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Immersion
The Festival des Architectures Vives 2017 is set to wow visitors yet again, with this year’s theme of ‘Emotion‘ resulting in a number designs that excite and delight as well as challenge and innovate.
The FAV, held each year in June in the Montpellier and nearby La Grande Motte, encourages young landscape designers, architects and urban planners to enter designs to transform the many little courtyards and laneways the regions are famous for.
The theme for this year’s festival is ‘Emotion’ and its set to be a spectacular, innovative show once again. Each year a school of architecture is invited, with this year’s FAV organisers choosing students from the Higher Technical School of Architecture in San Sabastián in the Basque Country to participate.
A total of 15 student designs were developed for the courtyard of the Hôtel des Tresoriers de la Bourse, with the winner being a mind-bending play on perception titled ‘Falling into the sky.’
‘Falling into the sky’ by students of the Higher Technical School of Architecture, San Sabastián
The innovative design makes the visitor feels like they are stepping into another dimension. The mirror encourages greater attention to detail in the surrounding walls of the courtyard, but the door reminds that you’re entering what is otherwise a very private, enclosed space. A sense of emptiness and feelings of vertigo are elicited as the sky appears as a chasm when reflected on the mirror’s surface.
‘The Courtain’, by Maria Anton Barco, Maria Salan and Maria Ramos, uses artificial materials that create a very real landscape. The ‘leaves’ of the tree have been designed with filtering the afternoon light in mind, light that the South of France is famous for, especially at this time of year. The designers have intended the work to change with the light, giving it a feeling of being alive, invoking seasons as well as the town’s history unfolding around it. Each growth ring on the tree will be inscribed with significant moments from the town’s history.
‘The Courtain’ by Maria Anton Barco, Maria Salan and Maria Ramos. Madrid, Spain
‘Forme Sauvage’ by Lilit Sarkisian takes the theme of ’emotion’ on a decidedly biological bent, setting out to illustrate what happens when vivid architecture interacts with the cerebral cortex of the curious viewer. Using a combination of materials, including vaporisers to release scent and fog machines to lend the space a dream-like state, this is a design that will be etched on your brain in one way or another. The designer’s inclusion of an olfactory element is a clever way to ensure this installation sticks in your memory.
‘Forme Sauvage’ by Lilit Sarkisian Nantes, France
‘Immersion’ by Lucia Marinez Pluchino and Raquel Duran Peunte is set to evoke a range of emotions. Viewers are invited to completely immerse themselves in a courtyard filled entirely with balloons. Playfulness, pleasure, and even annoyance are just one of the many reactions they’re expecting. The festival organisers are sure of one thing; nobody will remain indifferent to ‘Immersion’!
‘Immersion’ by Lucia Marinez Pluchino and Raquel Duran Puente. Bordeaux, France
‘Paper Cloud’ by Studio 3A is all about illusion and delusion. It is composed of around two thousand pieces of laminated paper rings that click together, no glues or screws. It’s an imposing yet simple structure in its display space, but is designed to prompt complex reactions in visitors. Once stepping inside the structure it almost disappears to the viewer, thanks to the way its been designed to catch the light. The illusion is intended to awake the emotions of visitors.
TR 24 by BEN-DAO. Paris, France
‘TR 24’ by BEN-DAO is a playful modern take on the labyrinth. Visitors are invited to play this turnstile-style game, turning a waypoint into a challenging, fun – even stressful – space to interact with.
These designs and more will be showcased over a week, from 13 – 20 June 2017 between Montpellier and La Grande Motte, France. Check out some of the other designs below and make sure to visit The FAV festival’s website if you can’t make it in person.
