Designboom_ On the occasion of Paris+ par Art Basel 2023, Interior architecture and design group Liaigre has invited the Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata to create a spiraling installation on the facade and third floor of its Parisian mansion at 77 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Titled Nest in Liaigre, the artwork reveals reclaimed wooden furniture stacked on top of one another, an assembly done in the spirit of freedom and spontaneity. Kawamata intervenes here suddenly and unexpectedly in the urban space, questioning the built forms of the city and our experience of them. From his childhood on the Japanese island of Hokkaido to his status as an international artist, Tadashi Kawamata has consistently infused a touch of magic into the sites he works on. His in-situ installations establish a dialogue between art and architecture, the outdoors and indoors, the past and the present. Today, he stands as one of the most influential living Japanese artists.

Set specifically on the third floor under the glass roof of the Liaigre workshop, the spiral tower of chairs stacked one on top of the other by Tadashi Kawamata occupies the building’s narrow balustrade space, allowing zenithal light to filter through and catch the materials. The visitor is then invited to explore the different floors of the Liaigre mansion and discover Kawamata’s artistic universe interacting with the interior architecture. At every corner, piles of wooden chairs, tables, and chests of drawers, exuding a range of wooden hues, invade the floors, walls, and doorways, creating cocoon-like atmospheres that invite visitors to take a moment to pause, exchange ideas, and perceive every space differently. Complementing the central installation are small, abstracted nest figures populating the building’s stairwell. The exhibition, part of Paris+ par Art Basel 2023, is running between October 10, 2023 and March 25, 2024.