ORBE

For the Concentrico 07 competition, we entered as one of the teams from the 20XX architecture collective that we are both a member of. The competition brief asked for the creation of an ephemeral architectural intervention along the river Ebro in the town of Logroño, in an area in the city centre between historic bridges and next to an old slaughterhouse, now science museum, called the Casa de las Ciencies.

About the project

Text written for the competition entry – The installation arises from one of the most present elements around the site, being the river Ebro. The visitors of the installation follow a route which is derived from the river and its landscapes. The river flows through northern Spain and crosses both natural and anthropogenic territory, in which the latter has over time created a history of imbalance throughout the river’s ecology and natural habitats. The project emerges from the not so widely known human impact on the river Ebro and our personal aspiration of an inclusive future.

Therefore we wanted the visitor to experience the impact and the imbalance made by the human interventions on the river and its landscapes. The project consists of two main elements, being the bench and the path, in which the path resembles the river and the benches the landscape. The reality is that for humans to be able to inhabit the territory, it is forcefully adjusted to human needs. The project reflects on this element by covering some of the wooden panels and creating seating areas.

The visitor is able to interact with the river and the landscape by sitting, laying and leaning on the different seating elements. When seated, one views a specific man-made landscape referencing the landscapes the river Ebro passes. The planted trees in the park refer to the mountain landscape, the constructed Casa de las Ciencias for the urban landscape, and the controlled river flow for the delta landscape. To evoke a reflection on the imbalanced relation between man and nature, several rocking chairs have been hidden along the path. Once the user sits and leans backward, the chairs tips backward causing the path to slightly raise, blocking the passage for people flowing down the stream.