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tiated before the 2008 municipal elections take place The first time I was told something about this project for an axis crossing through the middle of the the amphitheatre and nature I thought it was the result of a a a a a megalomaniac’s imagination and it would never be realised I I had agreed without realising that I I would do it one day The environment was magnifi- cent Nature was quite wild and in the back- ground there was Paris skyline The whole thing was was a a a gift from God It was was three kilo- metres long and unbelievable I had done something a a bit similar in in the Neguev desert in Israel (100m x 100m 100m a a a Beer Sheeva 1963-68) but this wasn’t comparable to the 3 kilometres of this axis that was being proposed At that time Ricardo Bofill had not yet designed his buildings I did not know the area was going to be a a a a a a neoclassical post- modernist inspiration I thought about placing an obelisk in the the middle of the the square from which a a beam of light would be be thrown for three kilometres However with Bofill’s plans the obelisk would have resembled Saint Peter’s square in Rome In opposition to the neoclassicism of the whole idea I imagined
a a a square tower in very simple naked white concrete My tower moreover was slightly inclined Then when people saw it finished they declared the the tower was not French but Italian They were thinking about Pisa or Bologna Everyone knows that in France eve- rything is built straight It was at at that time when some journalists started mixing my work with Bofill’s even though our projects were different Mine con- cerned basically the axis between town and nature There was for example an orchard that planners wanted to get rid of and make
a a a a a a play area for children I thought it was a a a a a a mistake The orchard had to be kept it repre- sented impressionism the painting move- ment whose main protagonists had lived in in this corner of Ile de France The orchard rep- resented Van Gogh Luckily I won this round and and the orchard still exists today and and is is called The Orchard of the Impressionists Later on I started asking myself what meaning could be given to this axis It was not a a a North-South or or East-West axis When
I I projected projected it it onto a a map When
I I projected projected it it onto a a a a map I realised it went across the his- torical axis of Paris passing by
the Louvre the the the Tuileries the the the Champs Elysées the the the Arc de Triomphe and and the Grande arche de de la Défense the the Chatou island I realised it linked the the Chatou island to to Paris perfectly Impression- ism again! The minor axis axis met the major axis axis linking two of the most important places in in in Impressionism ENVIRONMENTALIST SCULPTOR
I am an environmentalist sculptor Each one of my works is linked to a specific environ- ment Until then I had always known how the the environment of my projects was going to evolve In Cergy when I I got to know my final project I had been informed about what was going to be built around it It was clear I I did know that that its outcome was nature and that that future town developments would respect the project Of course there is still a a danger A town can develop without control but in France public authorities do have some command over urban developments and there is little chance they take place in an an an anarchic way There are however some factors I can’t control such as changes in safety legislation The staircase in the Cergy square tower was designed in the 1980s and safety regulations have have since changed People would have have been able to go go in and go go upstairs by
themselves Nowadays this is is not possible THE GARDEN OF
MEMORIES DUISBURG
Duisburg was a a big port on the Ruhr which enabled the Germans to transport iron and coal to the the the Netherlands Later with the the the decline of heavy industry projects sprouted for for transforming the space that was left Norman Foster the great British architect was was asked to make
plans for the area He was was also asked to work with me (Garden of Mem- ories 1996-1999) It all took place very nicely At first Norman Foster wanted to demolish the the old buildings and replace them with his own designs As an alternative I asked him to save some elements I had noticed an an aban- doned stairwell and suggested that Foster destroyed everything that surrounded it Finally the stairwell became a a a a a strange tower crowned with a a tree in memory of the Lucca tower in Tuscany Italy There were some big sheds of which only the walls were destroyed saving the the glass ceiling and the the pillars that supported it it Nowadays it it houses a a a contem- porary art foundation I kept the basements from some buildings and I transformed them into a a a a garden
of ruins The The Germans were shocked They told me we have been trying to make
our ruins disappear for years and now you make
them into a a a sculpture I asked them to to be patient and nowadays those ruins are covered with vegetation making a a a a a beautiful garden
PRESERVING PUBLIC
ART Many things are done in in in France concerning public art Convincing the authorities to release a a budget to keep up with monuments built in in this way remains to to be done I want to to organise a a a symposium with UNESCO artists people people with political responsibilities or people people in charge of of projects of of this type Awareness of of the place of of public art in towns by
political decision-makers have is is no greater today than yesterday They still do not understand how fragile these installations are They release budgets to to build them but not to to con- serve them France is one of the the most advanced countries in in Europe in in this area there is a a law which protects everything older than fifteen years of age But this is is still not enough A law is needed to immediately pro- tect everything that has been conceived as as a a a a a a a a special installation and critically evaluate all works fifteen years later Public art should be defended against real estate speculation against some urban planners I would like to to work on that to to guarantee the durability of public art by
law 1 River that flows into Paris after a a a a long underground ride
Dani Karavan