Inhabiting the River Intervention by Erazo Pugliese

A Temporary Installation for Concéntrico 2025

Inhabiting the River Intervention, also known as Habitar el Río, was conceived for Concéntrico 2025, the International Festival of Architecture and Design in Logroño. This annual festival transforms underused urban spaces through temporary architectural installations, inviting architects and designers to explore human interaction with the city across key themes including climate, water, food, and social rituals.

The 2025 edition focused on ecological awareness and collective inhabitation, turning Logroño’s public spaces into experimental grounds for sustainable and inclusive urban futures.

Site Context and Design Concept

The installation was strategically located on the north bank of the Ebro River, occupying the transitional zone between an underused concrete dock and the river’s seasonal waterline. This unique site offered an opportunity to design a habitable interface between urban life and the natural environment.

Erazo Pugliese created a handcrafted wooden structure designed to reactivate the neglected riverfront, historically a bathing area, now reduced to a mere passageway. The installation functions as both an environmentally responsive space and a social hub, encouraging visitors to pause, learn, interact, and contemplate river life.

Architectural Features and Sustainability

The installation’s southern façade opens towards the river, providing natural views while remaining shaded from direct sunlight. On the northern side, plywood panels block glare from the adjacent concrete wall and facilitate passive ventilation, guiding hot air upwards to reduce heat accumulation.

This climate-responsive design enhances comfort while integrating sustainable materials, including locally sourced wood and plywood. Visitors can sit, lie down, or pass through the structure while observing daily river activities: canoeists rowing, birds singing, trees swaying, and riverside life unfolding.

Community Engagement and Collaborative Construction

A secondary bench was later added on the northern side, responding to on-site activities such as canoeing lessons, equipment preparation, and theoretical workshops. This addition strengthened the project’s core concept: bridging urban life and river activities through a transitional public infrastructure.

The structure was co-constructed with students from the Faculty of Architecture at CESUGA (Centro de Estudios Universitarios de Galicia), combining prefabrication in A Coruña and on-site assembly in Logroño. Project support came from Maderas Besteiro, Bandalux, Xunta de Galicia, and the Spanish Association for Forestry Sustainability (PEFC).

Legacy and Relocation

After Concéntrico 2025 concluded, all installations were removed. Habitar el Río was relocated and reconstructed in Viniegra de Abajo, near the Urbión River, where it will remain permanently as a public, ecological, and social space.

This project exemplifies temporary architecture with lasting impact, demonstrating how design, ecology, and community engagement can transform underutilized urban spaces.

All Photographs are works of Erazo Pugliese