Floating River
Madrid, Spain 2024
(Galvanized aluminum and steel, transparent PVC and H2O)
Art Installation for FONDO and Mayrit Biennal
Photo by Maya Carreno
At ACID House
Floating River is an installation created by Elena Rocabert in collaboration with FONDO in the context of the Mayrit Biennial, an international event on design, architecture, and contemporary art held every two years in Madrid. Designed for a gastronomic event organized by the studio Fondo, the work responds to this edition’s thematic axis: water, a central element of the Biennial since its beginnings.
The proposal emerges from a reflection on the way architecture tends to conceal the systems that sustain water —such as pipelines and hydraulic networks—, generating a disconnection between people and the resources they consume.
Floating River reverses this logic by making those invisible systems visible. It takes the form of a closed water circuit flowing by gravity through metal gutters suspended by steel cables from a central elevated structure. The water travels through the space until it reaches a reservoir, from which it is pumped back to the beginning, creating a continuous flow.
The installation functions like a living organism: the water flows, rises, falls, splashes, and overflows, creating a sensory experience that invites us to physically and symbolically reconnect with this vital resource through an architectural intervention.
