Curved straw walls frame a sown amphitheater for native plants in Extremadura

A land art work linking a rural meadow in Berrocalejo, Cáceres to the conservation of native Mediterranean species, built from straw, earth, stones and native seeds.

Two curved straw walls that double as an amphitheater — with native wildflowers sown straight into the straw so the meadow finishes the architecture.

Curated by Andrey Brito, the team raised two curved straw walls: a narrow passage that softens sound and steadies temperature opens onto a centuries-old olive tree and an old holm oak, with a shallow amphitheater along the route. At the spring equinox inauguration, participants sowed Centaurea cyanus, Papaver rhoeas and Plantago lanceolata directly into the straw, and the surrounding meadow was left unmowed so vegetation gradually completes the semicircle.

Operating as both artwork and field station: a roughly 200-sqm plot tracks germination, flowering and fruiting of Mediterranean grassland species and tests mowing methods, while collected seeds are stored off-site with the Plant Germplasm Bank 'César Gómez Campo' at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

At La Nave Va, an open-air sculpture park in Berrocalejo, Cáceres, the studio Paisajeencontrado built KURA — a land art installation from straw, earth, stones and native seeds that combines an amphitheater, an experimental Mediterranean garden and a walking path. Curated by Andrey Brito, the team brought together the studio, visual artists Kika Goldstein and Kmilo Morales, and landscape architect Ismael Pizarro.

Two curved straw walls guide visitors through a narrow passage that opens onto views of a centuries-old olive tree and an old holm oak; the walls also shape a shallow amphitheater, and the passage alters the experience by softening sound and holding a steadier temperature. The second wall is a living structure: at the spring-equinox inauguration, participants sowed native wildflowers and grassland species — cornflower, poppy, plantain — directly into the straw, while the meadow stays unmowed so the vegetation gradually completes the semicircular form.

KURA is also a working field: an ongoing program tracks the germination, flowering and fruiting of Mediterranean grassland species, tests different mowing methods, and collects and propagates native seeds. In collaboration with the Plant Germplasm Bank 'César Gómez Campo' at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, collected seeds are stored off-site to support the conservation of wild plant genetic resources.

The walls work as architecture and habitat at once — shelter, sightline frame, and germination bed in one material.

Sowing during the inauguration turned visitors into co-authors of the piece's eventual shape.

Refusing to mow the meadow handed the finishing of the semicircle over to the plants themselves.

The seed partnership with the Madrid germplasm bank gives the installation a conservation function beyond its park.

Let the artwork do the science: an amphitheater whose walls are planted becomes a working seed bank, so tending the piece is the medium.

The site now hosts performances, photography and collective and botanical activities, and its materials and vegetation change with the seasons; the botanical observation program continues, connecting visitors with the landscape's biodiversity, agricultural cycles and rural knowledge.