Salvador Puig Antich Memorial. A street atop a square
An intervention in public space to commemorate a significant political figure implies rethinking how we define the concept of a monument in the 21st century. It also suggests reconsidering what it means to pay tribute to one person in particular. In this sense, the proposal centers on three main points: Rethinking the pedestal, Invoking the landscape and The question of symbolism.
RETHINKING THE PEDESTAL
What does it mean to create a monument today?
By effecting a shift in meaning we hope to redefine the monument concept, eliminating the more monumental aspect and maintaining just the pedestal: that magical support that can glorify anyone who climbs onto it, and which becomes the focus of attention. Our intention was to leave behind the idea of creating an object to be looked at, generating instead a space to look out from, thus broadening the physical and symbolic possibilities.
INVOKING THE LANDSCAPE
What role does the monument’s location play?
Our goal was to design a multi-scalar intervention that would not be conceived as an object to be looked at, cut off from its surroundings. As such, we created a connection with the territory by establishing a line of reference – something measurable that can help us approach the immeasurable: in this case, the city of Barcelona. The delineated line falls away, making way for the main attraction: the surroundings.
From this standpoint, the intervention works like a continuation of the section in the surrounding neighborhood: it provides the continuation of a sloping street which swings around to provide a view over the city.
THE QUESTION OF SYMBOLISM
A tribute to whom?
The evens of May ’68 had a profound influence on Salvador Puig Antich, whose political career was cut short when he was arrested on the corner of Girona street. In this vein, the intervention is meant to serve as a political-urban collage: a street – a public space by its very definition and the habitual setting for student revolts – is superimposed over a pre-existing square. Flower-patterned paving stones, the traditional material used on Barcelona’s sidewalks, are taken to pave this new street, symbolically connecting the memorial with Girona street. Likewise, the “panot” paving stones are also used in the first section of the intervention, where they are suspended vertically, framing Collserola mountain and part of the neighborhood in a direct reference to one of the most famous slogans from May ’68: “Sous les pavés, la plage.”
