From a bench to a pavilion, from a pavilion to a school infrastructure
In the context of the Congreso Nacional del Medio Ambiente (CONAMA), we were asked to create a stand for Madrid City Council. Taking as inspiration the Soviet Pavilion for the Paris International Exhibition by Konstantin Melnikov, we decided to propose a design that would not generate any waste and could be made from recycled materials to the greatest extent possible.
This purpose brought us to Herminio, a civil servant of the City Council who for years has been storing in municipal warehouses the wood of the benches of the streets of Madrid whose use has already ceased. Knowing his trajectory and dedication encourages us to immediately recycle these woods, thus giving rise to the beginning of “Operación Herminio”. This project consists of the reuse of these woods for the creation of infrastructures in the urban gardens of the capital.
Thus, thanks to the CONAMA 14 project, not only a pavilion is being built, but also terraces, flowerbeds, compost bins and different pieces that will serve the neighbourhoods. All these elements are registered as Open Source, so that they can be replicated in other places, by other people.
Thanks to the help of Herminio, Javier Spalla and all the staff of the Centro de Educación Ambiental de Retiro, the pavilion, after being exhibited in the Palacio de Congresos de Madrid, is moved to different places, giving it a second life: the compost bins are placed in the Retiro, the shelving unit in Medialab and the greenhouse is transported to the playground of the nursery school “El Alba”. The wood from the benches will continue to serve Madrid’s public gardens, thus setting a precedent for the furniture that will accompany future editions of CONAMA.
