Dezeen Magazine

Diébédo Francis Kéré's colourful towers among installations and artworks at Coachella 2019

With Coachella music festival kicking off last weekend, Dezeen has picked out five of the bright and wonderful installations filling the Californian desert site.


Sarbalé ke by Francis Kéré

Sarbalé ke by Diébédo Francis Kéré

Colourful triangles form screens around these 12 towers that Diéédo Francis Kéré has installed on Coachella's site in Indio, California.

The Berlin-based architect drew on the baobab tree in his native West African village of Gando, Burkina Faso, to design the structures as a place of shade and hub for festival goers.

"In my culture, the baobab is the most important tree," said Kéré in a project description. "It's the place where you get together, celebrate, and discuss," he added. "It also attracts animals. It is spiritual. Naturally you will walk toward it."


HIPO by Dedo Vabo

HIPO by Dedo Vabo

Artist duo Dedo Vabo has imagined a group of hippos has built this topsy-turvy rocket to make it to outer space. Called Hazardus Interstellar Perfessional Operations, or HIPO for short, the installation also comprises a laboratory and mission control center where the hippopotamus are envisioned working away.

"The hippos' lack of intergalactic experience never dampens their determination to construct and launch a rocket and claim the dominant position in the interspecies space race," said the studio in a project description.


Colossal Cacti by Office Kovacs

Colossal Cacti by Office Kovacs

Los Angeles studio Office Kovacs' Colossal Cacti fills a barren parcel in the valley with colourful, blocky structures modelled on cacti.

Staggered platforms form seating, while angular arms extend overhead to offer shade from the sun. Road reflectors pepper the surfaces like the spikes of a cactus and illuminate the sculptures at night.


Overview Effect by Poetic Kinetics

Overview Effect by Poetic Kinetics

This 70-foot-tall (21-metre-tall) astronaut has made a return to the festival grounds this year, following an appearance at Coachella 2014. Los Angeles studio Poetic Kinetics made its suit worn and dirty to suggest there has been quite a journey.

"All over its body there is evidence, or clues, of the fantastical story of where it went," said studio founder Patrick Shearn in a project statement.

The astronaut often assumes a crouching position but can be animated to make other lifelike gestures. Its helmet can also project the names and faces of partygoers.


Mismo by Sofia Enriquez

Mismo by Sofia Enriquez

Local painter Sofia Enriquez drew on ornamental paisley to build these wooden structures.

Each top is painted in bright colours to contrast the muted desert hues, and they are also detailed differently, with some including fiery edges and floral patterns. Steps around the central paisley are also covered in different murals.

Photography is by Lance Gerber, courtesy of Coachella.