L’enfance du pli Installation

Is it a playground or a work of art? You’re standing before L’enfance du pli Installation, and the line is delightfully blurry. This unique sculpture-landscape, the brainchild of artist Gilles Brusset, sprawls across this space in Meyrin, a testament to the playful spirit of art and the powerful forces of nature. The name, L’enfance du pli, translates to “Fold’s childhood,” and as you look closer, you’ll understand why. The undulating forms, crafted from asphalt and aluminum, echo the dramatic folds of the Jura Mountains, visible in the distance. It’s a miniature mountain range, perfect for climbing and exploring. But L’enfance du pli Installation is more than just a playground. It’s a bold response to the rigid lines of modernist architecture that dominate the surrounding Meyrin-Parc neighborhood. Brusset, also a landscape architect, wanted to inject a sense of the organic, the natural, into this urban landscape. He achieved this by using the very materials of the city – asphalt, typically associated with roads and parking lots – to create a space of play and imagination. As you wander through the folds, notice how the light shifts and changes, casting dramatic shadows. Look out towards the real Jura Mountains and imagine the immense geological forces that shaped both them and this playful echo. L’enfance du pli Installation is a place where art, nature, and childhood all intersect, a reminder that even in the most urban of environments, the spirit of play and the wonders of the natural world can be found.