Architecture in the Iliggocene Era: Urban Installation in Public Space and International Exhibition

The current moment we are going through, referred to by many as the anthropocene, is marked by a generalised attribute: that of disorientation. The systems and norms to which we used to cling are losing their validity. The current crises led by the climate emergency provoke changes that require us to reorient our practices according to an unpredictable context. This uncertainty and instability can be understood as a problem or as an opportunity to turn around and transform and transform ourselves in such a way that the environment and our own actions align in a common voice. Architectural practices are at the forefront of the hopeful changes we have the power to propose. Architecture has enormous transformative power to meet the challenges of the Iliggocene. 

The term Iliggocene (from ίλιγγος = Greek root for destabilising or disorienting) is a useful parallel term to that of the Anthropocene, able to designate with certainty the times we are living through. Iliggocen- The Age of Dizziness is also the name of a series of international exhibitions that also constitute a forum for research through art and architecture. It is from the curatorship of this series of exhibitions that this project arises.

Since 2020 PSAAP has been collaborating in the international project ‘Navigating Dizziness Together’ together with a large team of researchers led by Ruth Anderwald and Leonhard Grond. This project and other preceding projects address how uncertainty, imbalance, dizziness, can be a source of resources if we navigate it in the right way from philosophy and thought, ecology, urban planning, art, politics, the body, architecture or social aspects. This project is in itself an archive of tools for the era we inhabit as well as a recognition of its characteristics in order to be able to react to it. 

‘Navigating Dizziness Together’, now approaching its climax, is being given new impetus and new funding by the Kulturstifung des Bundes, KSB and other cooperation partners such as KINDL (Centre for Contemporary Art Berli), Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum, MSU Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb or the Kunsthalle Prague for the realisation of the exhibition series Iliggocene – The Age of Dizziness, which in turn continues to be a mode of enquiry and experimentation that produces specific material. In this case the curatorial team consists of Ruth Anderwald, Leonhard Grond and Sergio Edelsztein.

For this exhibition we were commissioned to create a piece about how architecture responds to this Iliggocene situation. The piece will travel to different international art institutions. The proposal is that this piece will be fed by an urban installation specifically located in Madrid and the research on architecture and the Iliggocene that will be housed in it. At the same time, a protocol will be established to replicate this installation in other locations, promoting specific knowledge in each geography in which the exhibition may travel. (For these replicas we have an open collaborative process in which you can participate. Write to us if you want to be part of this network).

Urban Installation in Madrid

The urban installation proposed for Madrid is the base and fundamental layer of the piece that will first travel to the exhibition series Iliggocene – The Art of Dizziness. It contains various levels of meaning, materiality and content.

Location

The installation seeks to be located in a place where urban dynamics are at their most uncertain. It is also a place where these dynamics are shown in a more stark form, without pretending to appear to be something they are not. We find these characteristics in the city’s wastelands. More specifically in those that are in intimate contact with their residential fabric, surrounded by it, in such a way that citizens and their daily lives are imbricated with them. These places, full of potential, carry with them a desire for urban transformation, but also the presence of a specific ecosystem, that of the conquest by pioneering plants and diverse species of both flora and fauna, which advances in time showing us the most genuine landscapes of this specific territory. They also contain traces of human activity in the form of pollutants, rubbish or the remains of more virtuous practices. In a way, they are an ecological x-ray in their entirety. They show whether our soils are fertile, arid, rich or polluted; whether the climate allows for exuberance or precariousness; whether native species are diverse or predominantly invasive, etc. In other words, they are privileged places not only for understanding the city – as Ignasi de Solá Morales argued in 1999 in his text Terrain Vague – but also for understanding its ecosystem – as authors such as Gilles Clement with his Manifesto of the Third Landscape in 2004 or Matthew Gandy in 2022 have also highlighted.

The wastelands are one of the few places in the city that evolve in close contact with all the organisms that inhabit them. They evolve at the same pace as their inhabitants. They do not have an imposed structure maintained artificially, but rather, for as long as they maintain their identity, their structure is the result of the practices they embrace day by day. They are therefore revealing and fragile. This is why everyday evolutions leave their mark on them, they are the chronicle of the life that invades them. The open spaces embody the revolution, the chinks of how things can be, the power, the virtuality, the changes. These terrains have had numerous situations, they have suffered or enjoyed diverse policies and above all they have been the screen where multiple images of change, progress, turning back, stagnation, pasts and futures have been projected: numerous comings and goings. They are the place everyone looks to when talking about planning. Equally the bodies that have occupied these places in the common imaginary have been marginal or free, rural or cosmopolitan, exposed, wise or degraded, dangerous and hidden in the place where many do not want to look. These places have shored up their history and their social framework in fits and starts between crises and perhaps for this reason their traces and their imaginaries preserve valuable material that is worth understanding in order to understand the present moment and our degrees of mobility today.

