The name ‘Har etxea’ – which means ‘caterpillar house' in Basque – evokes a caterpillar cocoon or chrysalis. The aim of this project is to build and manage a lightweight structure that will be set up/woven into a series of different locations where it will become the venue for a range of sports-related activities. The structure is a multipurpose portable facility based on an extremely participatory and inclusive framework, given that every stage of the process – from setting up the structure to planning and implementing the activities that take place in it – are developed through workshops open to the local community, which is the main target of the activities that take place in it.
The plan is for Har-etxea to move from town to town in search of urban contexts that are under-resourced in terms of public facilities, especially when this lack coincides with available undeveloped or currently unused public land. It is a nomadic, seasonal project. During its stay in each town, Har-etxea will be used as a venue for working on facilities or fixtures that are appropriate to each context (stages, courts, stands, and so on), usually through self-building.
The idea is also that once each season is over and the cocoon is removed, the host area will have undergone a transformation – both in its outward appearance through the addition of built elements, the planting of gardens, new fixtures, etc, and in the residents' perception and the configuration of the local social fabric.
Har-etxea is a joint project developed by M-Etxea, Straddle3 and Todo por la Praxis in the framework of the Id-Sport program organised by Idensitat and the Spanish Sports Council. The project is also supported by Rentería-Orereta Town Council, which is participating in it in conjunction with local collectives, and by San Sebastian 2016. Its implementation has been possible thanks to the collaborative work of the collectives M-Etxea, straddle3, Todo por la Praxis and Toki, along with residents of Rentería.
On Friday the 11th of May, the first Har-etxea incubation – known as Kabia – opened in Rentería, where it has been set up on a site in the Pontika neighbourhood and where it will remain for approximately three months. During this time, Har-etxea will be the meeting point for participatory and cultural activities organised by and for the local community.
The structure will then continue its seasonal nomadic journey through cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, adapting to different ecosystem and logging its experiences in its travel journal. HAR-ETXEA from M-etxea + Straddle3 + TXP on Vimeo. Har etxea muntaia prozesua/Proceso de montaje de Har Etxea from gaizk_a on Vimeo.
HAR-ETXEA from M-etxea + Straddle3 + TXP on Vimeo.
Har etxea muntaia prozesua/Proceso de montaje de Har Etxea from gaizk_a on Vimeo.
