Ephemeral but intense. Lucerna by Manuel Bouzas and Santiago del Aguila

Description of project by Manuel Bouzas, Santiago del Aguila

Last October, the ephemeral architecture festival A Cel Obert 2021 was held in Tortosa, where the architects Manuel Bouzas and Santiago del Águila presented the urban installation 'Lucerna'. More than 6 meters high and with an area of ​​55 m2, this monumental-scale lamp hangs from the main courtyard of the Purissima Concepció monastery, radically transforming the 17th-century building through light and color.

 The festival tries to promote the heritage value of the historic center of Tortosa. Through a series of ephemeral installations, many of the patios and cloisters that remain closed to the public during the year are opened to the city. In addition, numerous parallel events are coordinated, such as conferences, seminars, and guided tours, which seek to bring Architecture closer to society. The spaces where communities used to meet and where social ties were strengthened are thus filled with life again.

In the words of the authors, the conceptual origin of the project arises from the double reading of the word 'Lucerna'. This term is used to designate the upper openings that naturally illuminate a space. However, it was also used by the Romans to name the ancient oil lamps that produced light in the dark. In other words, the first lamps in history. The proposal, therefore, explores the intersection between both notions and reinterprets in a contemporary key the classic hanging lamps that have crowned religious spaces throughout history, from Reims Cathedral to the Hagia Sophia mosque.

In collaboration with the lighting designer Ana Barbier, the authors build the project with six rings of wood, on the inner edges of which an LED tape is installed. Through a light structure of cables and tensors, the piece hangs from the cornice of the patio. A corrugated translucent skin of polyester resin surrounds the sieve rings and conducts light to the ground. It is precisely here that a small staircase lifts visitors inside and discover the Cel Obert (open sky), cut out by the organic geometry of the piece.

When night falls, the lamp becomes a vibrant container of light that transforms the patio through sparkle and color. A color that overflows the limits of the monastery until it reaches the street, where the thousands of inhabitants of Tortosa are invited to discover and reactivate the forgotten and hidden spaces of the city.