Architecture:ELSE Project: Trace of Land Geo: Dolomites, IT
Architectural installations set in natural environments can evoke various emotions, but they will certainly not leave you indifferent. Whether it’s a large-scale festival like Burning Man or MAFs in Nikola-Lenivets Park, all of this is a recitation of bright manifestos. The effect is amplified by the fact that the environment itself does not anticipate the emergence of such objects.
Trace of Land looks almost like an AI-generated image. This is a temporary installation for the SMACH biennale in the Dolomites. On alpine meadows, the authors unfolded the image of a flat roll of hay into a long, winding canopy that mimics the slope’s relief. At the same time, several iterations of interpolation seem to have been deliberately removed from the form to emphasize the artificiality of the surface. This works excellently in conjunction with the vast panorama of the Alps in the background.
In the context of "Trace of Land," there is another interesting detail. The leaders of the ELSE studio — Zhifei Xu and Zimo Zhang — are an international team with Chinese roots; one architect is from the USA, and the other is from France, creating a native project in the foothills of the Alps on the Italian side. Truly, the world of architecture knows no borders.
PS. My personal ranking of contemporary art installations in Moscow is currently topped by abandoned scooters in Bitsevsky Forest — flashing red lights from the thicket. For horror lovers — I recommend it 🙂