Architects: Ensamble Studio
Area: 377 ft²
Year: 2020
Photographs: Ensamble Studio
Lead Architects: Antón García Abril, Debora Mesa Molina
Project Team: Borja Soriano, Alvaro Catalan, Fernando González
Construction Engineer: Javier Cuesta
Developer: Ensamble Studio
Structure: Jesús Huerga
Construction Manager: Materia Inorgánica
Country: Spain
Concrete Tent designed by Ensamble Studio in rural Spain is a compact 377 ft² project, completed in 2020. This hand-molded architectural piece combines intuitive design with precise engineering, creating an open form that seamlessly integrates with air, light, and its surrounding environment. The structure presents a unique balance between fabric-like flexibility and stone-like solidity, blending softly yet firmly into its natural setting.
The Concrete Tent covers its space like a blanket, with its geometry naturally adjusting to the airy volume it encloses. Air and light flow through its openings, while the surrounding landscape integrates into its form, seeping through the cracks in the material.
The structure of the Concrete Tent was crafted by hand, following a synchronized process of folding, connecting, and shaping the space and its structure. The design started with a physical model, which acted as both a sketch and a miniature construction, as every movement and detail was scanned to merge intuition with precision. The process moved between design and engineering, continually adjusting and refining. The entire project was completed in just ten days: five dedicated to design and another five for construction in the rural landscape.
The construction echoed the dynamic design process. Once the form was determined and the structural lines calculated, the team began by drawing reinforcing bars in three dimensions, checking proportions, and positioning the front of the structure. Once validated, the structure was “painted” in a single, fluid movement, adding material, texture, and color like brushstrokes on a canvas.
Layer by layer, the structure evolved, with flexible folds becoming rigid and elastic membranes hardening as the damp material dried. This gradual transformation resulted in an architecture that evokes both fabric and stone, offering a blend of lightness and permanence, fluidity, and solidity. The structure rises from the ground with a slight lean, creating an impression of temporariness, yet its rooted supports create a lasting presence. It sits nestled between trees, overlooking the sea, quietly integrating into its natural surroundings, as if waiting to be fully absorbed by the landscape.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Death Coast, La Coruna, Spain
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
