Spain is one of few countries globally to continue the practice of transhumance, the seasonal cross-country migration of shepherds with their flocks. Celebrated annually through the Festa de Trashumancia in Madrid, this centuries old exercise bears both cultural and environmental significance. Despite its importance, the shepherding profession is dying in Spain. Performative Wool responds to this by engaging with existing frameworks, and offering new ones, for reviving shepherding and re-animating the cross-country corridors of Spain’s transhumant nomads.

Sited in Manzanares el Real, a small town north of Madrid intersecting one of Spain’s many transhumance routes, the proposal leverages the site’s location as a resting point for nomadic shepherds. Locally, the proposal operates as Spain’s newest shepherding school, an educational network aimed at reviving the profession. Nationally, the project offers satellite interventions along livestock routes to ease the arduous migration. Architecturally, the project seeks to reflect transhumance practices in the performances of a building, exploring the following pillars: seasonality, nose-to-tail construction, nomadism and storytelling.