“Inside the City” #05 - Màsquespacio
A meeting place for people and for the exchange of ideas on the move, a city on a human scale where one can imagine a new sustainable mobility: this is the portrait of Valencia according to Ana Milena Hernandez Palacios and Christophe Penasse, founders of Màsquespacio, an award-winning interior design studio based in the Spanish regional capital overlooking the Mediterranean.
«Travelling represents a great source of inspiration for our work, we never get tired of walking and meeting different cultures», says the creative duo who have realised projects all over the world, from Paris to Los Angeles, from Riyadh to Sydney. Passing through Valencia, their city: «I love walking, here you can cross the centre in 20 minutes», explains Palacios.
«Plaza de la Reina, plaza de la Virgen, el casco antiguo - adds Penasse -: in the centre there is a lot to see in a small space». A city that integrates old and new into its fabric: from the Mercado de Colón, an example of Valencian modernist architecture, rescued from decay and returned to citizens, to La Marina area, a place where companies, start-ups and business accelerators have occupied abandoned buildings and where the city continues to evolve.
«If you are looking for modernity, just cross the river to go to the City of Arts and Sciences: it is like entering the future». A famous case of urban regeneration, developed with a large urban park on the ancient bed of the Turia river that crossed Valencia, diverted to avoid floods like the one of 1957. Wounded by the "Dana" storm of October-November 2024, the community is wondering about sustainable forms of mobility.
«We could see that we need new forms of mobility for a better future - notes Palacios -. Those 120.000 cars piled up in the streets were a horrible sight. Environmentally, it is very difficult. “What we are going to do with that”: this is the big question. Can we find other forms of mobility than having three cars per family?».
The Passenger -A web series by Infra Journal
A city, a protagonist. "Inside The City" is the title of the new season of The Passenger, a collection of stories from Infra Journal told with the words and faces of the subjects that give life to each episode. Mobility and the urban environment are each time the trait-d'union that unites the episodes shot, through different cities of Italy.
A journey in search of the spirit of places, genius loci but also of change in becoming, in the way of moving, living and working. The interviewees, with their personal sensibilities and attitudes, will transport us between streets, neighborhoods and metropolises, in an inextricable maze of suggestions and experiences, towards the future smart city. Many stories with different voices, as always to explore, understand and, why not, be inspired.