Lodging in a Sea Urchin

This book records the genesis, production and installation of a singular piece, a cross between sculpture and architecture. The composition resembles a massive sea urchin exoskeleton made of closely set plates, designed and made by a computer and later precisely joined to form a sculptural concrete structure; however, it is also an inquiry into the empty, habitable space that materialises around a central pillar, a building model that recalls the chapel of San Baudelio de Berlanga and other remarkable cases in medieval architecture. The theoretical implications of this urchin give rise to valuable reflections related to architecture, art history, the relationship between the body and nature, and ways of inhabiting space. From another point of view, envisioning and producing this concrete piece, massive and heavy yet also delicate, represents an opportunity to tell the story of a fascinating practical process.