The great summer exhibition “OPEN HOUSE” around all forms of habitat is a great success. Visitors gather to discover pavilions, art pieces, mobile habitats whose common point is the reflection on what it is to be an inhabitant of the world today. It is also an opportunity for many Genevans and tourists to discover the superb Parc Lullin, a few minutesaway from Geneva, with its breathtaking view of Mont Blanc.  From the train or when approaching the road that leads to Genthod through the vineyards, one can see a strange yellow flying saucer that seems to levitate in the middle of the park. It is in fact a mobile habitat imagined by the Finnish architect Maati Suuronen who designed it in the 1960s in order to welcome vacationers looking for new sensations in the ski resorts. At the time, the Futuro made the front page of the New York Times. It was expected to be an unprecedented commercial success, but the oil crisis put a stop to this avant-garde creation. The yellow saucer is one of the 35 constructions that have been installed in the park since June, next to the monumental white sculpture by Lange Baumann or the installation by the Brazilian architect Carla Juacaba inspired by the habitats of the Amazonian forest people, blending into the lush nature. Don‘t miss some of the exceptional artworks on the perimeter of the Villa du Saugy. The fenced garden of the patrician residence indeed conceals some artistic treasures, like the installation by Zurich-based Kerim Seiler. Artist Andreas Kressig‘s half-spatial, half-naval vessel should appeal to children as much as to fans of retro-futuristic science fiction. The Geneva-based artist has created a large interior space where one can discover a whole series of installations and functional objects, a cockpit, a Zen garden. A little further on in the park, another piece catches the eye of the visitor as its presence seems so incongruous. With its 13-meter high tower, the Drop Hammer House of Atelier Van Lieshout seems to come straight out of the dock where this Dutch office is located. Underneath its very brutalist exterior, we discover an interior that furiously resembles a Barbapapa house, those funny characters who shaped their houses according to their desires and needs. The artistic pieces that punctuate the exhibition and the walk, especially in the wood, bring a sense of poetry. In the foliage, one can see the cloud of the Valaisan artist Joëlle Allet or by looking up, the chairs of John Armleder in the trees. The presence of temporary dwellings from governmental or non-governmental organizations for migrant populations or those in need also questions our relationship to space and intimacy. The visit ends at the Bains du Saugy, one of the most charming beaches on the shores of Lake Geneva, where the construction of the EPFL students who imagined an original access to the lake, as well as a raft, or that of HEAD students who imagined an open-air art center where they organize exhibitions throughout the summer, still await you. A bar and a terrace with an incomparable view allow visitors to take a deserved break after the artistic walk. There‘s never a dull moment when visiting this great summer exhibition. 35 pavilions and works of art make the walk in the Parc Lullin an enchantment for reverie and reflection. Not to mention that some rooms are lit up at night and that guided tours are organized at night, once a week and on the evenings of the full moon, in addition to the weekend tours.

at Parc Lullin, Genthod
until August 28, 2022

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