Duration

3 months [2022]

Promoter

Municipality of Caldes de Montbui

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix i Pla,

Konstantina Chrysostomou,

Marc Deu Ferrer, Alba

Domínguez Ferrer)

Equal Saree

Collaborators

Political and technical team of

the City Council

Mangrana architects

Neighbors of Caldes de Montbui

Municipal entities

Presentation

Presentation video of the

participatory process

Press

News about the process on local

television

project

Participatory process for the land use masterplan of Masquefa

The citizen participation process of the land use masterplan (POUM) of Masquefa is developed in parallel with the drafting of the urban planning document (in charge of OUA) with the intention of turning the drafting of a Municipal Urban Planning Plan into an opportunity for the different sectors that make up the society to collaborate with each other, and jointly define what is the municipality they want for the next few years, dealing with topics ranging from housing, economic activity, public space and equipment, natural spaces or the infrastructures that make up the territory.

In this participatory process, apart from combining face-to-face and virtual spaces to facilitate access to the debate, an effort has been made to recognize the territorial complexity of the municipality, where there is a consolidated urban center where the majority of services are located, with a series of low-density urbanization with fairly marked own dynamics. The objective, then, is that the project serves to collect the proposals of all these people involved, at the same time that the process itself helps to increase territorial cohesion and the links between neighborhoods.

Place

Masquefa

[9.623 inhabitants]

Scale

Municipal

Type of project

Citizen cooperation

Duration

6 months [2021 – 2022]

Promoter

Municipality of Masquefa

Team

*estel (Alba Domínguez

Ferrer, Marc Deu Ferrer,

Konstantina Chrysostomou,

Arnau Boix i Pla)

Collaborators

Neighbors of Masquefa

project

Urban and Sustainable Mobility Plan of Barx

Definició-i-millora-del-confort-de-la-xarxa-prioritària-de-vianants-del-nucli-urbà---barx

Anàlisi-territorial-i-socioeconòmica---barx

Barx, like the rest of the neighboring towns and cities, has experienced in recent decades an evolutionary process of its mobility based on unsustainable parameters over time.

Often the high presence of private vehicles means that many of the other activities that take place in the street are relegated to the background, either because of the difficulty or danger of developing them simultaneously, or directly because of the lack of space.

It is in this context that this study is being developed, which aims to reverse these dynamics and establish a viable action plan adjusted to the needs that will make it possible and improve the quality of public space. To do this, a complete diagnosis of the current reality has been carried out, which contemplates both the analysis of the capacities and the intensities of use of the road network with different modes of transport, as well as the coexistence of these journeys with the other activities that take place on public roads, linked to the development of the daily life of its inhabitants.

Place

Barx

[1.229 inhabitants]

Scale

Municipal

Type of project

Urban Strategies

Duration

8 months [2021]

Promoter

Municipality of Barx

Team

*estel (Marc Deu i Arnau Boix,

Alba Domínguez Ferrer,

Konstantina Chrysostomou)

Pau Avellaneda

Collaborators

Vecindario de Barx

project

Cals Frares, NGOs’ House

Diagrama-de-l’activitati-vitalitat-urbana

Diagrama-amb-els-criteris-d’intervenció

Diagrama-amb-els-criteris-per-la-incorporació-de-la-perspectiva-de-gènere

Tiana City Council promoted the participatory process for transforming the newly constructed buildings into new association equipment, co-designed with the municipal entities and the technical and political team. Over the last few months, we’ve worked on the proposal with Tiana’s associations and the municipality’s technical and political group.

The “Cals Frares, NGOs’ House” is a municipal facility for the use of associations and non-profit organizations in Tiana, offering a model for creating a civic ecosystem. This equipment facilitates:

associative work, offering various spaces for its development,
collaboration in the growth and improvement of the associative movement
the possibility of an inter-associative relationship between the different entities.

