Fundación EDPNews

Luz Minera (which translates literally as ‘Mining Light’) is the title of the winning project of the second Public Art Ideas Competition, a competition organised by the EDP Foundation for art, design and architecture students, which is aimed at supporting projects which combine art and architectural design activities that contribute to revitalising art in the rural world and have a positive impact on improving innovation and social inclusion.

The winner is a proposal to undertake an urban project in the Town Hall Square in Tineo (Asturias), and follows the traces of its past to enhance the commercial function of this multi-purpose space, and shelter it from the inclemency of the weather. If, during the pandemic, a temporary construction had managed to light up the commercial and recreational activity in the centre of the town again, this project will make sure that the light continues.

Luz Minera is the brainchild of two students studying Ephemeral Architecture at the Oviedo School of Art, Sergio Fernandez and Miguel Ángel Bauta, motivated by the intention of resolving human needs in a creative exercise that follows the tradition of Asturian architecture. This is how its creators explain it: “We decided to recreate an architectural mining lamp in a region where mining, industry and livestock farming are found, such as Tineo. A new structure rises up over the viewpoint in the same way as the old gallery of Almacenes Tineo. A system of detachable pieces makes it possible to create a round structure that breaks down into smaller pieces that can be adapted to different uses throughout the year. These new pieces populate the various adjacent squares, while forming a constellation of light in a town where the sky is still black at night”.

The public presentation of the winning idea took place this morning at the Casa de Cultura in Tineo, at an event attended by the Director General of Urban and Regional Planning in the Principality of Asturias, Sonia Puente Landázuri, the mayor of Tineo, José Ramón Feito Lorences, and the Executive Director of the EDP Foundation, Vanda Martins.

The aim of the second Public Art Ideas Competition was to draw up projects to improve the urban development of the Town Hall Square in Tineo in terms of sustainability and social participation and inclusion, based on the conclusions of a process of citizen participation on the needs expressed by the council's neighbours.

Six projects by students from the Oviedo School of Art and the universities of Granada, Zaragoza, A Coruña and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia reached the final of the public art competition.

The prizes for the three best ideas were 14,000 euros, 2,000 euros and 1,000 euros respectively. The students who designed the winning project will also be able to put their idea into practice with the collaboration of Tineo town council. The second and third prizes in the competition were also presented at the event held in Tineo, which went to “El Ágora de Tineo” and “Madreñas”, respectively.

The mayor of Tineo, José Ramón Feito Lorences, expressed his gratitude to the EDP Foundation “for having chosen Tineo for an initiative that combines creativity, innovation, art and young people to improve people's lives and enhance a public space for coexistence such as the town's central square”. Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the EDP Foundation stressed that “what sets this initiative apart from other competitions is, on the one hand, the dialogue with the community to find out their relationship with the location of the initiative and, on the other, the fact that the winning idea will be implemented by the town council, but with the project’s creators as the protagonists”. For the Director General of Urban Planning, Sonia Puente, “it is worth highlighting the quality of the proposals received from students from all over Spain, which reflect the interest of young students in promoting multi-purpose, sustainable public spaces that enhance social inclusion and intergenerational relationships”.

Ágora de Tineo and Madreñas win the second and third prizes

Ágora de Tineo is a project designed by two students from the Vallés School of Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Alexandra Fernandes and Marc Lostaló Vila-trias. One of them is studying Architecture and the other Sustainable Intervention in the Built Environment. The proposal looks at remodelling the space and improving it by giving preference to pedestrians, adding traffic lights, restoring the façade and adding sustainable drainage, among other actions.

Meanwhile, Madreñas,was created by two students from the School of Architecture at the University of A Coruña, Mercedes González Taboada y Adrián Pose Núñez. They proposed an initiative that attempts to evoke the memory of the original, fragmented plant space, and aims to make the public space available to the residents, through a proposal that turns it into a space that can be taken over by the residents themselves, in which they themselves are the main protagonists.