We know these terrains in depth at PSAAP since between 2014 and 2022, we developed an investigation in them that culminated in the publication of the book “Descampados. Walking Revolutionary Landscapes in the Somatic City” (2022). 

For the urban installation, we selected one from the network studied: the abandoned ammunition dumps of Retamares. Because of its location, the materials already available there and its historical, geographical, ecological and spatial characteristics. But it could be located at any other point in the network and could even be exported to other cities, as we have already pointed out.

Its historical characteristics have to do with the previous presence of a military installation there. This memory brings us face to face with our contemporaneity when we have so many disputed territories. Wars cause innumerable ecocides and human losses. This place also makes them present and engages us. On the other hand, its geography is totally artificial, configured according to enormous ‘bathtubs’ surrounded by berms of land that once prevented the shockwave of possible explosions from affecting other parts of the complex. This has now been transformed into specific acoustic qualities, making the site a soundscape of great potential. In terms of ecology, the site has been occupied for years by native vegetation and fauna, with the presence of specific valuable specimens and areas of enormous resilience. The proposed garden installation would enhance this development. And finally, its spatiality organised in levels allows immersion in an area which, although it is close to the residential buildings, at the lowest level of the complex they are out of sight. At the same level, we are also acoustically isolated. In short, its spatiality facilitates immersion in an architecture where we would be confronted with all these issues that our discipline must seek a place for and, if possible, a response to.

Installation

The installation puts architecture at the forefront of the required responses to the challenges of the climate crisis, the ecological transition, the morphology of our cities, or the loss of biodiversity. The installation shows how architectural systems respond to the Iliggocene Era and how architecture is the main interface and catalyst between the population, urban actors and environmental challenges. The installation takes the form of a garden in which the body is welcomed into a concrete ecological experience and where there is also access to a virtual exhibition of architectural projects, construction systems and materials that seek to respond to the crises that the Iliggocene poses to us, with the climate crisis at the forefront. The installation is a didactic manifesto in itself, it is an active landscape that affects us somatically, creating awareness of the metabolism we share with the planet. It brings to our own bodies the experience of various aspects involved in climate change and its effects. It is a knowledge-bearing installation and this is of great importance because without knowledge and awareness of the dynamics at play, we will not be able to move in the right direction with regard to the transformation of our practices.

In the realisation of this installation the existing materials are used, mainly ceramic bricks and round steel bricks that we can recycle; the other material component is a specific type of vegetation. Only one family of plants is used in the realisation of the garden: the convolvulaceae plants commonly known as ‘morning glory’. This family includes more than 650 species. The choice of this family is intentional because its characteristics allow us to talk about many aspects of our relationship with the ecosystem we inhabited in the Iliggocene Era. Aspects to which the architectural examples shown in this installation provide a response. The architectures contained in the installation are shown through QR codes on visitors’ mobile phones.

Some of the species of the family are considered invasive in many geographies, but at the same time they are plants that carry natural insecticides, are used in medicine, are pioneers in adaptations to climate change, allow food production, provide shelter from extreme heat and help clean the soil of pollutants, among many other possibilities. The controversy generated by these species (between invasion and care and benefit) can be a mirror in which we humans can look at ourselves. In this way, the garden proposes an environment in which our body is articulated in a close encounter with these plants. For this purpose, different areas are articulated in the garden:

1/ Walkable area: it allows us to move around and observe the built landscape. This landscape is configured not only with the plants already mentioned, but also with recycled materials – present in the place – which are massively known for being the protagonists in the construction of our cities, as we have already mentioned: bricks and steel rounds. They would be cleaned and ready for a new use. While it is by no means the intention here to build massive formations with them (there will be no masonry work), they will be used to spread them over the terrain of the walkable area – creating a porous pavement – and to create areas for organising vegetation. The bricks at the base, in their connection to the ground, and the round bricks providing the light structures capable of supporting the path and the growth of the climbers forming shaded areas. To put it briefly, the installation is configured as a ruin of our actions conquered by a powerful vegetation that can teach us various lessons, both in its excesses and its subtleties.

