The exhibition “Hurrengo Geltokia: Amara-Easo” launches a participatory process to define San Sebastián’s largest urban transformation: the Playa de V

2025 October 15

• The exhibition promotes open dialogue through a citizen participation process set up within the exhibition itself, where concerns and suggestions regarding the project’s facilities will be collected to be incorporated into the final proposal.
• The exhibition presents the five winning projects from the public competition for the drafting of the Specific Amendment to the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) in the Playa de Vías area, located in the Amara district. The initiative is led by the Basque Government’s Department of Housing and Urban Agenda, in collaboration with Donostia/San Sebastián City Council.
• The public will have the opportunity to learn about these projects during a presentation organized by the Department of Housing and Urban Agenda on Saturday, October 25, at 11:00 a.m., at the Basque Institute of Architecture.

15/10/2025

The exhibition “Hurrengo Geltokia: Amara-Easo” is conceived as a meeting point open to everyone who lives, works, or feels connected to San Sebastián. Residents, associations, cultural, social, and professional entities are invited to discover and actively participate in one of the city’s most significant urban transformations in recent decades: the Playa de Vías operation. This project aims to reconnect the Romantic Expansion area with the Amara neighborhood through the construction of 400 to 500 affordable homes within a sustainable, inclusive, and people-centered urban plan.

Promoted by the Basque Government’s Department of Housing and Urban Agenda, in collaboration with Donostia/San Sebastián City Council, and organized by the Basque Institute of Architecture as part of the OFF Mugak/ program, this initiative is more than an exhibition—it is an invitation to collectively envision the urban future of Donostia.

The exhibition brings together the five winning projects from the public competition to draft the Specific Amendment to the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) for the Playa de Vías – Amara-Easo area. It offers a journey combining models, plans, panels, and virtual reality experiences, allowing citizens to imagine the future neighborhood. Above all, it opens a participatory process of listening and dialogue to collect concerns, ideas, and suggestions regarding the facilities, spaces, and uses that this new area should include.

Thus, “Hurrengo Geltokia: Amara-Easo” becomes a living tool for building both city and community—ensuring that citizens’ contributions form part of the final proposal. This collective process aims for the new Amara-Easo to reflect the diversity, needs, and aspirations of its inhabitants, creating together a more connected, livable, and shared Donostia.

A participatory process open to all citizens

The exhibition format takes on special significance—it is not only about displaying but also about listening and co-creating based on the proposals presented. Through the participation space provided, anyone interested can contribute ideas, concerns, and suggestions regarding the amenities and design of the future neighborhood. These contributions will be analyzed, and in the second phase of the competition, the finalist teams will be assessed on their ability to integrate this feedback into their proposals.

In this way, the participatory process becomes an essential tool to ensure that the urban transformation of Amara-Easo responds to people’s real needs and lays the foundations for a more integrated, livable, and sustainable city model.

In addition, an online survey has been launched on the Mugak/ Biennial website  to collect opinions, concerns, and suggestions regarding the project’s facilities, which will also be considered in the final proposal.

The exhibition: a journey into Donostia’s urban future

As part of the Euskadi International Architecture Biennial Mugak/, the exhibition “Hurrengo Geltokia: Amara-Easo” will be open to visitors until November 14 at the former Fire Station building (Easo 43, San Sebastián), from Tuesday to Sunday, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The exhibition combines panels, plans, models, drawings, and a virtual reality experience that allows visitors to explore in detail the projects submitted to the public competition. An introductory panel also presents the historical background of the area and outlines the future plan following the railway’s undergrounding, to contextualize this major urban transformation.

Five visions for a shared urban challenge

The award-winning projects offer diverse perspectives on how to reconnect the Romantic Expansion and Amara through an innovative, sustainable, and balanced urban model:

• “Habitar el bosque urbano” (Inhabiting the Urban Forest), by JPAM City Makers (Amado Martín, Jorge Perea, and Samuel Llovet): A contemporary and fresh proposal that combines modernity with historical respect, featuring a large consolidated park and a diverse range of housing types.
• “Kalerik kale plazarik plaza”, by RAZ and Usandizaga (Gilen Txintxurreta, Jacek Markusiewicz, Ander Gortazar, and Ibai Usandizaga): With metropolitan ambition and urban scale, it proposes a central park, the undergrounding of the river road, and an urban tower as a landmark.
• “Hari berdez hiria josi” (Weaving the City with a Green Thread), by Estudio Beldarrain: Proposes a serpentine building with community facilities integrated into the park, promoting a connected and sustainable urban lifestyle.
• “Que los árboles nos dejen ver el bosque” (May the Trees Let Us See the Forest), by Acha Zaballa Arquitectos: A conceptual and thought-provoking approach reflecting on the balance between landscape and urban density.
• “Lotzenari”, by KREAN Ingeniería y Arquitectura: A technically solid project featuring open squares facing Autonomía Street, with a strong focus on construction and functional resolution of the site.
• The proposals by JPAM City Makers, RAZ and Usandizaga, and Estudio Beldarrain have advanced to the second competition phase. Their 3D-printed models allow visitors to realistically visualize how these ideas could materialize. Through the virtual reality experience, visitors can explore the projects and better understand how they integrate into the Amara-Easo environment.

Public presentation of the projects on October 25

To further bring the process closer to citizens, the Basque Government’s Department of Housing and Urban Agenda has organized a public presentation of the projects on Saturday, October 25, at 11:00 a.m., at the Basque Institute of Architecture.

During the event, representatives from the three finalist teams—JPAM City Makers, RAZ and Usandizaga, and Estudio Beldarrain—will present their proposals and participate in an open Q&A and discussion session, inviting citizens to share their perspectives on the future of this new urban area.

A collective opportunity to build the city together

“Hurrengo Geltokia: Amara-Easo” is much more than an exhibition. It is a civic laboratory of ideas about the Donostia to come—a space where architecture opens up to the public, and where every contribution counts toward imagining a neighborhood that unites, inspires, and improves the quality of life for everyone who calls the city home.