In September and October 1971, the Instant City was erected in Eivissa, next to Cala Sant Miquel, in barely a month. This inflatable, colorful and ephemeral city, devised by the architects Carlos Ferrater, Fernando Bendito and José Miguel de Prada, and made with plastic fabric, has remained in the memory as an example of collective architecture. It was an alternative expression, typical of the hippie era, a unique contribution of design to youth culture, as music was at the festivals held in Woodstock or on the Isle of Wight.
After 52 years, the spirit of the Instant City is now revived in Menorca, adapted to the 21st century. Between July 18 and 25, a structure inspired by the "tensegrity" of the American Buckminster Fuller was erected in Son Aiet, near Ciutadella, with the help of a small group of students. In other words, a light wooden work, vaulted and based on a basic geometry, conceived as a general rehearsal for another larger one that will be built in Menorca within a year. Also during those days, and under the motto "A structure for a settlement", a conference program was offered there, by architects such as Ignacio Paricio, Jordi Garcès or Lluís Clotet.
Carlos Ferrater, who has been another of the speakers and promotes the initiative through the Fundació Pavelló de Son Aiet, frames this project in a concern that no longer has to do with those of the hippies, but with others more typical of the situation such as healthy eating and land use planning. His ultimate goal is to defend the "hortals", a widespread system in Menorca that, in his opinion, is at the base of the zero kilometer diet, and is now threatened by new territorial plans. . Along these lines, a congress is being organized that will bring together nutritionists from all over the world there, in 2024, to discuss their priorities and, incidentally, claim the productive system of "hortals". Ferrater thus intends to merge into a single initiative the commitment to territorial planning, healthy nutrition, education and sustainability.
