OPEN CALL: 2023 Concéntrico 09 International Competitions

Concéntrico 09 will be held in Logroño (Spain) from April 27 to May 2, 2023. The International Festival of Architecture and Design proposes annually to reflect on the urban environment and the city. The Festival invites visitors to explore the city through installations, exhibitions, meetings and activities that propose new collective uses, strengthening the idea of community in the public space.

The festival opens the call for proposals for three interventions in the ninth edition of the festival and a call for participatory practices with the Cities Ahead programme. The calls, which have a digital delivery format, have a deadline for the submission of proposals is January 10, 2023 at 23:59 hours (GMT+1):

Pavilion in the Plaza de Escuelas Trevijano, starting point for the tours and activities. A meeting space that shows in an innovative way how urban spaces have become a fundamental reference for coexistence.

Installation in Viña Lanciano, in collaboration with Bodegas LAN, proposes to work on the Mantible Ecológico plot, a vineyard of high landscape and ecological value, thanks to its unique location around a meander of the river Ebro. A unique enclave not only for the cultivation of vines, but also for the coexistence of a multitude of fauna and varieties of riverbank flora.

Installation in the Felipe VI Park, a public space of urban character and landscape that continuously occupies the route of the railway tracks. It is proposed to work on the west stand and its surroundings, one of the points of interest and activity in the park.

Concéntrico will be responsible for the production and construction of the winning proposals in coordination with the teams selected in the competitions for Plaza Escuelas Trevijano, Viña Lanciano and Parque Felipe VI. These interventions will form part of the set of projects to be carried out in different locations in the city.

Since 2015, architects and designers such as Matali Crasset, Konstantin Grcic, Izaskun Chinchilla, Associates Architecture, Piovenefabi, Tudor Vlăsceanu, Germane Barnes, Rintala Eggertsson Architects, Lanza Atelier, Matteo Ghidoni – Enrico Dusi, Paradigma Ariadné, Aleksandra Wasilkowska, Palma + Hanghar, 44 flavours, Gregor Schneider, Iza Rutkowska, Storey Studio and Anna & Eugeni Bach have made interventions at the festival.

Cities Ahead: culture, creativity, community
Cities Ahead is a European programme on the initiative of the Goethe-Institut which promotes the revival of creative cities. Its aim is to transform the city into an ideal ecosystem for creativity and culture, taking advantage of all the potential for global dissemination and international cultural cooperation. Logroño, as the city where Concéntrico – International Festival of Architecture and Design – takes place, will act as a pioneer in Spain. Cities Ahead launches a call for international creatives to propose participatory actions for the transformation of space, integrating aspects of sustainable development, urban innovation and ecological transition.

This call aims to place the citizens of Logroño at the centre of the city’s future. Through the implementation of a participatory artistic, activist or any other creative action in Logroño, the city will become a laboratory for the innovation of new ideas, tools and formats. Three projects will be selected from creatives with experience in working in public spaces and using a participatory method, i.e. including citizens and/or the municipality in their work.

The festival is organised by the Cultural Foundation of the Architects of La Rioja together with Javier Peña Ibáñez, promoter of the initiative, in collaboration with Logroño City Council and the Government of La Rioja. It is supported by Garnica, Bodegas LAN and more than 30 local, regional, national and international institutions, entities and companies.

Find out all the details on the website and in the videos of the last edition.