Two projects by Cabanon Vertical.

Au risque de se perdre.

 

This space, the vestige of an ornamental French garden, is planted with box trees, giving it a labyrinthine feel. But it is, in fact, difficult to get lost here. The crisscrossing of narrow pathways leading to large prairies is nonetheless intriguing. The aim of the installation is to weave a story, a tale, using carefully selected devices.

The visitor moves through the space as though through a labyrinth. We establish a “scenic” device evoking the journey of Ulysses: an imposed journey, fraught with difficulties, pretences, and detours embarked on despite the risk of getting lost. The plot incorporates the on-site architecture and encourages visitors to experience the place differently, to create the illusion of an after- or otherworld through illusory games and digressions. By setting apart these aspects of the architecture, we emphasise their role in the creation of specific situations.

A stairway gives a view of the labyrinth from on high – allowing visitors to get their bearings before plunging back inside – yet it also makes the route more complicated. A balcony offers panoramas over the surroundings, yet does not make them accessible. These features reveal the geographic space, but provide no exit or map to navigate it. Ulysses wandered for ten years. Time and space seem to expand. How long will it take to avoid the dead ends and foil the labyrinth’s tricks?

Text.- Cabanon Vertical.

The Carnourgues’s School Forecourt

 

The question here is simple: how to make a school forecourt convivial. Through discussions with users, we identified the needs are clearly identified: a place to sit, a touch of fantasy, a place where parents can sit down and chat, where children can entertain themselves... The next step is to define a creative process and allay fears about the “undesirable” effects of installing benches in a public space.

How does one create a playful imaginary world with the children as part of a broader reflection on the use of space? A workshop is held focusing on patterns and pictures drawn directly on the ground and developing a thought process about the layout of the space. Through this workshop we hope the children will discover an overarching creative process – and be involved in each of its stages. We encourage the children to release their creativity by varying the techniques used, from sketching to model-making to life-size chalk tracing on the school playground. We discuss ideas with them and adapt the final drawing to reflect their feedback.

Geometric forms and board games are interspersed throughout a network of lines and ripples that extend across the forecourt and up the walls. The whole project comes together, with places for parents to relax and children to play.

Text.- Cabanon Vertical.