UFG de Igara: Reuse and demolition artistically considered

• UFG of Igara: artistically considered reuse and demolition’ explores through plans, photographs and audiovisual material what the warehouse building of the Unión Farmacéutica Guipuzcoana wanted to be, what became of it, and poses a reflection on what it could have been.
• UFG of Igara: artistically considered reuse and demolition explores through plans, photographs and audiovisual material what the warehouse building of the Unión Farmacéutica Guipuzcoana wanted to be, what became of it, and poses a reflection on what it could have been.

The Institute of Architecture of Euskadi hosts a new exhibition of the Peña Ganchegui Archive, “’UFG of Igara: artistically considered reuse and demolition”, the result of research carried out by architect Oscar Sangalli Peña at the University of Cambridge. The exhibition addresses the recent demolition of the UFG Warehouse in Igara (Luis Peña Ganchegui; Donostia, 1973), as an opportunity to reflect on the expectations of survival of modern built heritage. What the building wanted to be, what became of it, and what it could have been, are the three questions on which the new exhibition pivots.

From 2 October to 19 January, the Basque Institute of Architecture is hosting a new exhibition from the Peña Ganchegui Archive, ‘‘UFG of Igara: artistically considered reuse and demolition’’, the result of research carried out by the architect Oscar Sangalli Peña at the University of Cambridge. The presentation will take place tomorrow, Wednesday 2 October, at 19h with free admission until full capacity is reached.

The exhibition deals with the recent demolition of the UFG Warehouse in Igara (Luis Peña Ganchegui; Donostia, 1973) as an opportunity to reflect on the expectations for the survival of modern built heritage. What the building wanted to be, what became of it, and what it could have been, are the three questions on which the new exhibition pivots.

The first part, ‘What did it want to be?’, focuses on the construction of the warehouse, as it was conceived in 1974. The UFG warehouse in Igara was commissioned to the architect Luis Peña Ganchegui in 1973 by the Unión Farmacéutica de Gipuzkoa, one of the main companies responsible for the storage and distribution of medical products in the province. 

This facility was one of the first structures to land on what was to become the Igara industrial estate; several archive photographs show it in a rural context. On the other hand, original plans and archive photographs show the project under construction, shortly after its completion and in use. 

The exhibition tour progresses by exploring the transformations the building underwent over time until its internal demolition. In display cases, photographs taken throughout 2023 show the building in a decaying state, which contrasts with publications in specialised media from the time it was built, which celebrate the warehouse as it was conceived.

‘What might have been?’, the final part, shows the elements that have been demolished and presents an alternative theoretical project developed that ’aims to establish an intimate and dignifying dialogue that recognises the virtue of a perfectly stable and beautifully crafted structure. The structure is not treated as a useless ruin, mute and condemned to be decorative, but there is a will to turn it into an intelligent ruin’.