In the social context there are various ways of including ephemeral architecture: for specific events (traditional ephemeral architecture), as a way of life (nomadic architecture), as a requirement of a society that reveres change (obsolescent architecture), and as a necessity (emergency architecture).
Traditional ephemeral architecture The architecture that is ephemeral because of its "eventuality".
Ancient period File:Ardemans-parnaso.jpg|Ephemeral architecture project for the entry of
Felipe V in Madrid (February 18, 1701), by
Teodoro Ardemans. File:Lorenzo quiros-calle platerias.jpg|
Embellishment of the Platerias Street on the occasion of the entry of Charles III in Madrid, by
Lorenzo Quirós, 1760. File:Pompe funebre for Katarzyna Opalińska.jpg|Funerary ceremony in honor of
Catherine Opalińska, mother-in-law of
Louis XV, held in 1747 at the
Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. There are few documents of constructions designed with an ephemeral duration, on the contrary, both
Egyptian architecture and
Greek and
Roman stand out for their monumentality and the long-lasting eagerness of their constructions, especially the religious ones. The ephemeral constructions were especially used for public ceremonies and celebrations of military victories, or for festivities related to kings and emperors. Thus, there is a valuable testimony of a pavilion erected by
Ptolemy II of Egypt to celebrate a banquet, reported by
Athenaeus:
Early modern period, Renaissance and Baroque , on the occasion of the king's visit to
Barcelona, on 6 April 1904, by
Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia. The splendor of ephemeral architecture was produced in the
Early Modern Period, in the
Renaissance and—especially— the
Baroque, eras of consolidation of the
absolute monarchy, when European monarchs sought to elevate their figure above that of their subjects, resorting to all kinds of propagandistic and exalting acts of their power, in political and religious ceremonies or celebrations of a playful nature, which showed the magnificence of their government. One of the most frequent resources were the
thriumphal arches, erected for any act such as military celebrations, royal weddings or visits of the monarch to various cities. There are several testimonies in this regard, such as the triumphal arch at the Porte Saint-Denis for the entrance of
Enrique II in Paris in 1549, the arch at the Pont Nôtre-Dame for the entrance of
Charles IX in Paris in 1571, the triumphal arch of
Maximilian I designed by
Dürer in 1513, the triumphal arch for the entrance of
Charles V in
Bruges in 1515, the arch for the entrance of Prince Philip (future
Philip II of Spain) in
Ghent in 1549, etc. During the Baroque, the ornamental—contrived and ornate character of the art of this time conveyed a transitory sense of life—related to the
memento mori, the ephemeral value of riches in the face of the inevitability of death, in parallel to the pictorial genre of the
vanitas. This sentiment led to a vitalist appreciation of the fleetingness of the instant, to enjoy the light moments of relaxation that life offers, or the celebrations and solemn acts. Thus, births, weddings, deaths, religious ceremonies, royal coronations and other recreational or ceremonial events were dressed with pomp and artifice of a
scenography character, where great assemblies were elaborated that agglutinated architecture and decorations to provide an eloquent magnificence to any celebration, which became a spectacle of almost
catartic character, where the illusory element, the attenuation of the border between reality and fantasy took on special relevance. Baroque art sought the creation of an alternative reality through fiction and illusion, resorting to
foreshortening and illusionist perspective, a tendency that had its maximum expression in festivities, the playful celebration, where buildings such as churches or palaces, or a neighborhood or an entire city, became theaters of life, in scenarios where reality and illusion were mixed, where the senses were subverted to deception and artifice. The
Counter-Reformationist Church played a special role, seeking to show its superiority over the
Protestant Churches with pomp and pageantry, through events such as solemn
mass,
canonizations,
jubilees,
processions or
papal investitures. But just as lavish were the celebrations of the monarchy and the
aristocracy, with events such as coronations, royal weddings and births, funerals, ambassador visits, any event that allowed the monarch to display his power to the admiration of the people. Baroque festivities involved a conjugation of all the arts, from architecture and the plastic arts to poetry, music, dance, theater, pyrotechnics, floral arrangements, water games, etc. Architects such as
Bernini or
Pietro da Cortona, or
Alonso Cano and
Sebastián Herrera Barnuevo in Spain, contributed their talent to such events, designing structures,
choreographys, lighting and other elements, which often served them as a testing ground for future more serious endeavors. The
baldachin for the canonization of
Saint Elizabeth of Portugal thus served Bernini for his future design of
St. Peter's baldachin, and
Carlo Rainaldi's
quarantore (sacred theater of the
Jesuits) was a model of the church of Santa Maria in Campitelli.
