wooden pavilion by erazo pugliese reclaims dock on spanish river

pavilion by Erazo Pugliese reactivates urban riverfront

Installed along the edge of the Ebro River in Logroño, Spain, Habitar el Río by architect Erazo Pugliese creates a shaded pavilion for rest, observation, and exchange within a natural and urban landscape. Designed for Concéntrico 2025, the International Festival of Architecture and Design that annually activates urban spaces through temporary interventions, the hand-built structure connects an unused concrete dock with the fluctuating waterline of the river, transforming an overlooked passageway into a site for ecological awareness and collective inhabitation. 

Designed to host the rituals of rest, conversation, and observation, the structure also adapts to its surrounding environment. A southern facade opens to the river and shields the space from direct sun, and plywood panels on the northern side block glare and facilitate passive ventilation. These choices ensure the structure remains both shaded and thermally comfortable throughout the day, using natural airflow to dissipate heat absorbed by the concrete slab.

images courtesy of Erazo Pugliese

Habitar el Río adapts to the site and its user’s needs

Conceived by Paris-based architect Erazo Pugliese within the framework of the festival’s theme, which foregrounded climate, water, food, and social ritual, Habitar el Río aims to reveal latent possibilities in public space. Positioned between a hard concrete pier and the seasonally changing riverbank, the pavilion reclaims an area once used for bathing and now reduced to a transient corridor.

The structure is built in collaboration with students from the Faculty of Architecture at CESUGA (Centro de Estudios Universitarios de Galicia), combining prefabrication in A Coruña with on-site assembly in Logroño. During its construction, the design adapted further in response to how the site was already being used. The team added a second bench to accommodate canoeists who used the platform to prepare equipment and instruct newcomers. 

After the festival’s conclusion and the dismantling of all temporary works, Habitar el Río was relocated to the village of Viniegra de Abajo, along the river Urbión in the mountains near Logroño, where it continues to serve as a modest retreat by the water. 

Habitar el Río is installed along the edge of the Ebro River in Logroño, Spain

Erazo Pugliese creates a shaded pavilion for rest, observation, and exchange

designed for Concéntrico 2025, the annual International Festival of Architecture and Design

a second bench accommodates canoeists who used the platform to prepare equipment