EarthPulse: Day 1

Choosing the installation place

Morning

Waking up, and on the way to the must-visit bakery (boulangerie), which opens up at 7:00 AM, filling the streets with magical scents. Although it is a small town, with only 1,600 residents, there are 5 bakeries! Well, I suppose it is essential in this place. on Wednesday, we found out that the closest bakery near us is closed, giving us a reason to tour around this small medieval town, that had just woken up to a brand new day. It wasn't too hard to find another bakery, where we bought fresh bread and a selection of the local and excellent pastries.

FEDEX or Are the packages arrive?
Wednesday morning, the day the delivery was supposed to arrive. I needed to make a phone call in order to assure that the packages are on their way.

We hang a sigh that said: "Knafo Klimor Architects" on the main entrance gate, and just like that our local office was formed in this lovely town in France. In a small place like this, the neighbors are highly attentive to every minor change occurring around them. Funny story actually - the next day, one of the neighbors asked me if we had opened a new office in town. It is a known fact that the French love their vacations - they enjoy a lot of free days throughout the year, and take a very long lunch break everyday - roughly 2 hours. Perhaps we should consider embracing their work ethics, taking our time in the morning, going out and buying fresh baked goods, what a great way to start the day!

I am supposed to meet Gilles, the technical advisor, on our way to choose the specific location for the installation. Meanwhile, Michael stayed behind and waited for the FEDEX track to arrive, along with the materials needed for the installation.

Choosing the site for the installation

The general information that I was given was highly elaborate, but it was important for me to visit the site and see it for myself, so I can adjust my installation to fit the topography. Originally, I had planned to visit the site during a previous trip to France last March. I discussed it with Magalie, but the day before my arrival I was informed of the horrible weather, the storms and the snow that was pilling up in the area.

so this was my first visit to the site. During this month, Israel already suffered a few heat waves and high temperatures, but here it's raining constantly. Luckily, during my first week there, we had no rain interrupting us building the installation. The location of the installation is crucial, and we had an important decision to make.

The lovely Gilles helps me, instead of the famous Serge (the technical advisor of the event) which is in the middle of his Vacances, just a week before the grand opening! Gilles comes with a pick-up truck, dressed with a navy colored overall. He doesn't speak English, but is very pleasant. We drive to the middle of nowhere, or so it seems. It is a green fertile land, the home of numerous cows who walk around freely, while some are sitting in place, probably busy ruminating. Although it was a beautiful place, I wasn't content with it, and we kept on driving, searching for the ideal location.

Unfortunately, things get worse because this "nowhere" has become inaccessible for vehicles and off-track. we continued walking among those cheerful cows, until we reached the volcanic lake called "Lac Pavin", a touristic must-see, the most visited place in this area and the...

Information about Lac Pavin

Lac Pavin

I found a loophole while walking on the hiking track surrounding the lake. I had decided this was the place I want to set up my installation. Gilles was panicked, and he called Magalie, the head of the project, with whom I was in dialogue though this period. Magalie asked us to wait for 20 minutes, until she could get there. She was a bit worried and explained that we cannot use this place since it is מוגן. So there we were, back to where we started, but now, I did felt I was well familiar with this environment. On my first tour with Gilles I have discovered a small lake, nearby the hiking track. At this point, I need to make quick decisions. No time to over think. The potential was very clear to me. I insist that the work should be on this location, since it has many advantages.

זיהיתי את הפוטנציאל שהציר הראשי של המיצב ימוקם לכיוון מערב, אל עבר הלוע של הר הגעש Puy de MONTCHAL מעל Lac Pavin. התמונה הנגלית כאן היא של לוע ההר והשתקפותו באגם.

View of Lac Estivadoux and Puy de MONTCHAL

South view - Lac Estivadoux

Lac Estivadoux

לצד צפון שדות המרעה של חברותי הפרות.

המקום הוא על מפגש דרכי מטיילים

השיפוע נראה שעומד בדרישות

הנגישות מהכביש סבירה ונראה שניתן להגיע עם הרכב עד המיצב בתהליך ההקמה (על סברה זו נשלם בהמשך ההקמה...)

Lac Estivadoux altitude 1250 m

Lac Estivadoux,spider web

Although I am content with the location, magalie still has to check whether it is possible to set up the installation there, because it is a preservation, and we need to get official confirmation. The excavation is set for the next morning, and only then she can tell me whether it is possible to dig in the site. You have to be optimistic throughout this process, always keep your fingers crossed and hope everything will turned out all right.

Meanwhile, good news - the fedex truck has arrived! Now, all that's left is to start setting up my installation.

Knafo Klimor Architects new office in Besse

The Steel constructions

Wednesday - 06.05.13 PM

Our morning begins with a trip to the big city - Clermont-Ferrand, where we pick up the steel from the laser cut manufacturer . It's an hour long drive, that goes though the mountains in curvy roads, crossing small town along the way and enjoys great views. This is only part of the road leading to Clermont-Ferrand, while the other is a highway. Clermont-Ferrand is located in the heart of Auvergne region, and inhabits 140,000 resident. The well known Michelin manufacture is in Clermont-Ferrand. The city used to be very industrial, yet once the manufacture was relocated to China, the local industry suffered these consequences. The professional term is "shrinking Cities", and it refers to cities in a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity. These cities are experiencing severe population loss.

Prior my departure, I have located 4 different factories that can supply laser cutting services, though the French yellow pages which were very efficient. I managed to contact them through their websites and via Email. I had to be patient - it took them more than a week to reply, since they were, once again, on Vacances. I received 3 price offers, and the difference between them reached 250%. Anyway, the "winning" manufacture was Aumelec.

We arrived to the factory and have spoken to a nice woman named Nicole Dugout, which gave us a warm welcome, with a big smile and much care. She felt very engage in the process. After we Loaded the car with the heavy metal and we looked for a place to buy a red paint for it Nicole suggested to go to a department store named " Leroy Merlin ". We had difficulties getting there since the GPS didn't work properly. Nicole asked one of her employee to drive us there. It was a thoughtful gesture, more than we could have expected.

We got to what seems like a commercial center, where we found the "Leroy Merlin" store, which is a part of a national chain of stores. It is like a pharmacy for building supplies, both for amateurs and professional.