Intruiging Outdoor Installations

Booster Blog

outdooor installations

Summer has arrived, and with more time spent in the great outdoors, artists and architects have taken it upon themselves to build and create ideas in our environment that engage and inspire passerbys. Here are some of the most intriguing and inspiring installations that can be seen around the globe this year.

Looking up

Looking up is a piece made by Tom Friedman in a bid to inspire the public to look up. In a world where far too little time is spent gazing up at the bigger picture, and far too much time is spent with gazes locked onto little screens in-hand, the majestic nature of Looking Up is hard to ignore. The 33 foot figure is on display in New York throughout the month of June.

Serpentine pavilion by BIG

Bjarke Ingels has once again dissected a concept. This time it’s the wall. On display outside the Serpentine gallery, this ‘unzipped’ wall is made of translucent fibreglass blocks that create a mountainous structure. The installation is full of contrasting elements. From the outside, it’s a mountain-like structure, on the inside it’s a canyon-like hall. From one angle the piece is barely visible, looking lengthways through the blocks, from another angle it expresses dynamic curves and jagged edges. It opened this month and will finish in October, when it can be deconstructed and easily moved to another location.

Wine-dispensing udders

French studios Barreau et Charbonnet and Metalobil have designed a rather unique installation for a vineyard in Pays de la Loire. Five conical vessels hang from in the bays of an abbey, 6 meters tall and cover in pointed pine shingles. Dispensing over 2,000 litres of apple juice and wine, the upside down spires act as a sort of udder, serving beverages to thirsty guests. This intriguing installation will be on site pouring wine until 4 November.

A robotically woven carbon-fibre pavilion

To mark and celebrate the innovative technological tools of today, a robotically woven carbonfibre pavilion has been erected in the courtyard of London’s V&A museum as part of a season of engineering events. The carbon fibre forms an elegant web that covers the courtyard and offers shade. It will stand until 6 November.

Bourrasque

Installed in the courtyard of a hotel in Lyon, Bourrasque is a capturing piece of art. It’s constructed of 200 A3 pieces of electrically conductive material that can be lit up. It resembles paper thrown in a gust of wind, frozen in a moment of time, suspended in mid-air. Designed by Paul Cocksedge, each piece is moulded by hand. 

Such installations and exhibitions continue to express how designers can influence our environment and how we experience it.