Contemporary period , designed by
Antoni Gaudí for the
Barcelona Universal Exposition (1888). In the
Contemporary Period the phenomenon of the
universal exhibitions— trade fairs held in cities all over the world to showcase scientific, technological and cultural advances to the population, and which became true mass spectacles and great advertising showcases for companies or countries that promoted their products—is worth mentioning. These exhibitions were held in enclosures where each country or company built a pavilion to promote itself, which were buildings or structures conceived in an ephemeral way to last only as long as the exhibition lasted. However, many of these constructions were preserved due to their success or the originality of their design, becoming a testing ground and promotion of the work of many architects. These exhibitions saw the first experiments with new typologies and materials characteristic of
contemporary architecture, such as construction with concrete, iron and glass, or the important development of interior design, especially fostered by
modernism. The
first universal exhibition took place in London in 1851, being famous for the
Crystal Palace designed by
Joseph Paxton, a large glass palace with iron structure, which despite being preserved was destroyed by fire in 1937. From then until now there have been numerous exhibitions, many of which have revealed great architectural achievements, such as the
Exposition Universelle of 1889, when the
Eiffel Tower was built; the
Barcelona International Exposition, which produced the
German Pavilion by
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; the
Brussels World's Fair, which produced the
Atomium, by
André Waterkeyn; the
Seattle World's Fair, famous for the
Space Needle; the
International and Universal Exposition, with the
US Pavilion in the form of a
geodesic dome, by
Buckminster Fuller; that of
Sevilla '92, which bequeathed a theme park (
Isla Mágica) and several office and technological development buildings (
Cartuja 93); or that of
Lisbon 1998, which legacy was the
Oceanarium. in
Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. Finally, it is worth mentioning the boom since the mid-20th century in ice architecture, especially in the Nordic countries—as is logical given the special
climatic circumstances that require this type of construction—where various types of ice buildings have begun to proliferate, such as hotels, museums, palaces and other structures generally conceived for public use and for recreational or cultural purposes. These constructions are based on traditional structures such as the
igloo, the typical dwelling of the
Inuit, but have evolved by incorporating all the theoretical and technical advances of modern architecture. Among other buildings made of ice, the
Icehotel in
Jukkasjärvi—built in 1990 on a provisional basis and maintained thanks to the success of the initiative, being redecorated every year with the participation of various architects, artists and students of various disciplines—is worth mentioning. Except in the case of ice architecture, which hosts functions usually reserved for traditional architecture and needs to be preserved to survive, the
construction methods used for this type of ephemeral architecture, as well as the
materials, do not differ much from those used in traditional architecture. This and the fact that the societies in which it was developed were prone to venerate monumentality, and the success of some of the constructions of the universal exhibitions, meant that many of these buildings were finally preserved. Nowadays, the architecture that can best be compared to this type of event constructions are
exhibitions (in museums, on the street, etc.) and cinematographic or theatrical
scenographys. It is worth mentioning the relationship of ephemeral architecture with citizen cartography, and its relationship with the decision-making power of the user, who becomes the architect of his part of the space on some occasions. It can happen that specific parts of a building are movable, to configure a space in a momentary way in which everyone can adapt the conditions to the most suitable for himself.
Nomadic architecture presents Archigram's project of "Plug-in City" Portable
domestic architecture that is ephemeral because of its "translationality". Architecture, in its origin, was born being ephemeral and to this day certain
tribes continue with this lifestyle. There are theoretical projects that transfer this concept to the city, such as the
New Babylon, developed from 1948 by
Constant Nieuwenhuys. A
utopia on a planetary scale, which advocates a return to nomadic origins thanks to the improvement of the machine, which frees the human being from his tasks (food production, etc.), and in this way a new evolution of the human being appears, the
homo ludens who, freed from his occupations, can devote himself to art and happiness. For this achievement the world must be conceived from the freedom of choices and therefore of movements. ''L'Architecture Mobile
(1958) by Yona Friedman and the Plug-in-City'' (1964) by
Archigram are also examples of the
megastructures approach to this type of utopian cities. The cycle closes. If the human being becomes sedentary because he discovers the benefits of cultivation, after millennia machines free him from such a chore, so he can put his house back in his backpack and travel the world.
Obsolescent architecture , in Stoke Newington, London , the structure is made of cardboard tubes. The church was initially built in
Kōbe after the
Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. Although it was later dismantled and donated to
Taiwan for reconstruction in 2008. , Chile. Architecture that is ephemeral because of its " temporariness". Architectural types that until now had always been conceived to remain, such as the house, are now thought to be dismembered and their pieces reused. It is the inheritance of the industrial society that allows us an architecture of prefabricated dwellings. As
Sigfried Giedion explained at the First Congress of the
CIAM: Unlike nomadic architecture, the structure of the world maintains its sedentary nature, but the elements that we find within it are projected to change at a faster rate every day: the latest generation of cell phones, fashionable clothes, fast food, etc. These are terms that have settled in the collective unconscious and induce us to enhance the value of change and speed. It is positive, within this way of conceiving times of use, that a rising value is also ecology, since the reuse of these obsolete pieces is the antidote against landfills. There is a prevailing trivialization in many social aspects with the dominance of the ephemeral, the disposable. We are not only tolerant but enthusiastic about garbage-jobs, garbage-companies, garbage-stores, garbage-furniture, garbage-houses, garbage-families, garbage-programs and garbage-books. This strategy goes through the elimination of the qualities of things. In the words of José Luis Pardo:
Emergency architecture Architecture that is ephemeral because of its "economy of resources". Based on immediate constructions, the fundamental premise is the rapid response required for its construction. That it will lose its use, be dismembered or change its place is of no interest. The important thing is to solve a specific need at a specific time, in the simplest way. It can be related to moments of
natural catastrophes, as in the case of the Paper House by
Shigeru Ban (1995) to provide a temporary housing for several victims of the
Kobe earthquake; or with social sectors with few resources who want to provide them with a better quality of life. The latter case is more related to
self-construction as a liberation from the bonds of capitalism, the construction of a greater solidarity among men, a condition of life in harmony with nature, and the feeling of being architects of a new beginning. The
Rural Studio in Alabama and the
Ciudad abierta de Ritoque (Valparaíso) are examples of this field of architectural experimentation. == Principles ==