REACTIVA CUENCA ESCALINATAS

SCREENING

“Las Escalinatas” connects the old city center of Cuenca with El Ejido, a neighborhood that has commercial and residential use. Also that host the Court of Justice, the stadium and other important offices. People uses Las Escalinatas daily to cross from one point to the other and it serves a transit purpose. However, out of office hours it becomes empty, despite of the great amount of space it has to invite people to stay and its beautiful view to the Tomebamba river. When empty, it can also increase the perception of insecurity.

PICTURING

Creating a space for recreation and fun, aiming to generate in citizens a feeling of belonging to public places, using them not only as a transit zone, but also being able to enjoy it in different ways.

Taking advantage of the different levels of the stairs and the spacious resting areas, we decided to bring an activity to each of them, making it a whole adventure to cross the place. Also, we thought it was important to add something visual that would attract people to the stairs, as they could see from the distance that something was about to happen.

ZOOMING IN

Even though it was a short activity, different stakeholders must be taken into account. Hence, there were important tasks to be performed, as talking to the neighbors in order to explain the idea and understand how they feel about it. Also, the authorities, such as the Police and the Municipality were aware of the event and supporting the idea, understanding it also as an opportunity to experiment with the place.

CAPTURING

Firstly, we draw the word “Cuenca” by placing big white papers on the first steps, which could be seen from the nearby bridge, attracting people who were invited to join. It caught the attention of tourists, and  residents, who approached to take a photo with the image.

In the second part of the stairs we gave a coffee to those who would be willing to write a positive message and place it in a tree, so that when another person arrives he can do the same and receive a previous message. Demonstrating with it a different feeling and connection between all the users of the space, which made them all continue their day with a smile.

In the third part, colored jars with candles were placed in the trees, creating a space of tranquility and color for the people who transited through the place.

In the fourth and final part, thinking about the children, a "little airplane" was painted on the floor with different colors, in which it was possible to play and interact, generating a completely different space from the original functional purpose of the staircases.

At night, the presence of people increased and even and without being planned, some musicians took over the place, inviting people who were present to dance.

REVEALING

The execution and the revealing of the project take place together, since every element that is placed is done with the users while the event is going on. It is about re-thinking the space together, re-inventing it together and celebrating it together!

ZOOMING OUT

Based on the comments and reaction of the people who were there during the day, we believe that people have created a sense of belonging, being able to demonstrate that there are better ways of using public spaces. It temporarily transformed a wonderful place from a transit zone to a place to stay and socialize. It was a great step to promote better use of our iconic sites of the city. A few months later, a collective of artist and young people started to use the stairs for cultural events every Thursday, transforming it into an open stage for music, poetry and dance. Two years later, the Municipality of Cuenca, approved the Ordinance for the Use of Public Spaces, making it easier for artist and citizens to use the public space and it would provide support for further initiatives like “Reactiva Cuenca”.