Felanitx-Es Sindicat (ES)

SITE / CONTEXT

The municipality of Felanitx is located in the southeast of the island of Mallorca in the region of Migjorn, between the areas of Pla de Mallorca and Levante, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The urban nucleus of Felanitx is located 115m above sea level, in the middle of a series of hills, among which the Puig de Sa Mola and Puig de Sant Salvador, a place of pilgrimage for the inhabitants of the region, stand out. For centuries, the cultivation of vineyard has characterised the rural landscape of the Migjorn region. Historically, Felanitx has been an important wine-growing area in Mallorca, culminating at the beginning of the 20th century (despite phylloxera) with the creation, next to the old train station, of the Oenological Station and the founding of the Cooperative Winery of Felanitx, Es Sindicat.
Es Sindicat is a symbol, a reference for its typology, style, authorship and construction. In fact, the winery is included in the list of the 100 elements of Spain’s Industrial Heritage and was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) with the category of ‘monument’ in 2001. Built between 1919 and 1922, it is located on La Sort dels Amaradors, to the west of the town of Felanitx, sheltered by the hill known as Sa Mola. The design and the choice of the site are the result of a topographical adaptation to take advantage of the slope that accompanied the industrial process of wine making.
The Project Site includes: the public plot on which Es Sindicat is located, which the new General Plan will classify as a cultural facility; a large area to the north and east of the site, planned as a future public green space; and the adjoining plot to the south. Es Sindicat is the protagonist of a commitment to the re-emergence of a social and environmental ecosystem in a privileged setting of possibilities that can create integral solutions for a return to the land, to shared life, to connection with the environment and to the promotion of the rehabilitation of the built environment through local, sustainable and innovative construction systems.
The Reflection Site will lead us to build a global, unitary and multidisciplinary strategy to propose a rebirth of the symbolic and emotional potential that Es Sindicat provokes in the town of Felanitx, a municipality that has seen the birth and growth of the international artist Miquel Barceló. Its transformation must dialogue with the two natural landmarks that frame the urban nucleus, Sa Mola and Es Calvari.

The Territorial Area corresponds to a threatened territory, the island of Mallorca, which is suffering the effects of the overexploitation of resources caused by tourist massification. The rebirth of Es Sindicat, which succeeded in bringing together a population, has an implicit social and ecological benefit, re-emerging as a cultural reference of the highest level, at a time of social fight for recognition and recovery of the island’s own culture.

QUESTIONS TO THE COMPETITORS

Is it possible to give a second life to the monument that has been considered on the island as the ‘cathedral of wine’?
Es Sindicat is more than a building, it is a social emblem that awakens and arouses emotions of an intergenerational nature in the local and non-local population. Can this feeling be enhanced through architecture? Can the intervention encourage architectural and cultural dynamisation, not only in the municipality, but also in the rest of the island? Can it be reborn from its own foundations?
In addition, the monument acquires a very broad heritage significance. Is it possible, through rehabilitation, to harmonise elements of such value and, at the same time, ensure that they enhance socio-economic and cultural revitalisation? What will be the principles of the transformation of Es Sindicat, a unique historic building with a high level of heritage protection, that will enable its revival?
The building uses materials typical of 20th century industrial architecture, concrete, combined with local materials such as sandstone (marés). The use of pioneering construction techniques makes it a reference point, considering its insularity and historical context. How can the forcefulness of these materials be combined with new ways of designing to adapt to climate change?