Architecture
Something new at Coachella
This site-specific installation represents Tresoldi’s prolonged research in the music field. Inspiration was taken from two periods of architecture: Baroque and Neoclassical. Image courtesy of Curbed, photographed by Roberto Conte.
We are again fascinated by Edoardo Tresoldi’s creation… and his vivid imagination. This time, the creative and impressive Italian artist created his biggest artwork to date. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was the lucky recipient this time, lucky are those who attended!
Known for designing and creating wire mesh sculptures, this newest sculpture, “Etherea” is meant to be a “dedicated space where the sky and clouds are narrated through the language of classical architecture.”
Too sad this installation is only temporary! Image courtesy of Curbed, photographed by Roberto Conte.
Tresoldi created three life-size structures made entirely from wire mesh. The campgrounds of Coachella are adorned by three ghostly figures are identical in design, but differ in size. Positioned on an axis, they measure 36, 54 and 72 feet in height. Open to visitors, the experience allows those who enter to experience changing perspectives and dimensions while moving through from one to another.
I am sure one could spend an entire day gazing up at the sky from within Etherea. Image courtesy of My Modern Met, photographed by Roberto Conte.
It seems as though Tresoldi is leading the way and trend for the direction architecture is heading towards. Quoting the artist himself, “Etherea follows a growing experiential path where architecture becomes a tool and place for contemplation, a dedicated space where the sky and clouds are narrated through the language of classical architecture.”
It’s the transparency of the wire mesh which allows this to happen so seamlessly. This undertaking took 5 months of planning and development to complete; and the inspiration was the skies of California!
Image courtesy of My Modern Met, photographed by Roberto Conte.
We couldn’t say it any better than Tresoldi himself, “Etherea is a really majestic work, but its transparency makes it light and evanescent. It is strongly linked to the recreational side of the festival and specifically designed for a continuous interaction with the visitors.
I hope they will enjoy the transitory feeling of the spaces through the change of scale. It creates a dynamic perceptive exchange that is revealed as the memory of the previous architecture gets readjusted to the one in which you are entering.”
Credited with boosting tourism to the Adriatic coast of Italy. Image courtesy of Architect Magazine, photographed by Giacomo Pepe.
Although the idea behind this was vastly different than Etherea at Coachella, in 2016 Tresoldi reconstructed a Basilica of Siponto with his wire mesh. Destroyed almost 1,000 years ago by a powerful earthquake that ravaged the area, Tresoldi used 4,500 square meters of wire mesh (weighting 7 tons) to reconstruct a “ghost” version of the church’s former self.
