Architecture News

Revolutionizing Urban Landscapes Through Play and Movement

From Asphalt to Arena: The Vision of "Frontones Danzantes"

The "Frontones Danzantes" installation by 2050+ represents a groundbreaking approach to urban renewal, transforming the Aparcamiento del Revellín in Logroño into a lively, interactive playground. Inspired by the traditional Basque sport, Pelota Vasca, which inherently uses architectural surfaces in its play, the project highlights the potential of athletic activities to breathe new life into dormant urban spaces and cultivate fresh avenues for collective interaction. This initiative challenges conventional notions of public space, showcasing its adaptability for community benefit.

The Philosophy Behind Public Space Reclamation Through Sport

Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, a key figure in 2050+, articulates the core philosophy behind "Frontones Danzantes," emphasizing its role in reclaiming public spaces for communal activities. He notes that the versatile structures can be strategically placed to facilitate sport and draw people together, countering the global trend of diminishing public spaces and recreational opportunities. For the team, this project is a deliberate effort to re-energize urban environments with activities that promote social cohesion and physical engagement.

A Flexible Framework for Collective Interaction

The intervention is characterized by its flexible system of sporting infrastructures, meticulously designed to support movement, gathering, and various forms of social interaction. Strategically positioned within a parking facility already surrounded by sports amenities, the project temporarily redefines the site's purpose from mere vehicle circulation and storage to a vibrant center for public participation and lively communal life. This shift underscores a broader vision for urban planning, prioritizing human interaction over static utility.

Instant Community Engagement: A Testament to Design

Even before its official unveiling at Concéntrico, the installation had already begun to fulfill its intended role. Within hours of its completion, local residents spontaneously gathered around the movable frontones, transforming the parking lot into an impromptu basketball court and a hub for collective recreation. This immediate adoption by the community serves as powerful evidence of the project's success in creating accessible, engaging public spaces that resonate with local needs and desires.

Dynamic Play Structures: Catalysts for Urban Transformation

Central to 2050+'s installation are four adaptable frontones, each designated for distinct activities such as Pelota Vasca, basketball, football, and climbing. These structures are distributed across the site, offering the flexibility to be repositioned and reconfigured, thereby allowing the parking lot's spatial arrangement to evolve in response to different events and needs. This dynamic design extends the fronton's traditional function, turning it into a versatile tool for urban space reclamation.

Sport as a Mechanism for Temporary Commons

"Frontones Danzantes" reimagines sport as a vital mechanism for establishing temporary communal spaces within the urban fabric. It encourages both locals and visitors to move, gather, and engage in friendly competition within a shared environment. This project builds upon the ongoing research of the Milan-based multidisciplinary practice, 2050+, into the spatial implications of sport and its capacity to reshape urban settings. Erica Petrillo, a curator and researcher with the studio, emphasizes their interest in sport and play as instruments for reclaiming and transforming urban landscapes.

Integrating Local Heritage and Architectural Forms

Erica Petrillo further elaborates on the project's inspiration, noting their decision to introduce walls where none existed, repurposing a former parking area into an active space. She highlights the inherent nature of Pelota Vasca, which involves using existing facades as part of the game, thus serving as a metaphor for transforming and reactivating urban environments. The geometric design of the structures subtly echoes surrounding and historical architectures, seamlessly weaving the intervention into Logroño's urban tapestry and reinterpreting familiar forms as innovative sporting equipment.

Bridging Divides and Envisioning Future Urban Possibilities

By blending local architectural cues with traditional sporting practices, 2050+ aims to bridge both physical and social divides present within the site. The project leverages play as a powerful tool to reconnect fragmented urban conditions, fostering a sense of unity and shared purpose among its users. Presented during Concéntrico 2026, this installation actively contributes to ongoing dialogues about how temporary architectural interventions can effectively test alternative uses for public space, showcasing how adaptable and low-impact designs can unlock new possibilities for collective life in cities.

Experience Culinary Artistry Where Every Meal is a Masterpiece

The Genesis of an Artistic Culinary Concept

Buschinger's project, conceived for Soho House Berlin's Gallery Weekend, reimagines the well-known French phrase "L'Art de la Table." Traditionally denoting the refined customs and aesthetics of dining, Buschinger takes a more literal interpretation, positioning the dining table itself as the central artistic medium. This innovative vision seeks to extend the canvas beyond typical boundaries, merging the realms of painting, furniture, and gastronomic delight into a unified, site-specific composition.

A Canvas Unfurled: The 35-Meter Hand-Painted Installation

Central to this immersive experience is a colossal 35-meter hand-painted artwork that gracefully flows across the walls, floor, and the dining table itself. This continuous visual narrative skillfully blurs the lines between various artistic and functional elements, eliminating the conventional separation of painting from its display surface. Here, the table is not merely a pedestal but an intrinsic component of the expansive painted environment, allowing the artistic narrative to unfold uninterrupted across every surface it touches.

From Plate to Palette: Culinary Elements as Artistic Inspiration

Buschinger's creative methodology in "L'Art de la Table" deliberately inverts the typical relationship between food preparation and artistic design. Rather than designing dishes to fit a pre-existing visual theme, the culinary offerings became the very foundation for the artwork. The artist meticulously developed recipes, painted the installation, and prepared the meal concurrently. Ingredients, their vibrant colors, diverse textures, and the intricate plating compositions served as the direct inspiration and source material for the installation's visual language, translating culinary artistry into painted forms and patterns.

The Meal's Journey: A Sequential Visual Symphony

The entire installation is orchestrated to mirror the progression of a multi-course meal. It commences with an introductory painted composition, setting the visual tone and vocabulary for the entire experience. As the painting transitions from the walls to the floor, and then across the extensive dining table, overlapping forms and layered colors emerge, evoking the dynamic processes of culinary preparation and cooking. Recurring motifs, presented in varying scales and arrangements, establish a visual rhythm that parallels the succession of dishes served throughout the dinner.

Dissolving Boundaries: A Three-Dimensional Culinary Canvas

The painted surface envelops the dining table, extending over its top, down its sides, and onto the surrounding floor, effectively transforming the furniture into a captivating three-dimensional artistic object. The experience culminates with a final painted panel that subtly echoes the initial composition, but rendered in a subdued, colorless palette. This artistic choice signifies the conclusion of the meal, leaving behind only the lingering traces of a memorable experience. To maintain an uninterrupted visual dialogue between the art and the meal, each course was thoughtfully served on transparent glass plates, ensuring the painted artwork remained visible beneath the food.

Interactive Gastronomy: Participation as Part of the Art

A crucial aspect of this installation is its participatory nature. Guests are not passive observers but active components within the painted environment. Their movements, conversations, the ritual of serving, and the gradual consumption of the food all contribute to and continuously reshape the spatial composition. In this dynamic setting, the installation evolves with each moment, as the actions of the participants seamlessly integrate into the artwork itself.

An Evolving Series: The Future of L'Art de la Table

Envisioned as an ongoing series, "L'Art de la Table" provides a flexible framework where each new iteration will be a unique, site-specific installation. Future editions will draw inspiration from seasonal ingredients, local culinary traditions, and their distinct colors, forms, and material qualities. Through this adaptive approach, Eleonore Buschinger consistently delves into the intricate interplay between cooking, painting, and spatial design, utilizing food not just as sustenance, but as the fundamental basis for both visual artistry and shared human experience.