Design Map · Eindhoven
Fables of Progress
Graduation project by Helena Escudero Leiva at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
‘Fables of Progress’ draws a parallel between two seemingly unrelated expressions of capitalism’s logic of optimisation and accumulation: gym culture and Barcelona’s Llobregat Delta. Following urban development, ecological degradation has left the river dependent on injections of treated groundwater to maintain its flow. The installation centres on a modified rowing machine placed on a platform of ceramic bricks alongside two water tanks. As participants use the machine, water circulates between the tanks, while information about the river’s ecological condition appears on the screen. The installation translates the hydraulic infrastructure that sustains the river into a physical experience in which participants attempt to restore its balance. By making this impossible task seem feasible, the work gives tangible form to a model of optimisation and unlimited growth that continues to be presented as progress despite its ecological and social costs.