Open Program 2025

Forest Matter VII and Atmospheres

Forests are much more than just trees; they are complex systems full of interconnections, stories, and sensations. Atmospheres are one of the most subjective and emotional dimensions of a space. They emerge from the intricate interaction between physical elements—such as light, materials, colors, and shapes—and immaterial factors, including emotions, memories, and senses. Although they cannot be quantified or defined, the intangible has a transformative impact: it shapes the essence of things beyond their physical appearance and connects people with something deep and meaningful.

Forest Matter is a project by RCR Bunka Fundació and LABEA – Laboratory of art, science, and nature, created in 2019 and inspired by the deep connection between RCR Arquitectes‘ work and trees as a primary material for constructing spaces for life.

The audiovisual cycle opens the Open Program conferences and celebrates the poetic power of trees.

Curated by Lívia Diniz and the LABEA team, the cycle has presented over 50 works by artists from around the world in various contexts and festivals, including Arbola Fest (Navarra), Eima Festival (Mallorca), La Pinochera (Canary Islands), and Be Festival (United Kingdom), as well as through the channels of the Instituto Cervantes.

LABEA – Laboratory of art, science, and nature is a platform that fosters dialogue between artistic, scientific, and environmental disciplines to generate new ways of understanding and engaging with our natural surroundings.

FOREST MATTER VII · Transmutations (2025) · Carmen Isasi, Spain · 5’44”

Transmutations is a work that explores the fusion between nature and abstraction through rhythm and moving images. By combining abstract drawings with fragments of trees in a fluid visual dialogue, the piece plays with the ambiguity between the figurative and the abstract. The image becomes living matter, where the organic and the gestural intertwine like roots. Sound energises the vital pulse that guides the transformation of the images, generating a kinaesthetic interplay where sonic vibration and visual metamorphosis merge in a hypnotic dance. The work blurs the boundaries between the natural and the created, the static and the energetic, the recognisable and the unknown.

Carmen Isasi (Bilbao, Spain, 1958) is a multidisciplinary artist who incorporates new media and languages into her work as demanded by each project and piece. She holds a degree in Fine Arts from UPV and a Master’s in Aesthetics and Theory of the Arts from UAM. Her practice includes drawing, artist books, photography, photogravure, video, installations, electronic music, and virtual reality. Among her recent projects are Deshabitadas, addressing the migration crisis, and Vestigios, which alludes to a fragmented and objectified nature. She has held numerous solo and group exhibitions and has participated in national and international shows and festivals. She currently lives and works in Madrid.

ARCHITECTURE · Tempus Fugit. Reflections on Architecture, Art, and Landscape  · Xevi Bayona · Bayona Studio

Presented by Jordi Moret i Vayreda, delegate of the Garrotxa-Ripollès of the Architects’ Association of Catalonia (COAC)

This conference is supported by the hna FOUNDATION and is a beneficiary of the CONECTA by hna program.

A series of questions designed to explore how architecture can create atmospheres that evoke emotions, how art has the power to fill the soul, and how time becomes a tool for reflection. Through prototypical projects, built structures, erratic prototypes, and intentional sketches for research, this work seeks a beauty too often forgotten. There are no definitive answers; uncertainty becomes an opportunity. This is an ongoing pursuit of what is read between the lines, of the subtle and the ethereal, of what reason alone cannot explain. A journey through time. Tempus fugit.

Xevi Bayona (Olot, Spain, 1982) is an architect from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB-UPC), where he also obtained a postgraduate degree in Landscape Architecture and a master’s degree in theory and practice of architectural projects. Since 2008, he has been a lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Girona, and since 2018, he has been a lecturer on the international master’s degree in ephemeral architecture at Elisava.

Bayona Studio is a workshop and studio focused on experimentation and research, combining different disciplines that complement each other: architecture, urban planning, art, landscape, and light. His works include the rehabilitation of the Tortosa State Bridge over the Ebro River, the rehabilitation of the sports area of Sant Jaume de Llierca and the Olot Trade Fair, among others.

