Staged Nature

For the festival Concèntrico 2021, we proposed an ephemeral architectural intervention located in the outdoor space adjacent to the Casa de la Ciencia in Logroño; a garden dedicated to scientific experimentation and surprise. Inspired by the punctual devices of the garden, we intended to add a layer of fiction to this place, imagining a possible future symbiotic relationship with animals, plants, minerals in a man-made public space. The pavilion transforms the rather uninspired and constrained “nature” of this garden into a suggestive alternative vision for the visitors of the festival. This mesmerizing experience brings nature, science, and fiction together to tell a tale of hope and trigger an emotional reflection on the relationship between man and the natural world.

In a scale between an architectural model and a miniature building, we propose an interior/exterior space of imagination to create a new narrative. A time travel-device, visualizing a possible rewilded future for the Garden of Sciences. This intervention is an exploration, a pass-through scenography of the possibilities of an unmaintained world where botany and wildlife meet the unexplored possibilities of architecture. Curiosity will meet visitors and passers-by as they find this alien body, fallen from the sky and landed in the garden between two rows of planted trees. From the inside, the pavilion reveals an evocative and immersive space, that exaggerates the actual surroundings into a two-dimensional image in real scale. This narrative space-time chamber is perforated to allow the air and sounds of the physical surroundings to blend in and inspire the visitor with awe. We wanted to explore the notion of coexistence of species, through, air, light and sounds in this multisensorial device for isolation and connection at the same time.

The structure brings together traditional craftsmanship and new technology. The poplar panels are mostly kept in their original format to avoid waste of material and resources, and they are complemented by a wooden supporting structure. This simple construction allows for easy assembling and disassembling, as it is thought to be a temporary intervention. The main feature of the proposal is a “curtain”. The panorama image of the existing park is manipulated with forest and wildlife images, creating an illusionary threshold between inside and outside. Blowing with the wind, it creates a moving scenography that resonates with the sound of the birds living in the trees and the adjacent river. Our proposal is deriving from a reflection on the idea of the garden as staged nature. With the temporary pavilion, we aim to create an experience of entering a new urban space, taken over by species, plants, birds, a visualization of a possible future of human and non-human coexistence. Drawing attention to a space that typically goes unnoticed in day-to-day life, we seek to activate citizens’ curiosity to rediscover and rethink “nature” within the city.