Concéntrico Festival 2026 Unveils 24 Urban Installations Across Logroño, Spain

The Concéntrico Festival 2026 is set to take place in Logroño, Spain, from June 18 to 23, transforming the city into an expansive laboratory for architecture, design, and urban experimentation. This festival will span over six days and feature more than twenty urban interventions across various locations, including squares, vacant lots, streets, bridges, and other significant spaces within the city. The event aims to gather prominent studios, researchers, and creators from the international community, such as Chilean architect Smiljan Radić, the raumlabor collective, Matilde Cassani, AAU Anastas, and Sahra Hersi, among others. This year’s edition marks a notable shift towards more collective, festive, and performative practices in public spaces, with a pronounced focus on sonic experiences and initiatives linked to accessibility, inclusion, and urban transformation.

The festival's program is organized around three thematic axes: Identity and Fiction, Urban Ecologies, and Ephemeral Agents. These themes encompass a range of architectural interpretations that view public space as a site for ritual or celebration, alongside experimental approaches that delve into materials, sound, and processes of reuse. The Identity and Fiction axis examines narratives and representations of urban space. For instance, Smiljan Radić’s project draws inspiration from the traveling circus, presenting a lightweight, foldable, and temporary architecture made from industrial plastic fabrics. This installation will evoke the transient nature of circuses that briefly inhabit community spaces, creating a communal area filled with air and color, and featuring projections of Joris Ivens' film, Le petit chapiteau (1963).

Urban Ecologies focuses on the interplay between architecture, climate, material, and landscape. Highlights include experimental pavilions by the raumlabor collective, a civic garden by Sahra Hersi dedicated to cultivation and seed exchange, and an earth and barrel architecture by Boltshauser and Garbizu Collar that draws from the climatic principles of La Rioja's wine-growing landscape. The Ephemeral Agents theme encourages rethinking temporary architecture as a means to activate social dynamics. Notable projects include Gabriel Fontana’s Multiform, urban listening capsules by AAU Anastas in collaboration with Radio alHara, and spatial research on disability and architecture led by Ignacio G. Galán, Ozaeta Fidalgo, and Jordan Whitewood-Neal.

A significant addition to this edition is the inaugural Concéntrico Summer School, which will focus on Switzerland and create a platform for innovative thinking and methods in public space design. The complete event program, detailing locations and schedules, is available on the Concéntrico website. The festival will showcase a variety of installations, each with distinct objectives and interactions with the urban environment.

For example, Matilde Cassani's project at the Arco de San Bernabé aims to activate public space through festivity, utilizing textile and commemorative elements to transform the arch into a device that merges tradition with contemporary use. Another project, Temblores de superficie, vino y Smithson, offers a minimalist interpretation of the wine-growing landscape, encouraging visitors to engage with the earth and its historical context.

The intervention in Plaza del Ayuntamiento involves a series of pillars that reinterpret the existing portico's rhythm, fostering a dynamic relationship between the square and the architecture surrounding it. Meanwhile, Architecture for Ritual will transform Plaza del Mercado into a playful beach-like environment, incorporating a central mast for a ritualistic fire, enhancing the square's communal aspect.

In response to climate challenges, Shade, Breeze, Cooling addresses thermal vulnerability by creating an artificial landscape that provides shade and cooling in Plaza del Mercado. This project emphasizes the importance of modifying the urban atmosphere through innovative structures and materials. Similarly, Hot, Cool, Soft introduces three pavilions that create distinct microclimates, inviting visitors to experience variations in light, shade, air, and temperature.

The Potting Shed is another noteworthy installation, featuring a civic garden centered around a shed and a communal table for seed exchange. This space promotes care, cultivation, and community interaction, while also incorporating ceramic pieces designed through participatory workshops. A Third of Life, by IC-98 and Suomi/Koivisto Architects, continues previous research by combining a drought-resistant garden with a space for collective sleep, encouraging participants to share dreams as a form of community engagement.

Other initiatives include a pavilion that utilizes compacted earth and reused barrels to explore the relationship between architecture and wine culture, as well as Transtation, which repurposes materials from an obsolete electrical substation to create a circular energy system. Zubía's Laboratory invites visitors to engage with urban nature through observation and play, while Bayn proposes a mobile courtyard that embodies the tension between permanence and adaptability.

Overall, Concéntrico Festival 2026 promises to be a vibrant exploration of urban space, where architecture and community engagement converge in innovative and meaningful ways.

Why it matters

The Concéntrico Festival 2026 represents a significant convergence of architecture, community, and environmental awareness. By focusing on themes such as Identity and Fiction, Urban Ecologies, and Ephemeral Agents, the festival not only showcases innovative architectural practices but also emphasizes the importance of public space as a site for collective experience and social interaction. This approach is particularly relevant for creators and technologists, as it highlights the potential for architecture to foster community engagement and address pressing urban challenges, such as climate change and social inclusion.

Furthermore, the festival's emphasis on sonic experiences and accessibility reflects a growing recognition of the need for inclusive design in public spaces. As creators and technologists continue to explore the intersection of art and technology, events like Concéntrico serve as vital platforms for experimentation and collaboration, inspiring new ideas and practices that can shape the future of urban environments. By engaging with diverse perspectives and fostering a spirit of innovation, the festival encourages a reimagining of how public spaces can be designed and experienced, ultimately enriching the urban landscape for all.