Estudio ESSE – Help us build a Costa del Sprawl pavilion!

Hello everyone!

Thank you for taking the time to see our page.

We are Estudio ESSE: Ecaterina, Sam and Matt.

We are a group of architecture students and recent graduates who are looking to build a series of pavilions and stage an exhibition on the Costa del Sol in Spain as part of a wider project within the area that we began 2 years ago.

The Costa del Sprawl project started in 2016 when Sam won a West Yorkshire Society of Architects Scholarship to research the urban design of Mijas Costa and organise an exhibition in an abandoned structure in Riviera del Sol. The area is known for its big expat community, its golf courses, and most of all its sun and beach tourism. However, there have been few architectural studies about this part of Spain, and as the 2008 economic crash put a stop to the construction boom, the Costa de Sol needed a complete rethink of its architectural and urbanistic practices.

The research project was a success, managing to engage with the local residents (both Spanish and immigrant) and start a dialogue with the local authorities, who subsequently invited us to design and build an exhibition in the Art Gallery of the nearest town, La Cala de Mijas. In September 2017 we produced art works, organised an international architecture competition and proposed new ideas and a way forward for the area. The exhibition managed to gather press coverage and exposed the problems faced by the community and planning department, but also offer solutions for the future of Riviera del Sol.

This summer, however, we want to develop this project further, but we need your help. We are planning to build a number of small scale interventions: a shelter intended as a place for people to gather and meet outside of the confines of the gated residential communities, a hilltop installation, and an exhibition in a concrete structure. All of this will take place in an informal park - or ‘terrain vague’ - in Riviera del Sol, in August 2018.

As well as further developing our work on the Costa del Sol, this project will also form parts of Sam’s Master Graduation Thesis at TU Delft which focuses on the edge of the sprawl and how this currently ignored part of the area can become an asset for the local community. We have designed this constellation of small structures and an exhibition with the intention of adding to the many complex and often chaotic elements that make up life on the Costa del Sol by engaging with the landscape - or more specifically, the moment where the sprawl becomes landscape.

So far we have managed to raise €500 offline, but we are looking raise another €500 to ensure the project meets its ambitious scope.

What your money will help with:

- Construction materials (wood, bricks, paint, tiles, fixings and fittings): €600

- Printing costs for the exhibition materials and leaflets advertising the project: €100

- Subsequent book about the project, a catalogue of the work created and the story behind it: €200

- Contingency: €100

About us:

Estudio ESSE was founded in 2016 by Ecaterina and Sam, after we left our Part 1 Architectural Assistant jobs in London. The aim was to pursue other ideas and ways of creating and researching architecture outside of the normal established path. In those 6 months we won a competition, worked as street sketching artists, experimented with drawings and models, learned new languages and produced a body of work and experience that proved more valuable and inspiring then the normal path set out for aspiring architects.

After continuing our education at Master level at Barcelona School of Architecture and TU Delft, we were joined by Matt, also a graduate of TU Delft, who shares our passion, enthusiasm and work ethic. We believe that the current state of the architecture profession and education does not allow for practice outside of the normal established and very conservative route, and we want, in our own little way, to change that and prove that there are other more socially responsible, creative and fulfilling ways of producing architecture.

This project is a step up for us to achieving this goal, and your help would be tremendously appreciated! The amount you provide is completely up to you, but it is our pleasure to offer a series of gifts to our more generous pledgers:

€5 or more:

• Credit in the final print and video publications

€15 or more:

• Print of pavilion digital collage (15 x 15 cm)

• Credit in the final print and video publications

€30 or more:

• Set of 3 original hand drawn postcards based on the exhibition with a personalised thank you note

• Print of pavilion digital collage (15 x 15 cm)

• Thank you credit in the final print and video publications

€75 or more:

• Costa del Sprawl book catalogue of the project and our story

• Print of pavilion digital collage (15 x 15 cm)

• Set of 3 original hand drawn postcards based on the exhibition with a personalised thank you note

• Thank you credit in the final print and video publications

If you can’t contribute with money, you can still help by sharing this campaign and our story. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and our website, or contact us at [email protected].

Ecaterina, Sam & Matt