Since 2017, he has been collaborating with Àlex Posada of MID Studio and has been the artistic director of the Lluèrnia Festival in Olot since its beginnings. He has received numerous national and international awards, including three FAD awards, and has given lectures, workshops, and projects in various European cities.

FOREST MATTER VII · The Secret Book of Trees (2023) · Verónica Vicente, Spain · 3’20”

The Secret Book of Trees is written in the purest and wildest of languages. Though its writing resembles an encrypted code, it speaks to the nature of identity—how the natural is unrepeatable and unmatched. The bark of the Himalayan Birch, scaly and composed of thin layers, appears in nature as a hidden, intimate book. Instinct drives us to open it and discover in its pages the language of lenticels. These marks, which serve a respiratory function, resemble inscribed codes—each as unique as our fingerprints, moles, or freckles. As John Fowles writes in his essay The Tree, “nature is not a place to revel in, but a place to be”.

Verónica Vicente (Tomiño, Spain, 1988) is a visual artist and current doctoral candidate in the field of Arts and Education. She holds a degree in Fine Arts and master’s degrees in photography, museology, and art education. She has received awards from the Enaire Foundation, the National Museum of Sculpture, and the Cerveira Biennial (Portugal), as well as grants such as Formarte, which allowed her to reside in Paris (France), and REGA from the City of Culture (Spain). She has held solo exhibitions in venues such as Fundación RAC (Pontevedra), Espacio Alexandra (Santander, PHotoESPAÑA Off), and La Gran gallery (Madrid). Her work has been shown in institutions such as the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea (CGAC), the Royal Botanical Garden (Madrid), and La Panera (Lleida), and is part of public collections in Spain, Portugal, and France.

ARCHITECTURE · Architecture and Environment · Kazuyo Sejima · Kazuyo Sejima & Associates / SANAA

Presented by Guim Costa i Calsamiglia, Dean of the Architects’ Association of Catalonia (COAC)

This conference is supported by Cercle Gespromat and forms part of the official Catalonia–Japan Year program, a joint initiative of the Government of Catalonia and the Consulate General of Japan in Barcelona.

Kazuyo Sejima expresses, “I have always been interested in creating a place that brings people together, like in a park.” This concept encapsulates her architectural approach, which is dedicated to creating atmospheres that foster coexistence, freedom, and mutual respect. She clarifies that a park is a place that respects and values diversity, allows for a variety of experiences, and combines independence and collectivity, as well as continuity and diversity. In her projects, Sejima translates this vision into open and sensitive spaces, where the physical environment enhances the emotional experience. Her work demonstrates how architecture can shape environments that, beyond their form, resonate deeply with those who inhabit them..

Kazuyo Sejima (Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, 1956) earned a degree in architecture from Japan Women’s University. In 1981, she joined Toyo Ito’s architectural office. In 1987, she established her practice in Tokyo, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates, and in 1992, she was named the Japan Institute of Architects’ Young Architect of the Year. In 1995, Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa co-founded SANAA (Sejima + Nishizawa & Associates), a firm internationally recognised for innovative and influential designs. Their notable projects include the Rolex Learning Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland; the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio; the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York; the Serpentine Pavilion in London; the Christian Dior Building in Omotesando, Tokyo; and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, which was awarded the Golden Lion in 2004 for the most significant work at the 9th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. Their work has been widely exhibited across the United States and Europe.

Throughout their careers, Sejima and Nishizawa have received numerous accolades, including the Arnold Brunner Memorial Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2002), the Architectural Institute of Japan’s Design Prize (2006), the Kunstpreis Berlin from the Berlin Academy of Arts (2007), and the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize (2010). In 2025, Sejima was honoured with the Charlotte Perriand Award in France.

Beyond her architectural practice, Sejima has taught at leading institutions such as Princeton University, the Polytechnique de Lausanne, the Polytechnic University of Milan, Tama Art University, Yokohama National University, and Keio University. Since 2022, she has been the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum director.