Würth La Rioja Museum Gardens | How to Merge Geometry With Nature

Article by Kamil Rawski – Würth La Rioja Museum Gardens, by Pablo Serrano Elorduy, in Agoncillo, Spain. The Würth Museum is located in the northern region of Spain, about 15 kilometres to the east from Logroño, in Agoncillo. This building has been designed as a 21st-century, avant-garde, international, contemporary arts scene. Admission to this interesting architectural building is free (3 € per person, subsidised by Würth España S.A.). And there is an option, with prior reservation, for a free guided tour for groups of more than 10 persons. Try to imagine what kind of garden should be designed for the Würth Museum? What do you think; would an ordinary garden be appropriate to such a place? I think it is not and a similar opinion was held by the designers – Blanca and Pablo Serrano Elorduy. They decided to create a modern space, so below, we can see and read about the results of designing the new, geometrized gardenscape.

Würth La Rioja Museum Gardens

Main Idea The main premise of the Würth La Rioja Museum Gardens project was to show and use the conditions of the former site and transform it into a new form of landscape. The existing morphological, topographical, and topological configurations were used for this purpose. Designers traced the lines in these schemes and were able to create a virtual grid, which was used to design particular elements of the space. Despite the visual disorder, everything seems to be organized well. In this way, they managed to get to the geometrized ground of the existing site.

Geometric Nature

Disordered lines, which are the borders of specific surfaces, refer to elements of nature. We can find connections to forms such as branches, channels, leaves, rivers, and cracks. Thanks to that, it was possible to control each of the different areas to create a new arrangement of space. These irregular lines are also adapted to the solar topography, so as a result they widen and narrow as well as intersect and intertwine.

Interweaving surfaces and volumes of wood with concrete walls and stone paths, break the rhythm of quiet and secluded vegetation. Simultaneously, they are the counterweight for it, which makes the space well-balanced. As the result, a garden was obtained which is not based on random choice or personal whim, but is a space where everything is in its place and has a rationale balance.

Separated Areas

Landscape designers created not only a usable space but also a harmonious composition of nature with anthropogenic elements. Irregular lines create not only walking tours but also become the rest areas. Every element of the garden, such as trees, herbs, rocks and water sheets, seem to move at the same pace and you can find out about it by walking through this space on a concrete path.

The strips that we can find in this space are vertical trees, walls and also many other separated areas such as the laces of permeable branches and surfaces with bark, which refer to the ground of the forest. Whereas the white pebble stones, eroded over time by water, are reminiscent of a river, as if it was involved in this process.

Vegetation

The vegetation on this site was planted in isolated irregular geometrical areas. Low plants predominate, but there are also bushes and trees. Shrubs grow mostly near the water and the trees on the peripheral areas. In the case of perennials, each plant species fills a whole separated area making a uniform colour patch.

Among the hues, shades of green, red and blue predominate. The rest of the area is covered by a low-mowed, dense, dark green lawn, which is a background for the path made of bright concrete. Such contrast makes the path stand out to the foreground. Interspersing with other areas, it looks like a kind of colourful patchwork.

Furnishings

The whole composition is complemented by small architectural objects, and at night also the game of light and shade. The whole area is equipped with benches, single seats, and trash baskets. They are made of concrete and wood to create a consistent composition with the rest of the Würth La Rioja Museum Gardens project. Located on the elevated wooden terrace, there are also tables with chairs. In the garden there are also sculptural elements. At the bottom of the single seats there are mounted lights, which at night create interesting effects; in particular, near the museum entrance, where they are dispersed in greater amounts.

In addition, single light posts were also designed and implemented. In summer there are many social activities carried out here and also organized playrooms for children which are praised by people. In spite of not much space and a wide diversity of terrain, the designers have created an interesting place that focuses the attention of the recipient, beside which it is difficult to pass neutrally. Large amounts of different surfaces, after all, are not causing chaos, and the architects’ vision is evident. Thanks to this, the garden is willingly visited by tourists. One of them, who has published a review on Google, recommends this place in this way: “Obligatory to visit if you go to La Rioja or its capital city Logroño. It is a museum at the same level as the great centers of contemporary art in Barcelona or Madrid. Admission is free and exhibitions are frequently renewed”. What do you think, was it a good idea to emphasize the modern character of this object by geometrizing nature?

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Full Project Credits For Würth La Rioja Museum Gardens :

Project: Würth La Rioja Museum Gardens Site: Agoncillo, Logroño; La Rioja, Spain Architect: Pablo Serrano Elorduy Designer: Blanca Elorduy Collaborators: Ingeniería Torrella Riggers: Joaquín Sierra, Pablo Devalle. Lighting: Cromm Promoter: Würth España S.A. Surface: 11.280 m2 Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Baye
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs
• eBooks by Landscape Architects Network

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