RELEARNING COEXISTENCE

Felanitx-Es Sindicat (ES) - Mention spéciale

DONNÉES DE L’ÉQUIPE

Associée: Silvia Gelain (FR) – architecte et architecte paysagiste
Collaboratrice: Ekaterina Solonina (RO) – architecte

info@atelierchony.com / www.atelierchony.com

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TEAM PORTRAIT

INTERVIEW
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1. How do you define the main issues of your project in relation with the theme “Re-sourcing”? Re-sourcing thanks to nature, to social dynamics, to new materiality? In which way do you think your project can contribute to an ecological and/or social evolution? And in which way do you think your project can be called a “regenerative project”?
The project began with a historical and sociological study of Felanitx and Es Sindicat at its foundation, which emerged a strong example of community engagement. A second phase explored contemporary social dynamics through research on community, heritage, and unity. The challenge was to translate 1920 to 2025 by reinterpreting Es Sindicat’s values for today’s society, asking how historical values can operate now and rebuild community through history.

2. How did the issues of your design and the questions raised by the site mutation meet?
For centuries, architecture was shaped by climate and local resources, with communities sharing their knowledge. Technology later individualized solutions, weakening both social and environmental bonds. Es Sindicat, through shared open-air public spaces and activities rooted in the territory, reimagines how we coexist—forming a framework for collective identity, where cultural expression, social interaction, and civic life converge in an open and inclusive space.

PROJECT:

The productive courtyard and the open-air pavilion connected through arcade walls. Credits: Atelier Chony

The restored route of the old wagon path reconnects Felanitx to Sa Mola. Credits: Atelier Chony

The central nave with its old wooden bridges restored, along with the natural lighting. Credits: Atelier Chony

3. Have you treated these issues previously? What were the reference projects that inspired yours?
I live in a small town much like Felanitx, where community life shapes daily routines and relationships. Many of the examples and references in this project come from experiences I lived myself—moments that revealed how powerful firsthand experience can be in shaping a project’s concept.

SITE:

View from the Es Sindicat towards Felanitx Credits: Atelier Chony

View towards Sa Mola, through the building. Credits: Atelier Chony

The arcs as frame. Credits: Atelier Chony

4. How can your project be implemented together with the actors through a negotiated process and in time. How did you consider this issue in your project?
The project envisions implementation as a collaborative, negotiated process with the main actors - former workers and current community members, both local and foreign. Workshops, discussions, and participatory design sessions would ensure that their needs, priorities, and values guide every stage, allowing the project to reflect the community rather than impose external ideas. A phased timeline would enable iterative feedback, letting the design evolve in dialogue with those who inhabit and care for this place.

5. How did you form the team for the competition and if so what are the skills you associated?
I am an architect and landscape architect with a profound interest in sociology and psychology. I also see sensibility and curiosity—core parts of my character—as valuable skills in this context, as they have guided my ability to listen, observe, and conduct research.

6. How could this prize help you in your professional career?
I see this prize as a drop: every effort, every achievement, each experience or conversation is like a drop—and it takes countless drops to fill the sea. But it’s the repetition of these efforts, the persistence over time, that truly makes the difference. And, above all, it’s the passion for what you do and a clear understanding of why you do it that gives every drop meaning.

TEAM IDENTITY
Legal status: Architecture and Landscape Architecture Firm
Team name: ATELIER CHONY
Average age of the associates: 35 years old

Has your team, together or separately, already conceived or implemented some projects and/or won any competition? if so, which ones?
Atelier Chony is the culmination of years of personal and professional experiences gathered around the world since 2012. In 2025, I officially opened my practice, where I continue to explore and enjoy projects of diverse scales and typologies—mixing disciplines from exhibitions to design to architecture across Europe and beyond. This year, we exhibited at both the Venice Architecture and Design Biennale, earned 5th place in the International Competition for the Palermo’s shoreline, and received this Special Mention in Europan.

WORKS: