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Architects: Pareid
- Area: 249 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Iván Casal Nieto
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Lead Architects: Déborah López, Hadin Charbel
Text description provided by the architects. An abandoned zipline structure was located atop a hill in the small Spanish village of Libran. Three large vertical structures, each made of two beams, were erected some years ago and after minimal activity remained there, above the landscape in silence. A desire to revitalize the region has begun taking form in various ways, one of which was the commissioning of a large public swing to both overlook the town and serve as a new icon, to be located on the same grounds as the ziplines. The commissioning of something new necessitated the decommissioning of something old; this observation served as the basis for the project.
A strategy of measuring, dismantling, cutting, reconfiguring, and welding saw each beam find a new role in the same location, transforming them from unused material into a new beacon. The construction process begins by dismantling the existing structure. Each of the towers is lowered with a boom truck, to be reused later. The profiles are cut, sanded, and welded in the workshop, forming four legs and a cross brace. Assembly is carried out on-site. In the design, a shape similar to a truncated pyramid was chosen as a result of the optimization in the number of necessary cuts, acquiring the necessary height to become one of the highest swings in Spain. Keeping minimal contact with the ground and reducing the space it occupies, it allows for the flourishing of the existing ecology formed by Encina Carrasca, Adesmia, and Brezo.
Postured on the landscape and overlooking the town nestled between the mountains, the swing serves as a call for locals and visitors to feel attracted by the new claim, promoting the valley of the Primout River through a new hiking route. When observed in detail, it can be seen that the Librán swing is presented with scars from its previous life, the different shades of color show the operations carried out on the materials to reuse them, and that makes it aesthetic and educational. Decommissioning #1 is a large-scale experiment of material upcycling.
The Swing in Librán is created through a meticulous process of upcycling the materials reclaimed from an abandoned zip line structure made of steel beams, which are deconstructed, cut, sanded, and welded to create a truncated pyramid resulting from the optimization in the number of necessary cuts. The scars of its previous life are presented through the different shades of color, which show the operations carried out on the materials to reuse them. This first experiment serves as an entry into reconsidering the collective waste produced by our cities and towns and questions how we might begin to creatively reuse them.
Additionally, the swing is not alone, in that it is conceived as a stop on a hiking trail as part of a new local initiative to leverage the town's greatest quality; its nature. Thus, accompanying it are a series of signs and furniture dotting the path, made from industrial and natural materials commonly found in the region. They too maintain minimal contact with the ground and like the swing, will weather with time. The furniture allows passersby to rest and observe the qualities of the ecology around them, while the signs provide information about the site, the vegetation, and how to reach the next point. In this sense, the idea of collective places is understood as much for non-humans as it is for people, and extends the notion of events over time, prompting a closer and longer look of appreciation to the everyday forms of life that inhabit the area.