The “Cals Frares, NGOs’ House” provides workspaces and opportunities for associations and groups to participate in socio-cultural activities, learn, explore and create. This site hosts various cultural, artistic, and educational programs and activities to foster creativity and community trust. It facilitates situations for people to get together and get to know each other.

The foundation and operation of the “Cals Frares, NGOs’ House” is based on a cooperative approach, from its creation to its function. This site serves as a tool for this cooperation model, as the members of the NGOs and groups are the most active part of society, bringing together people of all ages, professions, and nationalities. The association’s role in developing civil society is growing along with the municipality’s support for joint projects and activities.

With the transformation of the “Cals Frares, NGOs’ House” into a generator of social life for the municipality of Tiana, it is possible to achieve:

Strengthen local identity.
Generate an intergenerational social and cultural meeting point for the population that does not exclude anyone.
Democratize access to municipal resources and improve the quality of life for all.
Encourage community involvement and allow the community to act in their municipality through the House of Entities their resources to start new activities and services.
Create a third place that plays a significant role in the public life of the municipality.
Promote collaborations and exchange of knowledge between entities and groups.

Based on an analysis elaborated on the territorial, administrative and social context in which the new building is located and through a participatory process with the technical and political team and the entities, associations, and groups of the municipality, we were able to define the following:

the site identity,
the program of the use,
the distribution proposal,
the architectural intervention criteria,
the criteria for the incorporation of the gender perspective,
the management proposal and,
the “meanwhile” activities.

Placd

Tiana

[9,009 inhabitants]

Scale

Municipal

Type of project

Urban Strategies

Citizen cooperation

Duration

5 months[2022]

Promoter

Municipality of Tiana

Team

*estel (Konstantina

Chrysostomou,Roser Garcia

Piqué, Arnau Boix i Pla, Alba

Domínguez Ferrer, Marc Deu i

Ferrer)

Collaborators

Associations of Tiana

Presentation

Check the presentation at prezi

project

Participatory process linked to the Urban Master Plan for the Biopol Granvia

The scope of the PDU Biopol Gran Via is a large unbuilt area that borders Gran Via avenue, the Bellvitge neighborhood and the river park of the Llobregat. It is a space of great environmental value, since it still hosts agricultural uses and acts as a connector between the urban fabric and the natural environment. Likewise, it represents a great opportunity to expand current healthcare facilities, due to its location and proximity to Granvia.

Within the framework of the drafting of an Urban Master Plan (PDU) that defines how to organize the territory, this participatory process has been developed, with the objective that the urban planning regulations have a link with the reality of the territory, especially at a social level. It is unavoidable that the transformation of this environment is planned and projected in a manner consistent with the needs of the people who use it both daily (residents, farmers, workers…) and sporadically.

For all this, it has been an intense and complex process, which has required a diversity of spaces and channels for debate, so that everyone had the opportunity to share their proposals with the rest of the agents involved and, little by little, build a shared story. The information collected has been worked on in parallel with the writing team to search for and define the criteria that make participation have an impact on future regulations, and ultimately, enrich the final result. It should be said that the project has been carried out jointly with Equal Saree and with the specific collaboration of Islote Studio.

Place

Hospitalet de Llobregat

[264.657 inhabitants]

Scale

Supramunicipal

Type of project

Citizen cooperation

Duration

9 months [2022]

Promoter

Consorci per a la reforma de la

Granvia a l’Hospitalet,

Ajuntament de l’Hospitalet de

Llobregat, Generalitat de

Catalunya

Equip redactor

*estel (Marc Deu Ferrer,

Konstantina Chrysostomou,

Alba Domínguez Ferrer,

Arnau Boix i Pla)

Equal Saree

Islote Studio

Collaborators

Neighbors of Hospitalet de

Llobregat

project

Urban Strategies for Malagarba Square

Malagarba Square is a public space with a dual urban character: both a boundary and a link. It is administratively located in Les Franqueses but is more communally tied to Granollers. Residents of Bellavista (Les Franqueses) see the square on the other side of the train tracks and do not feel connected to it. Residents of Can Mònic (Granollers) perceive the space as problematic and systematically avoid it.