2/ Benches and thresholds: this walkable area has on some of its edges some stacked bricks that will act as benches. Allowing a closer bodily approach to the morning glory species. A first series of QR codes showing the Iliggocene architectures will also be installed on the benches. These will be organised in groups according to the themes that would open up the different interactions of our bodies with the plant, as we can see in the drawing (Fig.3); these relationships constitute a broad overview of the aspects of climate change and the other crises mentioned. That is, the very encounter of our body with the plant in the installation reveals without words the themes to which the exhibited architectures respond: climate change and climate shelters; building materials and green facades; medicinal uses of natural elements, pandemics and the environment; resilience to climate change; ecological genomics as a model for biomimicry architectural solutions; air quality; biodiversity and pollination; natural insecticides and soil cleanliness; food production; ritual aspects in societies and public space; or ecological restoration.

3/ Morning Glory Sea: Surrounding the walking area and the benches is what we call the ‘morning glory sea’. It is an extension completely taken over by the plant that will generate a tapestry or tide that we can observe. At the same time it will keep us out of the way by setting some limits to the human species (or at least making us aware of when to leave space to other species). 

4/ Divans: The divans are platforms equally configured by the extension of recycled ceramic material on which we can lie down. An even more intimate encounter with the plant is proposed here, as these divans will be covered by boughs (which will be supported by the recycled rounded pieces) and will allow us to be completely surrounded by it: by its scent, its colours, by the biodiversity it generates and by the awareness of all the affections that other living beings can produce and propose to us. A second series of the aforementioned QR codes will also be installed on the couches.

The installation therefore speaks to us of the transformative potential of architecture based on a concrete ecological experience that we can perceive in the first person. 

It aims to show us, on the one hand, the lack of knowledge that we generally have of other living beings: a single family such as the Morning glory feeds us (the sweet potato is one of the species of this family), is chemically active – it is hallucinogenic -, is medicinal, is used in ancestral rites, decontaminates and builds the air we breathe, teaches us strategies for adapting to climate change or provides us with shelter. On the other hand, the installation shows us a certain ruin that speaks to us of our history. Through the design of the ritual encounter between our body and these plants, a transformation is sought in the imaginaries of the possible. By attending to how we can be more conscious of our practices and our relationship with other beings on this planet based on the experience of the garden.

The architecture shown in the installation also gives us a catalogue of possibilities for the transformation of our lifestyles, our economies and our cities. 

The realisation of the garden is studied in detail, always taking care which Morning Glory species can be installed here and also planning their possible removal. 

If the materials that support the morning glory are recycled, the plants themselves can also be recycled, as they grow spontaneously in many places. Their rapid growth will make it possible to see substantial changes over the life of the garden. In many parts of the peninsula Ipomoea purpurea is already naturalised. Here in Madrid the autochthonous species in the Morning Glory is Convolvulus arvensis, which can be a fundamental part of the installation.

Monitoring and content

The installation, in the form of a garden, is also an instrument to give voice to the environment and to bodies. Both the environment and the climate as well as the bodies are the agents that inform the architectures of the Iliggocene. 

Thus, the installation deploys monitoring and knowledge along these three lines: Iliggocene bodies; Iliggocene environment; Iliggocene architecture with the latter being the main protagonist.

BODIES IN THE ILIGGOCENE AGE: 

Understanding where we are in the Iliggocene Era, on a somatic, affective, social and ecological level, is the first step in becoming aware in order to be able to act. How do diverse bodies feel in this scenario? How do children, adults, under a gender or cultural point of view, make sense of the experience of this installation? How does the experience of the installation make us reflect on broader issues that affect us on an ecological, environmental and architectural level?

The application that supports the installation and which is accessed to visualise the Iliggocene architectures and their environments also allows for the collection of data on the bodies.

Visitors will be able to answer simple questions that will inform them about their state, their imaginations, their dreams or their problems and fears. In this way, a somatic archive of what the bodies have to say will appear. This archive can also be used as a tool for designers, who will be able to contemplate this information in our architectures and react to it.

ENVIRONMENT IN THE ILIGGOCENE ERA: 

The metabolisms of urban environments and their digitisation is a fundamental part of understanding this uncertain period of the Iliggocene. 

The urban installation, through sensors installed continuously or temporarily depending on their character, analyses the dynamic events of exchange between the components of urban nature, modelled as flows of energy and information, revealing the urban environment as an active participant. 

A system with the fundamental property of being unstable. In this way new ways of measuring urban events and dynamics will be investigated through the development of multispectral sensory devices, developing tools to observe the environment beyond human-centred capabilities. In previous projects we have already established contact with research with this type of sensors. On this occasion, they are being developed by researchers in artificial intelligence at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Iliggocene phenomena such as those related to climate change must be studied on the basis of a multitude of silent and perceptible incremental transformations over a longer period of time: human senses alone are often insufficient to perceive and connect them. It is therefore important to encode an artificial sensory organ based on digital data acquisition to help us perceive such data streams and information that lie outside the spectrum of our perception. 

