interview with concéntrico founder javier peña ibáñez as festival opens calls for submissions

concéntrico 08 CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

concéntrico is an international architecture and design festival taking place in logroño, spain. founded by architect, curator and researcher javier peña ibáñez, the festival invites visitors to explore the city through installations, encounters, activities, and exhibitions that discuss public space and places of coexistence. several architecture studios, artists and designers have participated with site-specific installations over the past seven years, including PALMA, who, together with HANGHAR, inserted a temporary brick pavilion in an old factory’s narrow passage; plastique fantastique, who put a gigantic inflatable gold ring on the instituto esudios riojanos headquarters; and benedetto bufalino, who inserted a wooden terrace directly above three vehicles that were parked on the street.

concéntrico will celebrate its eighth edition from 1 to 6 september 2022, and has now extended an open call for three international competitions, whose deadline for submission is 11 march 2022. the first competition focuses on the pavilion in the plaza de escuelas trevijano, which will mark the starting point for the routes and activities; the second is a competition for installations with a double location that makes visible a similar reality in neighbouring countries, spain and portugal; and the third focuses on an installation in calle obispo bustamante, which asks us to rethink the street as a central element of community life in cities. we spoke with javier peña ibáñez to find out more about the festival’s history, key moments and ongoing open calls. read the interview in full and explore some key projects from previous years below.

plastique fantastique’s RINGdeLUXE during concéntrico 04 | read more about the project here

header image: 1973 – 2021 by LANZA atelier during concéntrico 07

INTERVIEW WITH FOUNDER javier peña ibáñez

designboom (DB): how did you come up with the idea of concéntrico, and what is the main purpose of the festival?

javier peña ibáñez (JPI): I always had the city very much in mind in my training as an architect. how we citizens made use of them and the feeling of belonging to a place. that’s why I thought that architecture and design had a lot to say about it, that we could create a closer relationship with public spaces and make them true places of coexistence. the idea of community was always very present from the beginning. in addition, the project has many implicit ideas: dissemination, urbanity, the annual temporality as a festival, all aimed at creating a constant rhythm of knowledge.

a topographic-landscape-painted by 44 flavours during concéntrico 07

DB: what are some key moments in concéntrico’s history so far?

JPI: the first edition took place in 2015 but it was based on a previous knowledge of your own projects working in the same urban context. I realised that this idea of a common and shared city could not be achieved from an individual point of view, which is why we proposed this collective project that includes more than 30 entities and that not only structures its economic scope, but also the shared and multiple philosophy.

types of spaces by PALMA + hanghar during concéntrico 07 | read more about the project here

DB: how has the festival evolved over the years?

JPI: the initial objective was always that international base, many perspectives on the same element: the city. and not only a specific city, such as logroño, but also issues such as the way we live, how we relate to each other, how we establish rituals, festivals, monuments. these are facts that make up the cohesion of a place and they are a response in all cultures, which is why this growth with teams from so many parts of the world is a value in itself.

the wooden deck over the cars by benedetto bufalino during concéntrico 05

DB: besides the architectural installations, what are some other activities taking place during the festival?

JPI: we propose many activities that bring these urban practices closer to the public who experience and visit the festival. from conferences on international architectural contexts, to guided tours, exhibitions and meetings that reveal what lies behind each proposal.

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blackout by SpY during concéntrico 07 | read more about the project here

DB: concéntrico is currently calling for proposals for the 8th edition. what do this year’s competitions focus on?

JPI: we have opened three competitions that address different areas of the festival. on the one hand, there is the competition in the plaza escuelas trevijano where the pavilion is located, which is already a tradition in which we propose to think about this iconic architecture in a square that is a continuity of two pedestrian streets and several relevant public buildings in the city. on the other hand, we identified a street as a study laboratory, obispo buscamante street, where we want to make the street the protagonist of community life by rethinking the section and uses in a complete way. finally, the most outstanding novelty, the competition with a double location that dialogues with the territory and the landscape: for the first time in concentrico we unite in a competition two areas, one located in logroño (spain) – viña lanciano and the other in the douro region in portugal – quinta do seixo. in this way we are talking about a vineyard landscape that is an identity for the two territories where they are located.

la hoja by FAHR 021.3 during concéntrico 05

DB: what elements will you be looking for in the submitted proposals?

JPI: we are always looking for proposals that innovate in the way they propose to establish relationships between location, people and architecture. this social, sustainable and context-conscious component is very relevant in all the proposals we carry out.

circo aéreo by KOGAA during concéntrico 06 | read more about the project here

DB: what are your plans for the future of concéntrico?

JPI: the project is constantly evolving, it is a sincere dialogue with people, who are its true protagonists, and we like to see it as a continuous story between themes and editions that adds complexity and new responses to current challenges. we are approaching the tenth edition and it will always be a turning point. in these seven editions we have already produced more than 90 interventions, so I am sure that in 2024, when we hold these 10 festivals, it will be a moment to evaluate what we have achieved and to continue thinking about the best responses from architecture for a society in constant change.