Villa Parmentier, Florence Doléac and David de Tscharner, 2011-2016

painted wood, 292 x 260 x 260 cm / Produced for the exhibition Châteaux secrets during the Dieppe DIEP Festival, adaptation co-produced by the Domaine départemental de Chamarande and Piacé le radieux, Bézard - Le Corbusier. http://www.doleac.net/index.php?/projects/chateaux-secrets/

Villa Parmentier is a work in the form of a microarchitecture created by designers Florence Doléac and David de Tscharner for the 2011 "Châteaux secrets" artists' camp at Arques-la-Bataille. The curators of the exhibition asked the artists to design minimal living spaces based on the model of the cabanon that Le Corbusier built in Roquebrune-Cap Martin in 1949. This minimal house measuring 3.66m by 3.66m was Le Corbusier's last residence; he called it his 'secret castle'. So they had to think about a rational and economical form of housing built on a collective site.
In the same way as Le Corbusier, who reflected on the development of leisure architecture and the environment, the economic and the functional (how to build with cheap materials without disfiguring the Cote d'Azur coastline?), Doléac and Tscharner proposed a minimal and functional architecture. Designed as a wooden replica of a Canadian tent, their hut is completely open thanks to a system of awnings and windows. Inside, fold-out supports can be used as a table and benches for a family picnic when the awnings are open, or as a sleeping floor for a lone sleeper or a couple when the awnings are closed.
In a bid to rationalise the space, the Canadian roof perfectly tops the picnic table; the absence of any gap between the top and the walls creates an enclosed, reassuring space designed to provide shelter for hikers. The enormous potato that crowns one of the gables of the hut is a direct reference to the writings of Le Corbusier, who advised in 1955 in Architecture of happiness, camping is a keyWhen the weather turns stormy, move your tent away from trees, but don't put it in an isolated spot. If you have a Canadian tent, stick potatoes on the outer iron poles to prevent them attracting lightning."

A piece that is both functional architecture and a beautiful, useless object, Villa Parmentier is part of Florence Doléac's design work, with its absurdity and humour. The gradation of colour highlights the horizontality of the structural boards and makes the building stand out against its green backdrop. Doléac and Tscharner imagined creating an entire campsite with their Villa Parmentier The idea was to plant aromatic plants at the foot of the Canadian houses, using different shades of colour. With the photovoltaic 'fireflies' planted in the potato that light up as evening falls, this gradation from mauve to sky blue evokes the horizon and invites laziness and dreams, but also ironically recalls the sometimes invasive garden furniture and decorations.

Text by Roma Lambert