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.
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
18.06–30.09.2020
