Vanité urbaine

Is that strange mound a hut? A pyre? Circling it, you find a door! In this peaceful site conducive to contemplation, Damaris Baumann has built a mausoleum in the middle of the Haras (a former stud farm). It’s a small monument to dead wood, where cut branches slowly decompose, paying tender homage to our cities’ trees.

Trees are charming to look at, calm us, and sometimes console us. Altering the air we breathe, they are essential parts of our stone cities. The City’s gardeners work to maintain their delicate balance. But what happens to their branches after they’ve been trimmed? After collecting wood from the winter trimming, Baumann hand-tied the wood in bundles using a traditional method and built the mausoleum from the bundles. Come in! Inside, a small mushroom crop is helping the wood decompose. This new kind of “futility” (vanité) might reduce us to our human condition, and might also remind us that from dead wood, springs life.

Born in Zurich (Switzerland) in 1978, Damaris Baumann trained as an architect and has a degree in spatial design. Her work revolves around how we see and physically experience the landscape and public places. She likes to use artisanal techniques to construct her creations.

Winner of the 2019 Lausanne jardins competition with Vanitas.