The physical space we occupy today was once a marshland, typical for areas near the outlets of rivers: in our case, the Besòs River. Place names like Llacuna [swamp] or Joncar [reed bed] remind us of Poblenou’s origins as a marshland, which inspired the concept for our design.
 
Based on an exploration of the inherent possibilities of light, the installation is intended as an homage to the past, using light to recreate the mysterious sensations of a swamp, as it reemerges temporarily in today’s urban surroundings.
 
Amid the modern office buildings and refurbished industrial warehouses, our aim is to immerse active visitors into a plane of light that evokes a primordial swamp. The desired effect is to erase the urbanized ground, creating a misty humid feeling characteristic of the swampland underneath. The focus of the installation is on the visitors; as they sink into the horizontal plane of light – like the stagnant waters of a swamp – it creates movement that transforms everyone’s sensory experience of the space. They generate shadows, which encourages other visitors to wade into the plane of light and discover the ambience of the swamplands, the origins of Barcelona’s district of Poblenou.

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Esther Abad, Joana Bisbe, Clàudia Blanes, Carla Camín, Alberto Cantera, Joan Carreres, Maria Casadellà, Aina Engelhard, Aina Flores, Nils Kamminga, Sofía Martín, Cristina Peiris, Carme Roig, Ariadna Sala, Clara Viladecans.