A New Sculpture Celebrates Bosjes’ Landscape And Natural Heritage

WORDS Steve Smith ARCHITECTS Meyer & Associates Architects & Urban Designers COLLABORATORS Roark Robinson PHOTOS Paris Brummer

A new artwork by Lorenzo Nassimbeni pays homage to the meeting of nature and architecture and tells the story of the spatial essence of the celebrated Bosjes farm in the Breedekloof valley.

If you’re a regular VISI reader you’ll know all about Bosjes – we’ve featured the architecture and interior design of the estate, manor house, chapel, and spa in both our magazine and on our website.

Commissioned by Bosjes, Lorenzo’s work celebrates the passage of time, referring directly to the mountain landscape, the architectural language of the existing Herehuis (Manor House) and the plant landscape of the farm. Faceted concrete forms are arranged to create a mountain scape which embraces an architectural form, the Herehuis. The semi-circular elements complete the landscape, referring to both the werf walls that once enclosed the farm, as well as the plant landscape of Bosjes.

We chatted to the artist about the project and where he drew his inspiration…

How did the project come about?

The architect of the overall project at Bosjes (Meyer & Associates Architects and Urban Designers) is familiar with my portfolio of work and approached me directly about the project. The site in question had been identified as one which required a feature artwork. The architect thought that a project I had done in Pretoria some time ago was a good example of the sort of artistic/architectural language that would work well for the site, considering the context of the natural landscape and architecture. In all, the artwork does indeed have synergy with the landscape and architecture. 

Did you choose the wall as the site for the piece – or was that specifically part of the brief?

The wall was selected as the site for the artwork prior to me being commissioned for the project. It was part of the brief. I took into account the fact that the wall is a backdrop to the swimming pool in the space, and thus is a key feature in the space. The landscape behind the wall was an important informant in the design. The view of the landscape behind the wall was thus part of the “canvas” for the artwork.

Talk us through your creative process for this piece.

I started by understanding that the key spatial relationship within the site is the one between built and natural form. The architecture produced by Meyer & Associates Architects and Urban Designers is of a language which I understand and admire greatly. My familiarity with and appreciation of the Cape natural landscape (mountains, vegetation and water bodies) is something that guides my creative process. Therefore, it was a relatively intuitive process for me to understand the specific relationship of the architecture and the natural landscape. The architecture in itself had been designed with a wonderful sensitivity to the natural landscape as its context, allowing me to work with freedom and accuracy.

Through an experience of physical immersion, I studied the mountains, plants and architectural features of the site. I formed a ‘portrait’ of the landscape in response to that. The layers of mountains and plants (trees and bushes) make a space between them to embrace the architecture. The artwork does this too.

Between the mountain and the bosjes (bushes) of the site, lies the beautiful Manor House. The artwork nestles itself at the heart of this space, as a jewel which is cherished, and an emblem of the power of the Bosjes landscape.

And why concrete (and some brass) as your choice of material?

The concrete material offered much potential to create a piece which was faceted and geometrically orthogonal. As I wanted to reflect the folds and robust texture of the surrounding mountains, concrete was an appropriate selection. Concrete can be poured into a mould of almost any design. It is initially in the form of a liquid gel before it sets, and follows the form of a mould exactly-much like water takes the form of the container into which it is poured. I could therefore create a form of any type I wished, and was able to create ‘rock-like’ shapes. 

The grey colour of the concrete recalls the colours of the mountains, and the imperfect, organic finish of the material speaks to the ‘natural’ finish that the mountains inherently have. 

I noted that the moments of delight in the detailing of the Manor House are quite often adorned with brass. Door handles for example, speak of the specialness of the space, and create an opportunity for tactile human connection. As the ‘jewel’ of the site, I paid homage to the Manor House by cladding the gable-like concrete shape within the sculpture with a sheet of brass.

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