Concéntrico 2026: Illuminating Urban Spaces with Architectural Innovation in Logroño
The Concéntrico Festival, renowned for its innovative approach to urban interventions, has unveiled the ambitious program for its 2026 edition in Logroño, Spain. This year's festival, running from June 18 to 23, promises to transform the city's public spaces with a diverse array of temporary installations and projects. Highlighting the event is a unique creation by the celebrated Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, Smiljan Radić, alongside contributions from 26 other international teams. The festival's curatorial vision is structured around three compelling themes: Identity and Fiction, Urban Ecologies, and Ephemeral Agents, aiming to foster collective engagement and critical reflection on the modern urban landscape.
Building upon a decade of urban experimentation, Concéntrico 2026 seeks to deepen its exploration of the city as a dynamic laboratory for process and transformation. The festival's director, Javier Peña, emphasized a curatorial direction that embraces practices operating from collective, festive, and performative perspectives. This aligns with the festival's ongoing research into how architecture can shape public experience, activate social dynamics, and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of urban environments. From climate-responsive structures to narratives embedded in architectural forms, the interventions collectively offer a vibrant dialogue on the future of urban living.
Identity and Narrative in Urban Architecture
The first major curatorial theme, Identity and Fiction, delves into how architecture can serve as a conduit for storytelling, territorial interpretation, and the preservation of collective memory. This segment moves beyond mere physical structures, exploring the imaginative and historical dimensions that enrich urban experience. Smiljan Radić's contribution, a light, collapsible structure crafted from industrial plastic fabrics, embodies the spirit of a 'poor circus,' transforming public space with its temporary and collective nature. This approach resonates with the broader aim of recovering narratives and imaginaries that define a city's unique character.
Complementing Radić's vision, other artists and architects like Matilde Cassani investigate the symbolic and ritualistic aspects of contemporary public spaces. OFREIA (Office for Revealing Encounters in Architecture) focuses on the historical connections to the Ebro River, while studios such as BEar and PPAA offer experimental interpretations of the urban environment. A collaboration between CENTRAL studio and photographer Maxime Delvaux will prompt reflection on the impact of images on our perception of space. The open call's winning pavilion in this category, 'El plano latente' by the Dancing on Architecture collective, reimagines the Paseo del Espolón as an arena for urban choreography, further emphasizing the theme of identity through movement and collective interaction.
Urban Ecologies and Ephemeral Interventions
The Urban Ecologies theme addresses architecture's role in creating microclimates, fostering ecological processes, and reconnecting with the land's inherent wisdom. Interventions in this category are designed to interact with natural cycles and environmental conditions, promoting sustainability and ecological awareness within the urban fabric. Berlin-based collective raumlabor will present three pavilions that function as experimental climate zones, utilizing lightweight structures and natural materials such as jute and coconut mesh to demonstrate innovative environmental solutions. Sahra Hersi's civic garden explores the relationship between landscape and coexistence, dedicated to cultivation and seed exchange, fostering community engagement and environmental stewardship.
Further exploring the theme, Swiss studio Boltshauser, in partnership with Garbizu Collar, will construct a pavilion using rammed earth and reused wine barrels, highlighting sustainable material practices. Suomi-Koivisto & IC-98's pavilion will act as a plant refuge, mitigating the urban heat island effect in the historic city center, while Parabase's intervention focuses on repurposing materials from the energy sector. The 'Shade, Breeze, Cooling' pavilion by noof group and projects by Zeppelin Design and Faris Alossaimi further underscore the commitment to ecological considerations. The Ephemeral Agents theme focuses on temporary structures and mobile devices that facilitate new forms of social interaction and public participation. Gabriel Fontana and Amanda Pinatih's project rethinks physical education through inclusive collective games, while Sounds of Architecture Records captures Logroño's soundscapes to produce a unique vinyl record. AAU Anastas, the first Palestinian team at Concéntrico, will install listening devices across the city, encouraging new auditory experiences. TAELON7's light structure draws inspiration from informal kiosk architectures, and Future Firm explores the dynamic relationship between the city and its river. Ignacio G. Galán with Ozaeta Fidalgo Architects and Jordan Whitewood-Neal's installation addresses bodily diversity in public space design, while the 'Frontones Danzantes' by 2050+ and works by DF DC and Tło contribute to the festival's vibrant exploration of ephemeral architecture's potential.