Spanish Pavilion for Frankfurt Book Fair 2022. "La Teoría de las Cerezas" by Enorme Studio

Project description by Enorme Studio

Enorme Studio as architects, Vitamin as spatial designers, Ignacio Vleming as storytelling and Twopoints as graphic designers, are the creative studios behind the pavilion “La Teoría de las Cerezas", turned into a space of exploration where words are transformed into colors, sounds and movement. A creative and multi-sensory proposal that also gives special relevance to the voice of women and the questions needed to make a more sustainable publishing industry. Elvira Marco has been the main curator of the pavilion.

Spain, which had already been guest of honor in 1991, has set itself the goal of improving knowledge of Spanish literature abroad. To that end, the project, with the slogan #CreatividadDesbordante, featured nearly 200 participants, including writers, translators, illustrators, publishers, literary agents, booksellers and distributors.

For the design of the pavilion, a national call for public competition was held, where the proposals submitted not only had to follow the edition's slogan, but also had to do so in an innovative, original, creative and sustainable way. The winning proposal was "La Teoría de las Cerezas" presented by Enorme Studio, an architecture firm based in Madrid and Vitamin, a multidisciplinary studio specialized in interactive installations, with Ignacio Vleming as literary advisor.

The Pavilion
A space of 2,000 m² where the three main capsules, called cherries, make up the main exhibition space, accompanied by two stages, one large and one medium, the happy hour area, the workshop area and the interactive stops. All of them are separated by circular or trefoil skins that, scattered throughout the pavilion, create squares for meeting and relaxation or corners for reflection.

From one installation to another, located between the capsules of the main exhibition space, dynamics were proposed that, through language, enhance its sense of orality, its written expression, its synesthetic capacity, its grammatical value or its complex relationship with artificial intelligence.

Upon arrival, visitors are greeted by large-format graphic prints that emulate an "open book", followed by a meandering reception table, which serves both to display the selection of books for sale and to offer an information point.

Auditoriums
The auditoriums are spaces for meetings, knowledge generation and debate. Their skin or enclosure was created by superimposing textile sheets printed with the first Spanish grammar, written by Antonio de Nebrija.

The Cherries
Three intertwined cherries are the main element of the exhibition space. Delimited by layers of semitransparent skin, with a cherry tree in the center, they offer an immersive experience to visitors who find themselves immersed in atmospheres and colors, literary quotations, editorial references and definitions projected in all our co-official languages.


"La Teoría de las Cerezas" by Enorme Studio. Photograph by Karsten Thormaehlen.


"La Teoría de las Cerezas" by Enorme Studio. Photograph by Karsten Thormaehlen.

Interactive stops
An interactive photocall welcomes visitors. "It is the thermometer of thought, the brain of the artificial intelligence that manages the space". The screen projects large spots of color, which respond to the coding of the most repeated words and concepts in the space, as well as to the passage of the attendees.

This first element is followed by six installations that play with the plasticity of words in the digital era: The writer, the listener, the interpreter, the reader, the exquisite corpse and the imaginary.  

The writer
On a table a mechanical arm reproduces with a pen the calligraphy of some of the most significant authors of Spanish literature. This robot poses a poetic reflection on transhumanism and the role of technology in the future of literature.

The listener
At this stop, attendees can isolate themselves to listen to stories, fragments of novels and poems of the most recent National Literature Awards. In recent times, audiobooks have become a very interesting support for those who wish to read while doing some manual activity.

The interpreter
A microphone invites us to pronounce a word in our language that through a program and depending on its sonority is transformed into a spot of color similar to those that stain the space.

The reader
These supports function as showcases for the sector's novelties. Small libraries in which to display Spanish titles with international projection or already translated into other languages and available in other markets.

The exquisite corpse
Through a series of luminous plates on which are written a poem by José Hierro, in Spanish and its German translation. The game is inspired by a now legendary method of surrealist writing.

The imaginary
These reading corners are pauses for rest and relaxation. In a pavilion dominated by colors, sounds and words, visitors can find moments of tranquility to discover new books and authors of different genres.