Les Astronautes fills Quebec passageway
with swimming pool toys

Canadian design collective Les Astronautes has lined a disused alley in Quebec with hundreds of protruding pool noodles.

Laval University School of Architecture graduates Gabrielle Blais-Dufour, Robin Dupuis and Alexandre Hamlyn from Les Astronautes won a competition to create an installation in a narrow space between two streets.

“The intervention takes advantage of the anonymity and the narrowness of the site,” the trio said. “The contrast with the historical surroundings attracts people to discover this forgotten space in the city.”

They lined the length of the passage between two buildings with wooden panels that reach well above head height.

Hundreds of pink and orange tube-shaped pool noodles, normally used for staying afloat in the swimming pool, are slotted through holes in the pink-painted panels so they droop into the alley.

“The piece creates a total environment that throws passers-by into a completely different world,” said the designers.

Visitors walking between the colourful walls can touch and hide amongst the foam tubes, which were positioned in patterns across the surfaces using software including Grasshopper and Rhino.

“The large number of pool noodles generates a colourful atmosphere reminiscent of summer that also has something uncanny, organic and lifelike, almost like vines in a jungle,” the designers said.

The title Delirious Frites is taken from the French term for the pool toys: “frites de piscine”, which translates as “pool chips”.

Lighting on both walls illuminates the piece so the alleyway can still be used at night.

The installation was built for a public art festival called Les Passages Insolites, curated by local organisation Exmuro.

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