Until July 14, 2024, the pavilion ¡Qué faena(r)! ('What a Task!') by Óscar Cruz García and Pablo Paradinas Sastre will be installed at Puerta del Sol in Vigo, one of the two winning temporary pavilions of the third edition of TAC! Urban Architecture Festival. Reflecting on public spaces and the regeneration of urban centers as the main theme of this new edition, the proposal combines tradition and innovation, involving local producers and artisans during the process and simultaneously reusing materials considered waste, such as fishing nets, rusty 'bombos,' recovered wood from bateas, and granite blocks that gain a second life after fulfilling their mission in the sea.
TAC! Urban Architecture Festival 2024 starts with the temporary pavilion '¡Qué faena(r)!' connecting local tradition, young architecture, and experimentation. Sponsored by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU) and the Arquia Foundation, this edition features a collaboration with the Vigo City Council and support from the Official College of Architects of Galicia. Through the '¡Qué faena(r)!' pavilion, Óscar Cruz García and Pablo Paradinas Sastre draw inspiration from the local fishing tradition of bateas, the traditional wooden platforms installed in the sea for fishing, along with an element related to the territory and its local economy.
Demonstrating the ability of architecture to connect territories, people, and practices, the pavilion envisions a meeting between nature and artifice, tradition and mediation. This is achieved through the structure of the batea and a net-like covering that references the traditional fishing system, serving as both an attraction and a shelter for activities. The carpentry team of Fran Millán and Frouma Atlantic Wood built the pavilion's structure using wood from the bateas, while the covering, made of fishing nets, was crafted by Amalia Puga along with the 'Atalaia' Redeiras Association of A Guarda (women dedicated to the creation and repair of fishing nets).
Conceiving the word 'faenar' as 'something that needs to be done,' the pavilion's name represents its functionality: its batea structure and its use as a platform in the sea for shellfish farming, one of Vigo's most common activities. Additionally, the space beneath it comprises a rectangle with a pink granite block, representing a natural fragment of geological history and evoking the dialogue between land and sea, between gravity and wind.
Once the festival concludes, '¡Que faena(r)!' aims to relocate the pavilion to Praia do Cocho as a recreational platform, extending its useful life and recirculating its materials, helping to recycle fishing elements that are often abandoned on the seabed. As its creators state, the pavilion 'studies the vernacular derived from tradition applied to a territory believed to be consolidated' and 'establishes a dialogue with new architectural practices as the main driver of change in a public space with new topographical, climatic, social, economic, demographic, and productive conditions.' Additionally, the proposal seeks to 'remove the negative connotation from the term faena(r), re-signifying the unseen and deconstructing relationships between o Mar de fora (territory) and o Mar de dentro (urban), through nature and artifice, exploring the limitations of the medium as language and its relationship with memory and the optimistic message of reality.'
Compared to previous editions held in the cities of Granada, Valencia, and San Sebastián, this third edition will transform Puerta del Sol in Vigo into a meeting point for citizens until July 14 with various activities and proposals. Afterward, the festival will continue its reflection with the construction of the temporary pavilion La Sal by José Rodríguez and Carlos Montes González in the city of San Fernando (Cádiz), available from September 23 to October 14 this year. Additionally, until September 10, the call for selecting the next host cities for 2025 will be open.
- For more information about TAC! Urban Architecture Festival, enter here.
