This years theme for the "Festival des Architectures Vives", taking place each and every year since 10 years in Montpellier, and La Grande-Motte in the south of France was "La Dixième". Litteraly "The Tenth". The Origamic proposal was selected for the La Grande-Motte exhibition together with 7 other designs, from more than 100 applications to the initial competition.
The theme of the digit is introducing new horizons together with the need to witness of a passage between the past, the present moment, and the future. The shape of “Origamic” is driving us back to our childhood bringing back the image of a paper boat left alone on a dyke in a timeless dimension.
“Origamic” claims to be a sensory experience leading to fantasy and collective unconscious. This time frame takes place beside the frenzy we are inescapably subject to opening the door the finesse and the ease of practicing the place. The experience is initiated at the turn of a sail, through a play of hoops succeeding giving a wink the the previous editions of the FAV. From 1 to 10, each step has something to say about what has been, and what is to expect for the future.
The purpose of this playful journey is a tenth “step” dematerialized within a privileged crack between the stiffness of earth and the fluidity of the sea in harmony with the place, and offering a proofreading of a Mediterranean Sea making a scene.
The sail itself is materialized by a microperforated skin (the same material used to cover the scaffoldings) which was the most economic way to deal with the transparency wanted and appeared to be a noble material. The lights from the wood structure, touching this skin are making a scene on every hour of the day. The white treatment of the wood was chosen in harmony with the buildings around, to affirm even more the purity of the design.
A special thanks is given to some great people involved, whithout whom this project would have never seen the light of day. Elodie Nourrigat and Jacques Brion (Festival's organizers), Alexandre Kuseni (Designer), Eric Nedzvedsky (Carpenter), and Architecture students from ENSAM which helped with the construction.