The digital totem, recently awarded Winner at the Architizer A+Product Award 2021 and Gold Winner 

Grand Prix du Design Awards 14th Edition 2021,

are smart weather stations that collect and display environmental and local information for tourists and visitors at beaches in the Canary Islands. 

The design and its functionalities

The design re-interprets the aboriginal ceramic art pieces from the indigenous inhabitants of the islands. This art resulted from the worship of the sun god "Magheq", usually represented through circular shapes and decorative geometric patterns.

The design consists of a digitally fabricated wood ring, standing vertically with a north-south orientation. The carved surface patterns are inspired by the local aboriginal art of each island, emphasizing their rich and diverse cultural differences. The northern face contains a 1,2 m2 video screen that broadcasts real-time environmental data, as well as helpful information about tourist activities and services in the area. The southern face hosts a photovoltaic module that turns sunlight into electricity.

The totem performs as a seasonal sundial, thanks to perforation at the top of the wooden ring. Once a year, during the winter solstice, the sunlight shines through the hole, illuminating a customized bronze marker on the ground and celebrating the islands' extraordinary climate.

Urban space

The location and orientation of each totem generates a consistent shaded area on the northern side, creating a natural meeting point highlighted by a circular stone carpet. The sense of place is emphasized by paving art and custom urban furniture, including seating with charging stations, planters, lights, bins, and the solstice mark.

Conclusion

The totem infrastructural network acknowledges the more than two thousand years of the creative relationship of the Canary Islands with the sun. The design solution bridges past and future: from marking the solstices for agricultural purposes in ancient times, to the current sun and beach tourist industry and the critical challenge of transitioning to a renewable energy economy.

Technical sheet

Project: Redacción de proyecto y creación de prototipo de tótem digitalizado.

Location: Canary Islands

Client: Dirección General de Infraestructura Turística. Gobierno de Canarias.

Size. Totem: 2,5 m height. Public

Space: 30 m² Plot: 30 m2

Constructed element: Totem and outdoor area.

Project Type: Street Furniture & Landscape Design.

Construction Cost: 42.000 € (Totem) + 15.000 € (Public Space)

Sector: Tourism & Hospitality, Public Space & City

Waterfronts & Maritime

Totem: equipped with a video panel and solar module.

Public Space: sitting space, lighting and gardening.

Street Furniture Design: design development and technical documentation of a Digital Totem, including solar technology for off-grid performance.

Landscape Design: design development and technical documentation of an open space equipped with pavement and sitting area, gardening and lighting.

Collaborators

Director: Juan Palop-Casado.

Design Leader: Ignacio López.

Project Team: Alberto Toret (Project Manager), Raquel Martínez, Andrea Suárez Solana and Cindy Suárez.

Collaborators & Consultants

MEP Engineering: Manuel Sanabria.

Renders: Fco. Javier Acién.

Winner Architizer A+Product Award 2021 (Landscape Category) 

https://winners.architizer.com/2021/Products/ 

Gold Winner Grand Prix du Design Awards 14th Edition 2021 (Landscape Architecture Category). 

https://int.design/en/contests/grands-prix-du-design/winners/?contest_id=1357&contest_edition=1425&category=180          

About LPA Studio

LPA Studio is a leading planning and design firm focused on sustainable and organic development of the southern regions and territories, the so-called subtropics, that feature semi-arid and Mediterrean environmental regimes. LPA Studio has a Deep commitment to the specific (economic, social, and environmental) potentialities of the subtropics, which are deployed in line with the principles and protocols of the philosophy of eco-design thinking.