Le cours de l’eau

On the occasion of the Geneva Biennial: Sculpture Garden organized by artgenève and the MAMCO (curator of the exhibition: Balthazar Lovay) until 30 September 2020, students in 2nd year Bachelor Industrial Design from ECAL present a Bisse project in the Parc des Eaux-Vives (plan). 

No doubt you have already walked, or dreamt of walking, along a Bisse in Canton Valais. A Bisse is a historical irrigation channel, many of which run through the idyllic Alpine landscape. Perhaps it was this romantic notion that inspired the National Exhibition of 1896 to recreate  and display a “Mazot”, a typical wooden Alpine hut, albeit conveying a rather stereotypical  idea of Switzerland. This larch wood hut, which could be considered as a forerunner of the circular economy, has been given a new lease of life for passersby to admire in the Eaux-Vives park. Is it a decorative object? Is it nostalgic? Or maybe folklore? The 2nd year Bachelor Indus-trial Design students at ECAL/University of  Art and Design Lausanne, under the supervision of programme director Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard and their professor Adrien Rovero, have chosen to recreate the architecture of a traditional Bisse. This construction is also made of larch wood and includes several surprising  features, starting with a viewing platform, a map of Lake Geneva, a water mirror and a simple bench to sit and contemplate a basic element: the flow of water. This project brings us closer  to nature and makes sense in today’s world where traditional values and local sourcing are being revived.

Students: Gwenaëlle Auvry, Clara Bertière, Théo Blanchard, Thomas Blaser, Lucie De Martin, Elie Eliez, Marine Fondin, Souhaïb Ghanmi, Mariko Ito, Stéfanie Kay, Marina Kottler, Julien Lindt, Manon Novelli, Margot Paquette-Greenbaum, Eugénie Perrin, Julie Racaud, Jillian Reichlin, Luca Scalea, Alan Schopfer, Noémie Soriano, Celestin Tanari, Xiangnan Wu

Acknowledgements:
ECAL Model Workshop: Sandro Bolzoni, Jonathan Bloch, Fabio Della Casa, Bastien Favre, Pascal Ospelt

Assistants: Amandine Gini, Benoît Chastenet de Gery, Victor Jacquard

Landscaper: Gaétan Genetti

Parc des Eaux-Vives
1207 Genève
www.sculpturegarden.ch