Don't tell my horse ! - Lucien Puech Architecture

For the first time, the Festival Architectures Vives ( FAV ) offers an opportunity to make the most of the hushed atmosphere of the Hôtel Sabatier d’Espeyran in Montpellier (south of France). From the 12th to the 16th of June 2013, the Museum of Decorative Arts, part of the famous Museum Fabre, hosted this architecture installation in its small 10 per 3.5 meters courtyard. “Don’t tell my horse” is a scenography made out of straw bales similar to those one can find towed by tractors in the countryside. Based on the festival’s topic “Reminiscence”, the work invites visitors to remember with nostalgia the time of horse carriages and to consider the evolution of cities’ landscape since. This is a wall construction, made up with 50 straw bales tied together by natural jute webbings and wood spacers, alternating full and empty, lightness and weight. People are welcome to write a memory on postcards picturing old Montpellier while comfortably seated on a straw couch, inspired by its odor and a sound record of horses. Once pinned on the wall with a metal string, the postcards are left to be read by next visitors. 3,500 people discovered this construction during the festival and wrote more than 850 messages. The installation creates a surprise by the use of this rustic material, emblematic of the self-construction, in such a delicate setting while also offering a rest in the exhausting city. Lucien Puech, 31 years old architect, received the festival special jury prize granted by Abvent, Archicad software’s editor.