natura futura installs sculptural wooden canopy over art & food hub in ecuador

Ficus Alto – Outdoor Art Platform by Natura Futura 

Located in Pisagua, Ecuador, Ficus Alto is an outdoor art platform dedicated to local, cultural initiatives. Its owners, Vanessa and Jordan, wanted to host a flexible space where new artists from satellite communities can converge and collectively explore food, music, and art. Natura Futura was invited to complete their vision, building an almost sculptural and slanted wooden roof under which the gatherings take place. The resulting design evokes warmth, and openness to the natural environment and community.

all images © Natura Futura

linking the wooden structure to the site and community 

‘Ficus Alto’ sits on 9x7m platform, in the owner’s front yard where cocoa was traditionally dried. Natura Futura (see more here) configured the structure using two metal porches and a 9x9m roof supported by wooden trusses with a convex curve section to tighten, reduce costs, and cover a greater length sans intermediate pillars. Each wooden truss was built from 0.15 x 4 x 0.02 m planks. ‘Using the labor and materials of the site, we seek to rescue and reinterpret of the form in which we use them, dignifying and repowering them for new uses,’ comments the architects. 

The flexible program connects the platform with pre-existing elements on-site, like the adjacent old house, the ficus tree and a large rock that serves as a furniture piece. In other words, Ficus Alto’s open design turns it into a kind of extension of the house and sidewalk — truly evoking a shared, homely space where daily activities can unfold.