Concéntrico, the Logroño International Architecture and Design Festival, has launched a participatory survey via a mobile app, inviting residents to engage and interact with the project "100 Chairs and 3 Urban Lounges" by Izaskun Chinchilla.
From September 1 to 6, 2022, the project designed by architect Izaskun Chinchilla will be on display during the festival's eighth edition, inviting citizens to reflect on cities and how sustainable spaces can be designed to ensure a better quality of life and improve the use of public space.
By designing these folding chairs and distributing them across various locations in Logroño, the initiative aims to foster a friendlier, more sustainable city. Here, residents take center stage to define the chairs' use and location—choosing where to look, whether to sit in the shade of a tree, and whom to meet. In Spain, and particularly in the towns of La Rioja, sitting in individual chairs in public spaces has been a long-standing tradition.
The app offers a catalog of existing chairs adapted from iconic traditional and contemporary designs. Once an initial model is selected, users can add elements for greater comfort, customize them with icons or prominent figures from Logroño, and apply different color schemes. Finally, citizens can suggest future locations for the chairs, helping to create new gathering points throughout the city.
Operating as an online survey, the app is designed to foster agency over public space by asserting the right to participatory governance, promoting the mobility of street furniture, and supporting local communities in co-creating their neighborhood identities through the practice and popularization of placemaking principles.
The first two chairs, designed by José María García Ramírez and Wassim Zouadi, serve as examples to encourage public participation in the project, which will produce 100 chairs to be placed throughout the city during the festival. José María García Ramírez chose a chair with motifs referencing the Sagasta Iron Bridge and colors that blend “the green of the countryside with the ochre of Logroño's historic center.” He proposed placing it in Plaza de San Agustín, imagining, in his own words, “a dialogue between Sagasta and Espartero. I imagined them sitting and chatting in front of their home, talking about 19th-century life in Logroño.”
Meanwhile, Wassim Zouadi’s chair represents “the various youth-led urban movements in the city.” He chose a palette of blues to represent universality and freedom of expression for youth and street art, which he notes symbolize “the blue sky under which we all live.” The defining feature of his design is a cap-like canopy, referencing both art and urban culture.
This survey will be linked to an educational innovation course coordinated by CRIE. This initiative will enable over 30 teachers from schools across La Rioja to use the app in the classroom, allowing their students to participate in the project. Beyond this course, additional workshops are planned to involve residents in defining and promoting the area. Through this repositioning of these chairs, participants will also help delineate the low-emission zone.
To participate in the survey, click here.
This article was written by Agustina Iñiguez. The translation is powered by AI.
