The Majorcan city of Inca boasts a new public space in the heart of its old town, thanks to a project carried out by Flexo arquitectura – a Catalonia-based practice led by Tomeu Ramis and Aixa del Rey – that was part of a municipal strategy to improve pedestrian connectivity and revitalize the historical center, linking up the streets Ferrilla and L’Om and thereby also the old Jewish quarter and the busier commercial zone.

To materialize the idea, an abandoned dwelling and another building that did not comply with urban planning regulations were expropriated. Of the original complex, significant elements were preserved, such as a listed arch and eave, a central pillar of marés stone, and part of the old walls, all evidence of the superposition of constructions over time. In the endeavor to respect the character of the place, even an old latrine embedded in the interior facade was consolidated.

The new courtyard, conceived not only as a pedestrian passageway but also as spot in which to linger, incorporates a planter-cum-bench that follows the line of a new marés wall, which also improves the thermal insulation of the adjacent four-story building, the upper part of which presents a wrinkled finish with both functional and sculptural intentions. An elm tree was planted in this space, also in honor of historical memory, in remembrance of specimens that perished in a plague that attacked the island, and two red plum trees were added, of the kind that abound on the streets of the Jewish section, along with vegetation adapted to the Mediterranean climate.

For the floors, the materials are differentiated in a way that refers to the past domestic use of the site: concrete with ceramic remains in the area of the old house troweled with exposed aggregates elsewhere. The reinforcement of the 4.5-meter-tall marés pillar recalls the old, fallen sloping roof, and climbing plants will grow on it, strengthening one’s sense of entering an inner courtyard full of history.