In this way, the perspective is changed by observing the agency and impact on/and/of that which we too often perceive as merely the passive ‘background’ of human action. The climate crisis shows us a planet with agency rather than the territory to own and control that we have had in mind for centuries in the Western world (Latour 2018). The rise of invisible agencies, biological or digital, impact our current social, environmental, urban and political circumstances but remain largely hidden. The paradigmatic shift in perception proposed by this project will allow for a better reading and understanding of the agencies of the ‘backgrounds’ (the environment, the backgrounds, the planet, the climate, etc.).

ARCHITECTURES OF THE ILIGGOCENE: 

The architectures of the Iliggocene that are shown when accessing the different QR codes configure a virtual exhibition of possible responses from our discipline. 

In order to select these architectures, a dual curatorial and open call process is established, seeking architectures, prototypes and installations that in their systems, materialities, or behaviours respond to the Iliggocene era (respond to the multiple crises, led by the climatic emergency).

It is also taken into account that they are architectures that respond to the question “How many species are we designing for? The architectures, prototypes, materials, etc. or their projects must have been created in Spain, so that when this installation is transformed into an exhibition piece for the exhibition Iliggocene: The Age of Dizziness, it will bring this knowledge to the international arena. The installation will host conferences and events related to this architectural content.

Fragment – piece for the exhibition Iliggocene – The Age of Dizziness

The urban installation made specifically for Madrid and the Spanish architecture of the Iliggocene, will remain in the open space of Retamares for the time agreed through the relevant permits. It may be ephemeral or permanent depending on the permits. In any case, it will be filmed and converted into an audiovisual document. 

The piece that will be exported to the exhibition Iliggocene – The Age of Dizziness will be this audiovisual document together with a small fragment of the materials that made up the urban installation, as well as the archive or database generated by it consisting of the architectures of the Iliggocene, together with the information on the monitored bodies and environments.

This work forms part of the international exhibition and its itinerary through the various countries and institutions involved.

Protocol

The project ultimately aims to create a community of architectural practice and research on Iliggocene architecture and will promote the replication of the urban installation proposed for Madrid in other locations following the protocol designed by us. This replication will be especially welcome in association with the international sites of the exhibition Iliggocene – The Age of Dizziness and will be financed independently by the cooperating actors. 

The protocol will include the selection of a site in ruins and/or marginal-peripheral but urban and in contact with the citizenry, and with the history or present of being a contested territory; the complete realisation with recycled materials from the construction field; and the use of species of the Convolvulaceae or Morning Glory family.

Depending on the site, the need to plant Morning Glory on a previous bed of other plants will be considered, which will help them to climb better and the soil to take hold in better conditions. In the case of Madrid this may be particularly relevant. Both the list of species and the specific materials to be recycled will be adjusted to each proposed location.

Scientific basis of the installation

The scientific background of this proposal is fed on the one hand by the already mentioned research projects ‘Dizziness a Resource’ and ‘Navigating Dizziness Together’ – both international projects funded by the Austrian Science Funds among other institutions – and on the other hand by the architectural and urban research of our PSAAP platform with more than 25 years of experience in the development of architectural projects, laboratories and publications.

The more theoretical research associated with the Iliggocene will be further developed not only through this installation and its associated architectural project archives, but also through a new international scientific project called “Dis/Orientation Matters. An Arts-Based Research on the Background as Foreground”.

Regarding the scientific and practical aspects, the facility serves as a laboratory for studying the environment, pollutants present in the soil and air, biodiversity, and resilience in these transitional territories. The facility itself produces phytoremediation for these areas, either temporarily or permanently, depending on the future to which this site is exposed. The focus, in turn, is on the useful life of materials and on architectural research into what architectural solutions can offer regarding ecological and climatic aspects, including ecological and energy footprints, as well as planning for a just energy transition.

Theoretical and scientific and practical research, thus, involves data collection, organization, and the development of experimental projects for potential architectural prototypes and their systems that have transformative and innovative power. These prototypes are primarily developed in urban settings.

The scientific basis therefore seeks to answer this question:

How can we instigate a paradigmatic shift in architecture to rethink crises and uncertainty (the primary characteristic of the Illiggocene) as a force generating innovation and cooperation rather than a calamitous condition?

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