The national cultural event, Imaginez Maintenant, features work of young multidisciplinary designers (all under the age of 30) in nine French cities. Finding inspiration in Gilles Clément’s description of “wandering plants phenomenon,” Nicolas Dorval-Bory and Raphaël Bétillon’s selected project creates an experimental journey, inviting visitors to explore an unlikely landscape. Open from July 1st through the 4th, the project consists of an artificial cloud, a long greenhouse and thousand of seedlings which will rest on the banks of the Garonne, next to the Hospital of La Grave.
More about the installation after the break.
The journey through this new landscape begins at the greenhouse, a 50m long space which includes a sampling of seedlings from the 5 continents ” as a reference to the wandering plants and to the curing function of the hospital.”
In this bright tunnel, visitors choose one of the 2000 plants to take with them on their journey. With seeds in hand, visitors penetrate a thick cloud formed from a dense mist from the spraying of the Garonne river through 1000 nozzles (installed by French company Dutrie, one the offices who carried out DS + R’s Blur Building). The cloud provides an eerie, distorting surrounding that will change colors in the night as it blankets the river.
The 100 m long cloud experience allows the visitor to become a part of an abstract, disconcerting humid environment and upon reaching the end, a luscious garden beckons the visitior to plant his selected seedling.
The installation deals with ideas such as invisible landscapes and climatic distortion, combining them into a sensory experience that will surely captivate visitors.
Project name: AYSAGES EN EXIL
City, Country: Toulouse, France
Team: Nicolas Dorval-Bory, Raphaël Bétillon, Paula Gonzalez Balcarce
Status of project: Selected project, under construction, opening 1st of july 2010