During the process, an in-depth socioterritorial investigation was conducted, including direct observation of activities in and around the public space, and inter-municipal working sessions to align the intervention strategy comprehensively: police action, mediation, community action, citizen participation, sports, etc. Additionally, a participatory meeting with neighborhood associations from both Les Franqueses and Granollers was held to discuss and agree on the future uses of the square.

The results include a framework document outlining the proposed improvement strategies, grouped by type according to design criteria (related to the material transformation of the area), management criteria (related to the functioning of everyday activities), and planning criteria (related to the process of material and everyday change). A proposal for urban intervention aims to open and reconnect the square to the neighborhoods and daily life, reassign its meaning, and mend it by encouraging foot traffic and community activities. A partial reurbanization project dismantles the boundary and activates the link.

Altogether, it is a toolbox for urban intervention that kickstarts the revitalization of a unique and highly valuable public space.

Place

Les Franqueses del Vallès

[19.768 inhabitants]

Scale

Public space

Type of project

Urban Strategies

Citizen cooperation

Public space design

Duration

12 months [2023-2024]

Promoters

Municipality of

Franqueses del Vallès

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix i Pla,

Konstantina Chrysostomou,

Marc Deu Ferrer,

Alba Domínguez Ferrer)

Collaborators

Inés Martínez, social

mediator (Espai Coneix)

Maria Katerina Mamatzaki,

architecture student

Technical team of Les

Franqueses del Vallès City

Council

Technical team of Granollers

City Council

Local residents, users, and

organizations

project

Inclusive Playground for CEIP Torre de la Llebre

Based on the transformation proposals for the playground at CEIP Torre de la Llebre that emerged from the previous work process carried out by Espai Coneix SCCL, we developed a preliminary participatory project document for an inclusive playground for this educational center. Starting from a set of shared and agreed criteria on what it means to have an inclusive playground, we carried out a cooperative co-design process with the Adult and Children’s Initiative Groups from the school.

Broadly speaking, the essence of the co-design proposal is to redefine the playground so that the central area is no longer just about football and sports fields. This new central area would become an Agora space, created in the current basketball court, equipped with new bleachers, a large organizational board, and a representative mural on the ground. The sports fields are centralized into a single area, diversifying their uses instead of limiting them. New play elements are installed: tubes, wooden playhouses, a sandbox, and garden plots. All playground areas are made accessible and connected, and a proposal for themed carts is introduced to organize, facilitate, and diversify new activities in the playground.

The resulting document outlines the necessary actions to achieve the envisioned inclusive playground, allowing it to be built and transformed gradually according to the school’s efforts, priorities, and investment capacity in the coming years. The new Agora space is meant to accompany this transformation and continue to facilitate debate, agreements, or proposals for improvements to the planned changes.

Place

Rubí

[79.007 inhabitants]

Scale

Public space

Type of project

Citizen cooperation

Public space design

Duration

4 months [2023]

Promoter

CEIP Torre de La Llebre

Team

*estel (Arnau Boix i Pla,

Konstantina Chrysostomou,

Marc Deu Ferrer,

Alba Domínguez Ferrer)

Espai Coneix SCCL

Collaborators

Students of CEIP Torre de la

Llebre

Teachers and AFA members of

CEIP Torre de la Llebre

Presentation

Check the presentation at Prezi

project

Executive project of the Plaça del Pi (Phase 2)

Socio-Territorial Analysis in the Urban Landscape Study of Sants

Executive Participated Project for the Plaça del Sol

New uses for the former Col·legi del Carme

Participatory process for the land use masterplan of Masquefa

Urban and Sustainable Mobility Plan of Barx

Cals Frares, NGOs’ House

Participatory process linked to the Urban Master Plan for the Biopol Granvia

Urban Strategies for Malagarba Square

Inclusive Playground for CEIP Torre de la Llebre

Legal Terms – CC *estel