08 Sep 2015 20:13 (London Time)

SHELTER - participative installation out of corrugated board

At the MakeCity festival in Berlin, the first festival for architecture and urban alternatives, DS Smith sponsored over 4.000 corrugated boxes for the innovative construction project SHELTER. Ramona Poenaru and Gaël Chaillat, both artists from Des châteaux en l’air, built a shelter in the Mall of Berlin in collaboration with pedestrians passing by. After the erection the shelter was teared down together. The event had been organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute Berlin.

In his book - "Walden: Or, Life in the Woods" (1854), Henry David Thoreau observes that building a shelter is a basic activity common to all animals and a fundamental human survival-related skill since the dawn of time. In a society which splits work into multiple specialized skills, this key activity is left to a select few. However, in the course of evolution, humans have forgotten this fact.

SHELTER, the participative installation by Des châteaux en l'air is aimed at challenging pedestrians passing by to renew this knowledge. The building material, over 4.000 corrugated boxes, was provided by DS Smith.

The huge and stable construction was built in 4 days during the MakeCity festival in Berlin. Especially fascinating was, that all corrugated boxes were only stuck together, without using any devices such as a tacker or adhesive tape. On the 5^th day the construction, which was built in laborious detail, was pulled down again, with the participation of the general public. The project was a great success for both artists, Ramona Poenaru (Romania) and Gaël Chaillat (France) from Des châteaux en l’air.

In the past DS Smith has already supported projects of the artists in Romania and France. “The project shows in an impressive manner how multifaceted and creative the material corrugated board can be used,“ says Michael Lamprecht, Sales & Marketing Director within DS Smith, Region Germany & Switzerland.

More information about the project is provided on the website of the artists: deschateauxenlair.jimdo.com/shelter/

With the help of pedestrians passing by, the artists from Des châteaux en l’air built up SHELTER, the participative installation made out of corrugated board, in the Mall of Berlin. DS Smith sponsored therefore over 4,000 boxes, made out of corrugated board.

SHELTER, the installation made out of corrugated board, impressed by its organic structure. The corrugated board, which was sponsored by DS Smith, was processed without using any devices such as a tacker or adhesive tape.

The two artists, Ramona Poenaru and Gaël Chaillat, from Des châteaux en l’air, built up a SHELTER together with pedestrians passing by.