Spaces for agro-ecological opportunity

Spanish collective Huerta Bizarra uses "micro-enjoyment actions" to generate small-scale interventions that, due to the location in which they are run, can boost agricultural, leisure and tourist activity.

Can places in a precarious situation become new spaces of opportunity for architecture? Can we think of orchards as a new strategy for innovation? Can vital activities be rethought through deep ecology? Can growing some vegetables on your balcony generate a new social fabric and technological innovation?

An increasing number of architecture studios are starting to focus their work on new emerging practices that have not yet been strictly classified as architecture. These practices are strongly linked to the environment of insecurity in which young architects have to operate. They share many common aspects, such as self-building, deep ecology and collaborative work, and are also multidisciplinary, watering down the idea of auteur architecture while stimulating passion for innovation in the unexplored areas of the discipline. Some agents in southern Europe such as Pedrita, Like architects, Architetture Precarie, Antonio Ottomanelli, Inteligencias colectivas and Todo por la praxis are clear examples of this new type of practice. Having come into being in a context clearly determined by the economic decline of the countries in which they operate, they are forced to constantly reinvent the areas of opportunity for the architecture of the future.

The collective Huerta Bizarra came into being as one of these new quests to find areas of opportunity for architects, underpinned by the principles of pure sustainability and energy efficiency. The collective is made up of young architects and designers from southeast Spain, such as Antonio Abellán, José Tomás Marín, Javier Esquiva, Sergi Hernández, Josema Paredes and Jorge Bermejo. One of the main objectives of Huerta Bizarra is to make better use of the environment and boost economic development by means of micro-actions in a rural setting.

Top: <em>Water party</em>; a relaxing experience in which a sophisticated system exchanges and controls humidity and temperature inside a transparent, enclosed space, recreating just the right conditions to stimulate a memory of the fragrance of night-blooming jasmine. Above: <em>Exfoliating carriage</em>; this transformed cart will ferry users from the centre of Murcia to an orchard in La Huerta. Users will enjoy a therapeutic hot oat soak while taking a tour at just the right speed to enjoy the subtleties of the scenery — Top: *Water party*; a relaxing experience in which a sophisticated system exchanges and controls humidity and temperature inside a transparent, enclosed space, recreating just the right conditions to stimulate a memory of the fragrance of night-blooming jasmine. Above: *Exfoliating carriage*; this transformed cart will ferry users from the centre of Murcia to an orchard in La Huerta. Users will enjoy a therapeutic hot oat soak while taking a tour at just the right speed to enjoy the subtleties of the scenery

Huerta Bizarra operates entirely in the fruit-growing environment. Its first actions are being rolled out in the Plantío area, which has always been one of the biggest engines for agricultural production in the whole of Spain. It uses "micro-enjoyment actions" to generate small-scale interventions that, due to the location in which they are run, can boost agricultural, leisure and tourist activity in the Huerta de Murcia area. Some of the actions it has already carried out as active prototypes in the search for common good include breakfast fishing trips, the exfoliating cart, water party, white noise lullabies, market gardeners' school and the cabbage spa. One of the foundations of Huerta Bizarra is sustainable action, and one of the main requirements in its micro-actions is the use of light or biodegradable materials that will disappear from the site once each of the events is over.

<em>Cabbage spa</em>; This experiment in discovering new opportunities for active, uninhibited and modern individuals to encounter the local landscape is completed with a warm farewell bath in pools of hydrating red cabbage water concealed among the foliage. A magical purple effect makes the pH level of the water in the Segura river show the level of least contamination, thanks to the reaction with the cooked red cabbage water just at the moment when this effect is at its most intense through a mixture of the background light, the colour of the river and the reaction itself — *Cabbage spa*; This experiment in discovering new opportunities for active, uninhibited and modern individuals to encounter the local landscape is completed with a warm farewell bath in pools of hydrating red cabbage water concealed among the foliage. A magical purple effect makes the pH level of the water in the Segura river show the level of least contamination, thanks to the reaction with the cooked red cabbage water just at the moment when this effect is at its most intense through a mixture of the background light, the colour of the river and the reaction itself

Architect and specialist sustainability expert Ezio Manzini defines the job of sustainable design as the "creation of bridges between the technical area and society, with the technical area being the space in which everything technological is developed, inevitably involving innovation". Manzini says this technological innovation is just as likely to arise in laboratories or experimental street activities. This means the new technologies proposed by Huerta Bizarra could come to be seen as innovations. Huerta Bizarra carries out its technological innovations in an agricultural setting, where its prototypes are coming up with innovations capable of generating a new social fabric that is much better adapted to the current socioeconomic situation in the countries of southern Europe.

Huerta Bizarra carries out its technological innovations in an agricultural setting, where its prototypes are coming up with innovations capable of generating a new social fabric

<em>White noise lullabies</em>; These will ensure users of a pleasant sleep by submerging them in a relaxing landscape of sound created live by overlapping modulated white noise with the naturally-occurring sounds of the orchard, as rehearsed the night before — *White noise lullabies*; These will ensure users of a pleasant sleep by submerging them in a relaxing landscape of sound created live by overlapping modulated white noise with the naturally-occurring sounds of the orchard, as rehearsed the night before

The work done by Huerta Bizarra is innovative on two levels. Firstly, it highlights and strengthens sustainable construction through delicate and intelligent actions that have a clear educational value for the user. It also takes a fresh look at the value of tourism and enjoyment, reconsidering the relevance of the rural setting. These emerging architectural practices are generating new creative formats that, in the not too distant future, could seed the new currents of the future. María José Marcos, Gonzalo Herrero Delicado (@aaaadot)

<em>Breakfast with fishing</em>; This involves finding the best possible way of crossing the river, depending on the particular conditions of the mud and rushes along the banks, in order to have breakfast with the Sunday morning fishermen on the opposite river bank — *Breakfast with fishing*; This involves finding the best possible way of crossing the river, depending on the particular conditions of the mud and rushes along the banks, in order to have breakfast with the Sunday morning fishermen on the opposite river bank

<em>Breakfast with fishing</em> — *Breakfast with fishing*

<em>The Purple moment</em>; This unusual excursion, although free, is designed to include a stop at the purple moment. This is an instant of the evening that has been meticulously calculated in an effort to pinpoint the perfect moment. Before going to sleep, there are other activities too, like 0.0 alcohol, which is an exercise in staggered physical alteration of the senses in order to create conditions similar to drunkenness through visual games and body positions — *The Purple moment*; This unusual excursion, although free, is designed to include a stop at the purple moment. This is an instant of the evening that has been meticulously calculated in an effort to pinpoint the perfect moment. Before going to sleep, there are other activities too, like 0.0 alcohol, which is an exercise in staggered physical alteration of the senses in order to create conditions similar to drunkenness through visual games and body positions

<em>Bird's dining room</em>; An intuitive excursion in a natural setting ends up at the birds’ dining room, an improvised hide-observatory where a romantic meal awaits you in a setting where no detail has been spared, in a beautiful and meticulously designed space in the heart of the river delta — *Bird's dining room*; An intuitive excursion in a natural setting ends up at the birds’ dining room, an improvised hide-observatory where a romantic meal awaits you in a setting where no detail has been spared, in a beautiful and meticulously designed space in the heart of the river delta

Spaces for agro-ecological opportunity

Spanish collective Huerta Bizarra uses "micro-enjoyment actions" to generate small-scale interventions that, due to the location in which they are run, can boost agricultural, leisure and tourist activity.

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