Swiss architecture firm Bureau A recreated the iconic Stonehenge with shipping containers for the first edition of the biennale for independent art spaces in Geneva, BIG. Using 50 containers, the firm was commissioned to create an open air venue that would function as a space for attendees to congregate.
“We like to work with references, displacement or even direct quotes,” Bureau A’s Leopold Banchini said in an interview with Dezeen. “In this case, the ruins of Stonehenge and the pagan rituals that it evokes seemed like an interesting landscape relating to the disappearing alternative and squat culture in Geneva.”
Shipping containers were placed in a circular shape to signify the outer monoliths, and were stacked vertically to mimic those of the prehistoric stone sculpture. All 50 containers were placed in one day, and concrete blocks were added for weight and stability. “With a restricted budget, we had to go for a fast and easily reusable material: the container,” Banchini said.
“Containers are a symbol at the new globalised economy; it was also interesting to replace the stones of the original monument by these steel box,” said Banchini.
Gallery participants in the biennale, which was held in June 2015, were then given the opportunity to customize the interior of each of the containers.
Source and Photos: Dezeen
