For its 2013 edition the art fair Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland, has commissioned the Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata to create an installation for Basel’s Messeplatz. Tadashi Kawamata is known for his site-specific architectural interventions in public space that often take the shape of huts, tree huts, and walkways made out of wood. For Basel’s Messeplatz that since lately is dominated by architects Herzog & de Meuron’s new fair halls, Kawamata created the “Favela Café”, a composition of walkways and 18 crudely constructed huts, arranged around the water well of the square. The public sculpture offered food, coffee, drinks, and seating. The “Favela Café” was realized in collaboration with Swiss architect Christophe Scheidegger. This video provides you with some atmospheric shots of the installation on the last day of the fair.
Tadashi Kawamata: Favela Café / Art Basel 2013. Basel (Switzerland), June 16, 2013.
PS: See also: Tadashi Kawamata: Berliner Baumhäuser (Berlin Tree Huts) / HKW Berlin.
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