Davide Marchetti’s Concéntrico 04 Pavilion Incorporates VR to Explore Logroño’s History

Concéntrico is an International Festival of Architecture and Design that reflects on the revitalization of devalued spaces in Logroño, Spain. Its latest edition, Concéntrico 04, was held between April 27 and May 1, 2018, in Logroño’s Historical Center. The festival invites you to travel the city through installations, exhibitions, meetings, activities, and performances that create a connection between streets, venues, courtyards and hidden spaces that usually go unnoticed from day-to-day. David Marchetti‘s intervention “Otravisión” aims to signal the plaza by providing passers-by the opportunity to see the area from an entirely new and unpredicted point of view.

From the architects: David Marchetti received his master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Rome in 2001. He has been a professor of advanced design studies at Cornell University since 2011 and a guest lecturer at Pratt Institute, Syracuse University, Waterloo University, and Washington University. Davide Marchetti joined Massimilano Fuksas’ team in the same year and founded his own studio specializing in architecture, urban planning, and interior design in 2005.

Visitors will access the pavilion by entering a small narrow corridor facing the plaza, looking through the slits and the space around them as they move through the area. As you traverse the space and climb the wooden ladder, one’s point of view is elevated and will begin to develop a unique and deeply personal relationship with Logroño’s collage of the old and new. Anything that was previously out of sight will now be on display. The tower-like pavilion will host a small space for virtual reality designed and developed by NOUMENA called “Rutas.” It will act as a “virtual periscope” tool, encouraging people to reflect on the space that they are experiencing. Through this sensorial experience, primarily focused on the view of Logroño across from El Camino de Santiago, visitors will discover the trails of the historic pilgrimage, navigating into an augmented environment that freezes the shadows of passengers into an ethereal portrait.

The VR system allows people to experience a unique, alternative way of experiencing the trail. The church of Santiago el Real and it’s fountain’s precise design were made possible by an advanced 3-D reconstruction. Moreover, the tower pavilion, beyond simply providing a new point of view, recalls notions of Logroño’s history as a fortified city. Openings and decorations in the facade reference historic geometries, translating them into a sculptural pattern that modulates the light streaming in, while also letting the visitor look out into the plaza as they are inside. The intervention ultimately centers on giving visitors a new perspective of the plaza and surroundings, plus a new personal experience of the history of Logroño.