The Gods

The Gods: Dar Vida a Descalzos (2019)

Calle Descalzos, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain.

Collaborators:

´The Gods : dar vida a descalzos´ was a one-week workshop part of the Urban Studies International Seminar, School of Architecture, Universidad de Navarra, run by Catalina Pollak Williamson in conjunction with Esperanza Marrodán.

Publication:

Pollak Williamson, C. (2026). Prefiguring the ‘city of care’: On ‘Radical Play’ as situated urban practice. Urban Studies, Special Edition ‘Urban Imaginations and Urban Futures'. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980261460621

Press:

Diario de Navarra: Balcones en Calle Descalzos se convertirán en palcos de teatro para representar la vida de barrio a diario. (08.01.2019)

Diario de Navarra: Alumnos de la UNAV dan vida a los balcones de la calle de Descalzos de Pamplona. Diario de Navarra. (12.01.2019)

Noticias de Navarra: Los balcones de Descalzos no son mudos. (13.01.2019)

Dar Vida a Descalzos was a participatory urban intervention that invited residents of Calle Descalzos, in Pamplona's historic centre, to reclaim their balconies as spaces for public expression, encounter and exchange. Developed as part of the Urban Studies International Seminar at the University of Navarra's School of Architecture, the project brought together architecture students, local residents and the neighbourhood association Alde Zaharra, who invited us to explore ways of bringing ‘more life’ to the street.

Bringing life to the street

Located against Pamplona's medieval city walls, Calle Descalzos has historically experienced marginalisation and neglect. More recently, the pressures of urban regeneration, gentrification and changing patterns of occupation have raised questions about belonging and the future of neighbourhood life. Rather than focusing on physical improvements, the project explored how everyday experiences, relationships and collective concerns could become the starting point for reimagining the street. Drawing inspiration from the cultural and political role of balconies in Pamplona's old town, we invited residents to transform these domestic thresholds into temporary civic stages.

Twenty-six balconies, twenty-six stories

On a cold Saturday morning, twenty-six individual actions unfolded across Descalzos, choreographed into a collective street performance. Some residents recited poetry, played music or staged small performances. Others drew attention to neglected ground-floor premises, proposed acts of collective maintenance or shared ideas for improving the street. Still others offered simple gestures of care, sharing food, drinks and conversation with neighbours and passers-by. Together, these small yet intimate gestures composed a fleeting social cartography of Descalzos, revealing who lived there, what they cared about and what they hoped for. For a brief moment, balconies became civic stages and the street a shared space where personal stories, everyday concerns and collective aspirations could be made visible.

From playful encounter to collective action

Through play, residents were invited to step beyond their habitual roles, express themselves publicly and experience their neighbourhood through the perspectives of others. The intervention created opportunities for recognition, dialogue and collective learning, making visible the social relationships and everyday practices of care that give life to a street. Importantly, the experience continued beyond the event. Following the intervention, neighbours formed a committee to work together to improve the conditions of Descalzos. What began as a temporary choreography of balconies opened possibilities for continued civic action, demonstrating how small gestures of participation can bring people together to imagine and shape the future of their neighbourhood.