Theo de Meyer uses "utilitarian aesthetics" for Palm Springs festival design
Belgian architect Theo de Meyer and production firm Public Art Company have created installations at the Desert Air Music Festival in Palm Springs, California, that reference industrial forms and modernist architecture.
De Meyer, who is a member of the Belgian architecture studio Stand van Zaken, sought to recontextualise industrial materials for the sculptures and stage at the festival, which took place at the Palm Springs Air Museum, adjacent to the small desert city's international airport.
It included functioning smokestacks, sculptures with elements representing airplane wings, and a stage using simple materials such as corrugated metal and plywood.
"The materials were sourced locally, focusing on industrial components that are functional, durable, and easily reusable – a hallmark of Theo's practice," Public Art Company founder Raffi Lehrer told Dezeen.
"The stage and its sculptures incorporate elements like corrugated metal, plywood, and truss, blending Palm Springs' mid-century modern textures with the utilitarian aesthetics of an airport."
The elements also included concrete dance platforms edged with safety tape and a light-up sculpture made to resemble the flight boards that showcase
With only a few days to construct and no access to the site beforehand, De Meyer, Lehrer and the team tried to utilise the simple materials to create a sense of time while being efficient under the time crunch. Each piece was set up as an individual zone for participants to cluster around and interact with.
"Building an environment rather than a linear stage allowed for a more dynamic audience interaction," said Lehrer.
The goal was to give the elements a sense of scale while still allowing for crowd movement and simple construction.
De Meyer noted that the legacy of Palm Springs, known for its experimentation in modernist residential architecture, especially the work of Swiss architect Albert Frey, also informed his approach.
The Palm Springs Art Museum recently reconstructed Frey's modular metal house, which had sat in storage for years, on its grounds.
"[Frey's] work wasn't so much about creating a specific aesthetic, but rather about responding to the surroundings with an economy of means," De Meyer told Dezeen.
"Even something as simple as safety tape can become an opportunity for creativity. The goal is to let the materials remain true to their function while transforming them into something new and meaningful – lo-fi and abstract."
De Meyer also commented on the unique conditions of designing temporary installations for a music festival. He said that the constraints allow for experimentation that is not found in other architectural projects.
"The beauty of temporary structures is that there's less fear of failure, which frees up space for creative exploration," he said.
"This openness allows for more flexibility, where the boundaries of what we define as 'good architecture' become more fluid. In this way, a festival's environment becomes just another opportunity to observe human behavior and refine the design, much like architecture does, but with a more direct, experimental approach."
During the festival, which featured acts by musicians such as Kaytranada and Jamie xx, many of the elements were illuminated by coloured ground lighting.
Throughout, the adjacent airport remained functioning, with planes taking off and landing during the performances.
Architects and designers often utilise music festivals as places for experimentation and play. Recent examples of festivals with large-scale architectural installations include Burning Man in Nevada and Rally in London.
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