Les Chaumes

By their presence in the middle of the forest, objects with a totemic appearance intrigue. Upon closer inspection, one discovers a work of matter and volume. Three thatched figures seem to be waiting to be visited. You climb up, stick your head out. You transform into a giant, wearing the work like a garment.

Les Chaumes is an installation rooted in various fundamental references. Its triptych stance in the middle of the forest showcases three volumes. Arranged like totems with organic shapes, they evoke creatures or spirits in a gathering. The whole forms a dreamlike place. A unique presence is felt. Their hairy and bulging appearance evokes animals, while the forms created by the thatch borrow their language from vernacular architecture or agriculture and its haystacks. This subtle blend of animal fur and human activity plays with the boundaries between wild life and civilization. It evokes a broader idea of clothing, the skin, the protective coat for winter, the ceremonial costume to be looked at.

“We wanted to play with the dreamlike world of the forest, evoke a wild aspect, and create an imaginative scene as in a Miyazaki film, while incorporating our passion for architecture, natural materials, and reuse.” [Atelier YokYok]

Curious visitors are invited to take part in the work and experience it from the inside. One steps into the fabric to gain height and poke their head out at the top. They then experience the protective envelope. They transform. They camouflage to rediscover their inner child in a monumental garment.

YokYok wanted to work with a local material available in the Rouen region: thatch. Thatch refers to the hollow stems of grasses (cereals or reeds), and by extension, the traditional roofing technique using this 100% vegetal and natural material.

To obtain reeds (the primary material for Norman thatch), YokYok practiced reuse by recovering it from a thatch roof removal site. The thatch used here is about 30 years old, and no reeds were cut specifically for this project.

Reuse which is starting to develop in Europe is still nonexistent for some fragile materials like thatch. By highlighting such a resource, the work Les Chaumes contributes to valuing waste by extending the life of an already economical, noble, natural, and biodegradable material.

The fragile and ephemeral work, like a hut, respectfully integrates into a natural and forested environment. It is expected to last for two years for the Forêt Monumentale event. YokYok and Rouen Metropole invite everyone to come and experience it without damaging it.

The wooden structure was made from boards assembled and cut into curved profiles in a workshop in Eure (a neighboring department). It is painted with flour paint (or Swedish paint), made in the workshop from natural products (flour, linseed oil, black soap, iron sulfate, and natural pigments), providing effective outdoor protection for the wood against moisture, insects, and fungi.

The secondary structure is made of split bamboo fixed around the wooden structure with sisal twine. Finally, the reused thatch was recovered in bundles of reeds with the help of a thatcher. The reed stems were trimmed and then placed from bottom to top allowing for waterproofing.