39 186 Vacant Rooms

39186 Vacant Rooms represented the Finnish Institute in Madrid at the Concéntrico International Architecture and Design Festival in Logroño, Spain. The festival, which has provided perspectives on the city and the urban environment since 2015, is recognised as a sharp-eyed, future-oriented architectural event that has sparked discussion within the architectural profession, in addition to increasing dialogue between the city, cultural heritage and contemporary architecture.

In the installation, we chose to focus on the coexistence between humans and other organisms. The installation comments on the massive wave of extinction affecting the Earth. Since 1970, global populations of vertebrates have declined by 68%. For smaller creatures and plants, the figure is likely to be even higher, and one of the main reasons for this is the change in land use over the last 50 years. 

Urbanisation has been rapid, and the extraction of raw materials is ever accelerating. Contemporary Western societies draw a clear line between the built and the natural environment, which means our cities are not built with the needs of non-human species in mind. While we might enjoy spending time in nature, most of us no longer live amongst it. 

When other animals or organisms try to inhabit our spaces, we are quick to clear them out – even from underused attics or barns. If we want to stop the irreversible loss of biodiversity, we must find ways of accommodating nature in our cities. The clientele of architects has changed: we need to start designing not only for humans but also for other living beings.

One of the central ideas of Concéntrico is to highlight the relevance and characteristics of existing urban spaces by creating connections between streets and places such as yards and back alleys, which may go unnoticed in everyday life. Seeing the value of what already exists is something that resonates with Vapaa’s design philosophy. Innovative and diverse use of existing spaces makes sense both in terms of the climate and cultural heritage.

39186 Vacant Rooms blurs the boundary between humans and nature. It creates a sanctuary in the city-centre not only for people, but also for insects navigating the stony urban environment. One side of the installation reflects the surrounding urban space made and used by humans, the setting for the installation. The reflective surface accurately mirrors the environment, not forgetting people themselves. From a distance, an unattentive visitor may miss the entire work, which blends into its surroundings. When people approach the installation, their movement brings the otherwise quiet surface to life.

The other side of the installation doubles as an insect hotel offering tens of thousands of cavities for pollinating insects to dwell in. The permeable structure weaves together the two sides, the city and nature. In doing so, it forces us to think about how our society, our aesthetics and our attitudes need to change in order for us to welcome other creatures and organisms back into our urban environments.

The purpose of the installation is to stimulate discussion about the relationship between architecture and the climate crisis, while encouraging local people to take action to achieve change. We wanted to give people something to think about and also give them the opportunity to act. It was also very clear to us from the outset that the construction and disassembly of the work should not produce any waste. 

These two aspects led us to examine modular structures. We wanted the work to be easily divided into smaller parts, so that after the festival, the huge insect hotel could live on as smaller entities on people’s balconies and gardens. When the festival ended, all the modules found new owners in less than an hour. Now, instead of the festival courtyard in Logroño, the installation continues to inspire conversation in 270 different gardens.

The project was supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.