Ephemeral architecture

Ephemeral architecture is the art or technique of designing and building structures that are transient, that last only a short time. Ephemeral art has been a constant in the history of architecture, although a distinction must be made between constructions conceived for temporary use and those that, despite being built with durability in mind, have a brief expiration due to various factors, especially the poor quality of the materials (wood, adobe, plaster, cardboard, textiles), in cultures that would not have sufficiently developed solid construction systems.

Ephemeral architecture was usually used for celebrations and festivals of all kinds, as scenography or theatrical scenery for a specific event, which was dismantled after the event. It has existed since ancient art—it is at the origin of forms such as the triumphal arch, whose ephemeral model was fixed in permanent constructions during the Roman Empire—and it was very common in European courts during the Renaissance and especially in the Baroque.

Despite its circumstantial character, the ephemeral has been a recurrent and relevant architecture. From Baroque scenographies to contemporary installations, each ephemeral period has given shape to its idea of celebration and has materialized it with the technique available at the time. Today the ephemeral continues to fulfill these playful and experimental functions, but it also aspires to channel new ideas about public space and social participation, halfway between the city and nature.

Classification

In the social context there are various ways of including ephemeral architecture: for specific events (traditional ephemeral architecture), as a way of life (nomadic architecture), as a requirement of a society that reveres change (obsolescent architecture), and as a necessity (emergency architecture).

Traditional ephemeral architecture

The architecture that is ephemeral because of its "eventuality".

Ancient period

File:Ardemans-parnaso.jpg, Ephemeral architecture project for the entry of Felipe V in Madrid (February 18, 1701), by Teodoro Ardemans.
File:Lorenzo quiros-calle platerias.jpg, ''Embellishment of the Platerias Street on the occasion of the entry of Charles III in Madrid'', by Lorenzo Quirós, 1760.
File:Pompe funebre for Katarzyna Opalińska.jpg, Funerary ceremony in honor of Catherine Opalińska, mother-in-law of Louis XV of France, held in 1747 at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
There are few documents of constructions designed with an ephemeral duration, on the contrary, both Egyptian architecture and Greek and Roman stand out for their monumentality and the long-lasting eagerness of their constructions, especially the religious ones. The ephemeral constructions were especially used for public ceremonies and celebrations of military victories, or for festivities related to kings and emperors. Thus, there is a valuable testimony of a pavilion erected by Ptolemy II of Egypt to celebrate a banquet, reported by Athenaeus:

Early modern period, Renaissance and Baroque

The splendor of ephemeral architecture was produced in the Early Modern Period, in the Renaissance and—especially— the Baroque, eras of consolidation of the absolute monarchy, when European monarchs sought to elevate their figure above that of their subjects, resorting to all kinds of propagandistic and exalting acts of their power, in political and religious ceremonies or celebrations of a playful nature, which showed the magnificence of their government. One of the most frequent resources were the thriumphal arches, erected for any act such as military celebrations, royal weddings or visits of the monarch to various cities. There are several testimonies in this regard, such as the triumphal arch at the Porte Saint-Denis for the entrance of Enrique II in Paris in 1549, the arch at the Pont Nôtre-Dame for the entrance of Charles IX in Paris in 1571, the triumphal arch of Maximilian I designed by Dürer in 1513, the triumphal arch for the entrance of Charles V in Bruges in 1515, the arch for the entrance of Prince Philip (future Philip II of Spain) in Ghent in 1549, etc.

During the Baroque, the ornamental—contrived and ornate character of the art of this time conveyed a transitory sense of life—related to the ''memento mori''. This sentiment led to a vitalist appreciation of the fleetingness of the instant, to enjoy the light moments of relaxation that life offers, or the celebrations and solemn acts. Thus, births, weddings, deaths, religious ceremonies, royal coronations and other recreational or ceremonial events were dressed with pomp and artifice of a scenography character, where great assemblies were elaborated that agglutinated architecture and decorations to provide an eloquent magnificence to any celebration, which became a spectacle of almost catartic character, where the illusory element, the attenuation of the border between reality and fantasy took on special relevance.

Baroque art sought the creation of an alternative reality through fiction and illusion, resorting to foreshortening and illusionist perspective, a tendency that had its maximum expression in festivities, the playful celebration, where buildings such as churches or palaces, or a neighborhood or an entire city, became theaters of life, in scenarios where reality and illusion were mixed, where the senses were subverted to deception and artifice. The Counter-Reformationist Church played a special role, seeking to show its superiority over the Protestant Churches