Micro Landscapes – Sottobosco
Located in the eastern Pyrenees, Andorra is characterized by its close relationship with mountain landscapes, which include steep valleys, rugged terrain, and high peaks. The Pyrenees Mountain range features a variety of ecosystems, including deciduous and coniferous forests predominantly composed of spruce and fir trees, making Andorra a region rich in biodiversity, with several protected areas that enhance its ecological value.
With the aim of highlighting the biological significance and richness of the forest’s ground cover, the piece temporarily relocates a fragment of a micro-landscape. It pays tribute to the delicate and fragile ecosystem of undergrowth micro-plants – mosses, lichens, and ferns—that form a soft layer of vegetation. This microworld, with its high ecological value, plays a significant role in the woodland ecosystem by absorbing and retaining water, generating new habitats, preventing erosion, and providing nutrients to the soil.
The site/installation is placed in the heart of the medieval village of Sant Julià de Lòria, nestled in the foothills of the forest along the riverbank. The Sottobosco piece is exhibited in an intimate public square next to the 11th-century church bell tower. As visitors arrive at the square, they are received by this unexpected fragment of forest. The elevated living installation invites visitors to engage closely with it, encouraging them to enter its interior. Visitors engage with this fragment by identifying, observing, touching, and smelling it, deepening their understanding of its ecological significance and enhancing their experiential and environmental awareness while exploring connections with local biological micro-habitats.
The installation was part of an artistic itinerary through the medieval town during the Andorra LandArt Biennial. After the exhibition concluded, the fragment was returned to its original location in the forest. The process was conducted with the support and guidance of the Environment and Forest Management of the Sant Julià de Lòria Municipality.
Project details
Design: X-STUDIO Ivan Juarez
Project Location: Sant Julià de Lòria, Andorra
Typology: Environmental art
Built: 2023
Client: Andorra LandArt Biennial
X-STUDIO Ivan Juarez
Ivan Juarez is founder and principal of x-studio, a multidisciplinary research practice focused on exploring the relationship between art and function, integrating the disciplines of architecture, landscape, public design, environmental and public art. Through his practice he has produced a series of projects that explore the natural and built environment from a cross-disciplinary approach. A series of works conceived in diverse contexts and scales ranging from landscape and urban interventions to architectonic spaces, from public and environmental installations to urban and landscape strategies. These works have been created in different countries of Europe (Norway, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Spain and Portugal) North America (USA and Mexico), South America (Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina), Asia (Japan and Taiwan) and Africa (Senegal). Ivan Juarez is also the founder of Sensory Landscapes, a research lab and educational initiative which is dedicated to sensing the landscape through the conceptualization and findings of innovative methodologies for understanding the environment through sensory experiences.