A Finnish working group’s artwork brings a cooling garden to Spain, which is sweltering in the heat
The artist duo IC-98—Patrik Söderlund and Visa Suonpää—along with Maiju Suomi and Elina Koivisto of Suomi/Koivisto Architects, have created the artwork Third of Life in Logroño, Spain, which addresses urban overheating, the decline in biodiversity, and social polarization.
“The environmental crisis and its effects are being felt in a life-threatening way across Europe, and cities were not designed to withstand extreme temperatures like these. Studies have shown that vegetation lowers temperatures in urban environments, and we wanted to make this effect visible both concretely and experientially,” says working group member and architect Maiju Suomi.
Third of Life is a holistic work of art that combines visual and garden art, architecture, design, poetry, and music. The work was on display in Logroño, Spain 18–23 June, and it will remain permanently available for the city’s residents to enjoy.
Built on the ruins of an abandoned and partially collapsed building, this secret garden serves as both a symbolic and practical intervention in the urban space. It mitigates the heat island effect exacerbated by climate change, provides shelter and habitats for other species, and revitalizes the abandoned urban environment. At the same time, it invites people to pause and imagine alternative futures.
The work invites visitors to rest and imagine together
Third of Life also explores the question of how people might find a sense of community in a time marked by conflict and division. At the heart of the work is the idea of rest and sleep as a space where new perspectives can emerge.
The experimental pavilion invites visitors to calm down, rest, sleep together, and discuss their dreams. The work draws inspiration from the ancient Greek Asclepieia—temples dedicated to the god of healing—the tradition of surrealism, and the philosophy of co-creation. Sleep, which accounts for one-third of human life, connects people to one another and, through the autonomous nervous system, to the collective breath of the entire planet.
During the festival, visitors could take part in a shared ritual: spending time in the garden, falling asleep in the space and sharing their experiences with others in the morning. The idea was not to find a single “correct” answer, but to create a space where polarized positions could be replaced by new, shared solutions emerging from the subconscious. These solutions are needed in a world where the climate crisis demands collective action, but social divides make it difficult to achieve.
The drought-tolerant, low-maintenance garden will remain a part of the city of Logroño, providing a cooling and revitalizing space for people, pollinators, and birds. The work is designed to be portable and adaptable to other cultural contexts, each of which lends its own unique characteristics to the ritual. The work will next be on view in Japan in 2027.
is an international architecture and design festival that has been held since 2015. It attracts approximately 30,000 visitors each year and is one of Spain’s best-known events in the field.
The project has been supported by the Concentrico Festival, the Finnish Institute in Madrid, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Taike, Taike Varsinais-Suomi, the Asko Foundation, Frame, the Niilo Helander Foundation, the Greta and William Lehtinen Foundation, and Finlayson.
has its roots in cultural studies and the visual arts. IC-98 has created site-specific works, video installations, and commissioned works; received the State Prize for the Arts in 2009; represented Finland at the Venice Biennale in 2015; and served as professors at the Academy of Fine Arts in 2018. Their most recent work seeks artistic-political solutions to the environmental crisis, striving to create spaces for a new community of all living beings emerging from the crisis.
break down the dichotomy between nature and culture through multisensory spatial experiences, explore the social and ecological impacts of architectural practice and experience, and develop methods of artistic research for the field of architecture. Their works include, among others, the internationally award-winning Kouk Khleang Youth Center in Cambodia (2012; Komitu Architects) and the award-winning Alusta Pavilion (2022), which was featured in the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2025.
Credits:
Artistic concept, direction, and curation: Patrik Söderlund (IC-98)
Architectural concept, artistic direction, and landscape design: Maiju Suomi & Elina Koivisto (Suomi/Koivisto Architects)
Artistic advisor: Visa Suonpää (IC-98)
Textile art: Patrik Söderlund (design), Ilona Lehmusjärvi (execution)
Ceramics: Alejandra Vera & Juan Sebastian Ruiz
Wood sculptures: Andrei Bakharev
Lullaby: Henriikka Tavi (lyrics), Tiina Myllärinen (composition)
Lullaby translation (FI-EN): Henriikka Tavi
Singer: Meeri Pulakka
Gardeners: Javier Pastor
Ritual performance: Luca Ramonda Sáenz & Miguel Carrera Juaneda / Asociación Teatral On&Off
Publication editing, texts, illustrations, graphic design: Patrik Söderlund
Plant illustrations in the publication: Elina Koivisto
Translation of the publication (EN-ES): Toni Ledentsa
Translation of the lullaby (EN-ES): Luca Ramonda Sáenz
Contact:
Elina Koivisto
Architect SAFA, Finland/Koivisto Architects
Doctoral candidate, Aalto University
elina@suomikoivisto.fi
+358 40 703 5865
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