Ephemeral Figures
Year: 2020
Team: Sara Segura
Ephemeral Figures is a proposal for two “tree house”
modules designed to serve as guest accommodations at three idyllic and historic
locations across the French countryside. These locations have varying landscape qualities ranging from open fields to dense forestry. Through its
representation, the project captures the ephemeral
histories of the three sites, the grounds of historic ruins where French nobility and stereotomic culture once prevailed, upon which many battles were fought
as armies marched toward Paris, and from which
mastodon fossils have been abundantly unearthed.
Both modules use mirror-clad enclosures to camouflage their presence, embody their surroundings, and play
with reflections as a metaphor for the sites’ ephemeral
histories. By blending into their environments, these
illusory modules maintain the ruins as the scene’s true
visual protagonists. Up close, however, the modules
offer their visitors an enchanting and playful manner
for engaging with the structures.