International design firm PKMN Architectures was selected to lead this year’s edition of a workshop known as Taller del Desierto – which aimed to build a small urban spa at Parque Urueta in the Mexican city of Chihuahua – with the help of local architecture firm Memela and designers Juan Castillo, Miguel Heredia and Miguel García.

Based on the consensus of local residents and the council, the project involved the reactivation of an existing public water source at the heart of the park, which has been broken for years. The architects and local community turned this water feature into a temporary urban spa through a combination of toil and innovation.

The workshop served as a vehicle for communication between the Instituto Superior de Arquitectura de Chihuahua (ISAD) university – which selected PKMN – and the council. The city council decided to support the project by fixing the water source’s pump and filling it with water.

PKMN led the workshop in one week of design and another week of construction, with the help of local residents and spontaneous volunteers.

Features of the urban spa included the erection of a series of wooden surfaces to create a bathing deck, resting areas, steps, sun loungers and a ramp for accessibility. Scaffolding units were used as the structural base for the spa and helped to support hammocks, small vantage points and resting platforms. The water source was then used as an improvised pool, shaded by the scaffolding and hammocks.

As a result of this workshop, the urban spa concept is being considered as a template for the reactivation of other unused water sources in the city of Chihuahua by the city council, according to a statement by PKMN.

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