PAREID's Enigmatic Architecture: Blurring the Boundaries Between Everywhere and Nowhere

Everything is connected. Pipes, tubes, wires, and cables transfer physical and digital matter through vast infrastructural networks. These elements span cities, landscapes, and continents, often in plain view yet leading to no beginning or end, abruptly vanishing behind walls, into the ground, or connecting to circuits and subsuming into a large whole. Ubiquitous yet disappearing, they are everywhere and nowhere. The language of excess, fluidity, connectivity, and transmission is rendered in this space through the use of three materials: tubes, lights, and metal. Lining the walls, ceiling, and parts of the floor, visitors are immersed in a machine-like environment with a red glow, both familiar and alien. The temporary installation was built in February 2022 for the Urvanity Art Fair, held annually at the College of Architects of Madrid (COAM). It served as both a presentation/conference space for public talks and a social gathering space with a small bar. While the physical space connected people and ideas, the talks were also live-streamed online for remote access. Inspiration for the installation came from visiting construction sites where the same kind of tubes was seen in different circumstances, such as partially submerged in the ground or running along the side of a large wall. This extends the office's interest in finding new or slightly different ways of utilizing industrialized materials. The project tackles issues surrounding temporary installations, the construction industry's waste, and people's appreciation for certain aspects of the built environment.

The primary material used for the installation was corrugated tubing, an element that is essential to our contemporary urban and rural lives, yet often overlooked and hidden underground. To draw attention to this often-unappreciated element, the project was sponsored by the Spanish beer company Mahou, whose iconic red colour bathes the entirety of the room, creating an immersive experience. The existing spatial organization of three large columns and four walls with entrances on opposite ends was further defined by the bundling of tubes in certain areas and their hanging height, delineating the various bits of the program such as the central seating area, bar area, and lounge corner. In this way, the room was transformed into a backdrop for the event, while still maintaining a sense of presence and personality.

The festival lasted four days, so the installation had to be quick and temporary. To ensure no trace was left behind, a non-invasive strategy of clamps and straps was used to attach the PVC tubes to the existing ribbed slab and columns. After the four-day installation was finished, the tubes were donated to a nearby small-town construction company, where they have already resumed their traditional role as electrical cable protection. We hope to see all forms of rejects welcomed and appreciated into everyday life.