Crop Top, Concéntrico Festival, Logroño, 2025. © Josema Cutillas.
During the opening reception for Concéntrico: Urban Innovation Laboratory, Logroño-based Javier Peña Ibáñez, director of Concéntrico, gave an overview about the organization of an architecture festival such as Concéntrico, which originates in a small city like Logroño to achieve international renown for participation and media impact. During the walk through, Javier Peña Ibáñez also discussed the key themes that have emerged since the start of the festival in 2015.
Schedule
6:00pm – Doors open
6:20pm – 6:30pm: Opening remarks by Manuel Valenzuela (Instituto Cervantes of Chicago), Igo Kommers (Chicago Architecture Biennial), and Iker Gil (MAS Context)
6:30pm – 6:50 pm: Presentation and guided tour by Javier Peña Ibañez (Concéntrico)
6:50pm – 8:00pm: Reception and networking
About the exhibition
Concéntrico: Urban Innovation Laboratory reflects on the first decade of the international Concéntrico festival in Logroño, Spain, and the 150 projects and designs commissioned for it. The festival’s aim is to serve as a laboratory searching for creative ways of using architecture and design to strengthen communities and to support the dialogue between designers and citizens.
The exhibition offers a unique meditation on the transformation of cities and the relevance of architecture and design in the twenty-first century. It introduces meaningful ways to address and engage with pressing urban issues—from identity and heritage to temporariness, collectivity, ecology, play, and domesticity—through the lens of selected Concéntrico commissions since 2015.
The exhibition is structured around seven themes:
- Identity and Fiction
- Heritage and Symbolism
- Temporary but Social
- Collective and Cooperative
- Urban Ecologies
- Playable Cities
- Domesticating Public Space
The exhibition also highlights the four installations that have been supported by MAS Context since 2022: Intersect by Germane Barnes, Stone Wall Stand In by Design With Company, Public Utilities by Outpost Office, and Crop Top by BairBaillet.
