The Stork’s Stair begins with a simple observation: the bridge crosses the park but never meets it. In Logroño, the Puente de Hierro [the “Iron Bridge”] is the oldest of the city’s crossings over the Ebro River. It links the historic center to neighborhoods on the northern bank. On the south side, it passes above the Parque del Ebro, moving across the landscape in a long, uninterrupted line. Because of the Ebro River’s volatile flooding cycles, both the park and the bridge are designed to accommodate periodic high water. As a result, the Puente de Hierro stretches across the landscape as a long, uninterrupted span, with no “off-ramps” into the park below. From above, the park is visible but unreachable. From below, the bridge belongs to another level of the city. The stair introduces a small act of spatial disobedience. Constructed from scaffolding, scaffold wrap, and temporary lighting, the project borrows the language of construction sites and provisional urbanism. This vertical connector links the park’s ground to the bridge above, turning a piece of pure transit infrastructure into a moment of occupation. Partway up, a small platform offers a place to pause. From there, the river, the park, and the bridge come briefly into alignment. The project takes its name from the white storks that nest in the park. The “cigüeña’s” distinctive ascent—from riverbank to sky—inspires the project’s vertical movement, echoing the moment of flight.

Future Firm is a Chicago-based architecture and design research office working with civic changemakers through an ideas-driven approach. Founded by Ann Lui and Craig Reschke in 2015 and joined by principal Linda Chávez Baca in 2023, the practice works across spatial scales with a focus on arts and culture organizations, nonprofits, and mission-driven businesses. Future Firm’s design approach focuses on the production of a vibrant and heterogeneous “future city,” partnering with clients committed to shaping new possibilities for their communities. The firm’s practice expands upon traditional scope of architectural practice—supporting partners in building momentum for their ideas through design, research, and strategic thinking. Lui is an incoming associate professor of practice and director of undergraduate architecture studies at the University of Chicago. She holds a master’s of science in architecture studies from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BArch from Cornell University. Reschke holds a master’s in landscape architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a bachelor’s of architecture from the University of Tennessee. Chávez Baca received a master’s of science degree in project management from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s of architecture from Tecnológico de Monterrey.