At a glance, Cada Cuba Huele al Vino que Tiene (Every Cask Smells of the Wine it Contains) appears as no more than a cluster of nine deconstructed wine barrels. Its design is unassuming with poplar plywood forming the staves and riveted wooden rings acting as hoops holding the whole construction together. However, a closer look unveils a unique design concept that will delight one’s senses and transport oneself deep into the Rioja region.
Cada Cuba Huele al Vino que Tiene is the winning entry out of 52 international entries of the installation design competition for the architecture and design festival of Logroño, held in May earlier this year. Conceptualised by a six-person team, it is a devotional space dedicated to Rioja wine. Its architecture is a pure distillation of the region – specifically its soil, climate, grapes and wine-making traditions; and was conceived in response to the competition’s call for an intervention within the historic Plaza del Revellín.
The competition, named Intervention, is one of two design contests organised by Concéntrico 03 and sponsored by Garnica who provided 20 sheets of poplar plywood, each measuring 1.5 metres by 2.5 metres. Constructing the intervention out of this, the design heavily referenced the local culture of Logroño. The nine ‘Cooper’s cabins’ are representations of towns within the Rioja region with the largest three representing Haro, Calahora and Logroño, and the compact ones for smaller towns. Each of the cabins, regardless of size, are constructed from staves which are 18mm thick, 100mm wide and 2500mm long. Each of the large cabins are 4.8 metres tall with a base diameter of 3.8 metres, while the smaller cabins are 2.4 metres tall, with a base diameter of 1.9 metres.
Pushing its cultural identity and reference, the interior of each cabin is stained with wine. Their colours vary according to the wine of the area they represent. At this point, the cabins take on a devotional aspect; each a temple to the wine, the land and the communities. The way into the cabin is through a low door, bowing respectfully as one breaches the interior space. Inside, shadows play across the surfaces and a wine-heavy air pervades it. Simultaneously, a light from above glows wine red; casting a ceremonial light about the space while representing the earth from which the grapes grew. Looking up, one sees the sky above framed in a hooped oculus. It is a reminder of the climate and weather that make the land so fruitful.
Come nightfall, the whole of Revellín Plaza takes on a reverential glow. The Tempranillo lights shine out from within the large cabins and a series of long interconnected shadows intersect the space to create an interesting diversity for all traversing the installation. The result is a heady environment which moves beyond the purely visceral into a fully immersive sensory space.
Through the repetition of forms across different scales, the installation was not only able to inhabit its exhibition space but also to filter the area, effectively generating new paths and provoking a unique relationship between the pedestrian and the square, making them a participant.
