CIRCO, STAGING COLLECTIVITY 

CIRCO is a public infrastructure.
It is a space for celebrations, civic rituals, collective gatherings. The site is an historical performative space of the city of Logrono and the conchais a monument to its collectivity. Over the year, several events take place and the different communities of the city gather and overlap in this space: the feast ofSan Mateo for the first grape pressing of the season, gatherings for wine tastings, concerts, music school performances, Christmas lighting and markets, ani-mal-free corridas, discussion panel and talks, interviews and political protests. The public space of the city is usually defined by its horizontal surfaces: the design of the pavements, the stone floorings, the change of material that guidespeople’s paths and directions. According to this tradition, the project reflects on a minimal gesture to define its space. To celebrate the city, there is no need to act on the existing concrete shell: a new small architectural object is designed facing the stage of la concha.
CIRCO is a forum, an arena, a stage, a dance floor, a conversation pit, a big bench.
CIRCO (Italian and Spanish) means SHOW: A movable structure consisting of a series of dismountable equipment, in which acrobats, clowns, trained animals, ferocious beasts, etc. perform. The name comes from the Latin word circus, ‘circle’, because the Roman race course was shaped like a ring; in the Roman world it was in the form of an elongated oval amphitheater with seatings around it. Likewise this archetype of a collective and performative public space, CIRCO is a semicircular arena, that mirrors the proportions of the existing concha facing it. It is a simple and modular structure with a 6m radius, made of wooden panel sand supporting scaffolding joints. It has 2 levels of steps (total height of 50cm)and 8 modules together assembly the arena. Arranged in line, a small podium and the image of a sun - hanging from the dome - take part in the ensemble.
CIRCO is a device that gathers, orients and organizes the public body of the city. The project is not only the semicircular structure but also the space it embodies: the space in between, from the steps to the back of the existing stage. The empty space it’s where life happens. A public space that blurs both the distinction between performers and spectators, as well as the historical image of this place and its ever-changing celebrating imaginary.
CIRCO stages the collectivity of the city.