Concéntrico is Logroño’s Architecture and Design Festival. It is open to residents of the city and visitors from elsewhere, and it aims to discover and rediscover spaces of interest in the city’s Historic Center. The Festival invites attendees to tour these spaces through installations that create a connection between inner courtyards, tucked-away spaces and small plazas that, in the day-to-day, tend to go unnoticed.
Since 2015 Concéntrico is being organized by La Rioja Architects Cultural Foundation (Fundación Cultural de los Arquitectos de La Rioja, FCAR), along with Javier Peña Ibáñez, the promotor of the initiative, and in collaboration with the local government of Logroño, Garnica and the Integral Design Center of La Rioja (Centro de Diseño Integral de La Rioja, CEdiR). Its goal is to prompt reflection on the city through architectural and design proposals.
In this context, DP Architects presents an ephemeral intervention in the city of Logroño. The aims of "Cada cuba huele al vino que tiene" is to be a tribute to the wine of La Rioja, soil, climate and grapes, but also the wooden barrels used in the wine’s maturation.
The intervention at Revellín Plaza
Concéntrico 03 open two competitions in 2017, only one opened out of Spain:
Design competition and intervention at Revellín Plaza at Concéntrico 03: The competition is open to any creators (individuals or collectives) who propose ephemeral interventions within any of the disciplines of art, design and architecture. We propose the creation of an ephemeral architectural intervention at Revellín Plaza; this intervention will be part of the architectural collection of seven installations and one pavilion; this collection will be set up in different locations throughout the city’s Historic Center for the duration of the Festival. The competition encompasses both the design of the intervention and the subsequent construction and disassembly of the same by the winning team.
Winning design
The competition calls for an intervention within the historic Plaza del Revellin in Logrono, Spain. The Intervention is sponsored by Garnica, who are providing 20 sheets of Poplar Plywood (1.2m x 2.4m) out of which the intervention is to be constructed. We wished for our design to heavily reference the local culture of Logrono, which sits at the heart of Spain’s Rioja region.
"Cada cuba huele al vino que tiene" or The Cooper’s Cabin, is a devotional space dedicated to Rioja wine. It is a pure distillation of the not only the region; its soil, climate and grapes but also the wooden barrels used in the wine’s maturation. Formally, each Cabin has been designed as a deconstructed wine barrel, with 16mm poplar plywood forming the staves and riveted 3mm plywood rings acting as hoops holding the whole construction together. The inside face of the wood has been stained a deep purple with the wine of the surrounding vineyards.
Experientially, each Cabin is entered ceremonially through a low door. Your eyes are directed towards the ground where a wine hued light represents the earth, then as you stand you see the sky above framed in a hooped oculus. As you begin to look about you notice the deep colour of the wood around you and then the scent of the wine soaked wood. It is an all-encompassing sensory experience which makes you a part of Logroño and the Rioja region.
The 7 Cooper’s Cabins each represent a town within the Rioja region, the three largest are for Haro, Calahora and Logroño, with the smaller towns being represented by smaller Cabins. As you move between each Cabin, you start to get an understanding of the region and the interconnectedness of the different climates, grape varieties and wineries.
As you explore deeper and enter each Cabin, you will notice that they have each been stained with the wine of their area, their colours vary and create an interesting diversity to be discovered whilst traversing the installation. This method of staining also imbues the wood with the wine’s scent and creates a heady and exciting environment which moves beyond the purely visceral, and into a fully immersive sensory space.
At this point the Cabins take on a devotional aspect; each one a temple to wine, the land and the communities that made it possible. You enter each pavilion through a low door, bowing respectfully as you breach the interior space. Inside, the space is shaded by the rich, darkened, wine stained wood, shadows play across the surfaces and a wine heavy air pervades the space.
At your feet is a circular light which glows wine red and casts a ceremonial light about the space. This light represents the earth from which the grapes grew. As you look up, you see the sky framed in a hooped oculus, a reminder of the climate and weather which make the land so fruitful. At night, the whole of Revellín Plaza takes on a reverential glow. The Tempranillo lights shine out from within the large Cabins, and a series of long interconnected shadows intersect the space. This network of light and shadow is at once striking for its dynamism and the abstractness of the forms which it creates, but it also hints at the interconnectedness of systems that make the wine of the region possible. From the fertility of the soil, the warmth of the climate, the rainfall, the ability of the Rioja communities to sustain for generations and to begin anew.
Note from the Jury:
This project was selected due to the dynamic and suggestive nature of the architecture it incorporates. It is resolved using pieces that, through the exercise of repetition on different scales, inhabit and filter the space, generating new paths and provoking a unique relationship between the pedestrian and the square, making them a participant.
DP Architects
Founded in 1967, DP Architects was one of the firms responsible for the urban landscape of Singapore. Now a leading architectural practice in Asia with over 1,300 staff and 17 offices worldwide, the firm provides a range of services from architecture, urban planning, landscape design, infrastructure design, engineering, sustainable design and interior design to project management. DP Architects has a long history in a wide variety of projects with a particular expertise in vast undertakings such as Suntec City, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay and The Dubai Mall. Current landmark projects include Resorts World Sentosa and Singapore Sports Hub. The firm was founded with a deep concern for the built environment and the need to create architecture of excellence that enriches the human experience and spirit. Sensitive to their context and the environment, DP Architects’ projects aim to improve the quality of life of the people using the buildings and spaces.
Year of Completion: 2017
Location: Logroño – Spain
Competition Name: Intervention at Revellín Plaza at Concéntrico 03
DP Architects Design Team: Kyle Fulton, Takanao Todo
DP Architects Model Team: Wu Yan, Chen Wan Shyan
DP Facade: Mathieu Meur
DP Lighting: Kevin Sturrock
