From Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion stealing the show at the first weekend to Paris Hilton, Lizzo, Desus Nice and Kendrick Lamar conquering hearts with their appearance at the second one, the 2022 Coachella Music Festival was one of the year’s best celebrations that left globetrotters thrilled to bits!
“There’s sort of an art to the whole fence, toilet, concession thing that’s sometimes looked at as no big thing. But it’s taken years for us to get it down to the way we need it.”
This quote by Paul Tollett simply explains that each architectural structure at Coachella is derived from a source of relatability, observation, philosophy and intuition.
Co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, Coachella has always been a cynosure for the artistic minds. This year, the music festival spelt its magic with enveloping architectural installations by international artists and designers.
The biggest music festival in North America treats festival-goers with an incredible thrill of their favourite musical bands or singers. However, how do design and architecture drive this highly popular event? This year, as Coachella showcased an array of music genres, the eleven architectural installations turned the vast desert into an enchanting landscape. The festival took place on two weekends – 15th-17th April 2022 and 22nd-24th April 2022.
Dynamic and excellent in design, the notable architectural installations of Coachella 2022 were a display of global themes. Encompassing environmental sustainability, these installations weaved a story whilst discovering the nuances of material, colour, scale, sound and light.
Read further to learn about the architectural installations that led to an artistic triumph at the Coachella Music Festival 2022.
Table of contents
Buoyed by Kiki Van Eijk
The first Netherlands-based designer who contributed to Coachella Music Festival, Kiki van Eijk created Buoyed. Designed with great optimism for the future, Kiki aimed to underline the power of diversity. Three buoys, each with a height of about four storeys appeared floating above abundant grass. This created a fascinating space leaving a wonderful impression on visitors. Each buoy exhibited cultural references putting the entire focus on excellence and diversity. The butterfly wings of the off-white buoy were created to spread illumination at night. The green buoy was created with a 24-foot diameter base and featured a soft stucco rim for relaxed seating. On the other hand, the blue buoy was a combination of an igloo layout and a patchwork dome onto a Dutch-style windmill.
The Playground by Architensions
Traversing through the colour theory, Rome and New York-based architectural design and research studio Architensions created an elongated structure featuring four steel-framed towers connected by bridges. The installation exhibited a vibrant collage of arches and cubes in technic film. Each tower featured a height ranging from 42-56 feet. The entire module grid framework was designed to bridge the gap between human interaction and architecture. With a series of geometric forms and pretty magenta, cyan and yellow technic film, the design of each tower represented a natural urban landscape.
Mutts by Oana Stănescu
Dogs, mankind’s most loyal companions, teach us what it is to love unconditionally. New York-based Romanian Architect Oana Stănescu created huge recyclable canine sculptures. Each installation was stacked with plants and designed in a particular position to create a dialogue with visitors. Individuals could touch the nose of the stretching dog, walk underneath the pointer and rest on the paws of the setting dog. Steel frames were used to design marvellous silhouettes that were filled with a collection of colourful plants. The design of these dog sculptures allowed their expressions to speak through their gestures and contours.
Cocoon (BKF + H300) by Martín Huberman
Argentina-based architect Martin Huberman designed a nine-storey sculpture using 300 reproductions of the incredible BKF renowned “butterfly” chair. The original structure was conceived in 1940 by three architects – Juan Kurchan, Antonio Bonet and Jorge Ferrari. The chair became a famed cultural piece since it found a place in the MoMA’s (Museum of Modern Art) permanent collection a year later. With a silken construction material, the chair provided shade to festival-goers throughout the day and illumination at night.
La Guardiana by LosDos
Los Dos is a collective name of Texas-based artists Ramon and Christian that created La Guardiana – a protector of immigrants from Central America, Mexico and displaced individuals from across the world. Floating over the festival grounds, this sculpture wore an enredo (skirt) and a rebozo (shawl) to carry her child, a mask to hide her identity and horns to showcase strength. The iconography designed on the skirt demonstrated people travelling by train and boat towards the border wall, a metaphor for the threatening journey to strange lands.
Circular Dimensions x Microscape by Cristopher Cichocki
Coachella Valley-based artist Cristopher Cichocki created this five-storey-tall Circular Dimension called Microscape, using over 25,000 feet of PVC tubes. This sculpture was animated with nature-inspired music and imagination whilst displaying a visual exhibition of the artist’s current research of water and desert history. The bandshell-shaped pavilion was ruptured by three circular tunnels. It featured a laboratory where artists and scientists could create video paintings by controlling water, barnacles, salt and algae from the Salton Sea under microscopes. Moreover, they could calculate the activity inside the nucleus of the pavilion in real-time!
An Ingenious Homecoming
Several participants revisited Coachella with new installations, designers and artists. NEWSUBSTANCE, a UK-based art and design studio returned to the festival with an incredible installation – Spectra that grabbed 2018 Best of Design ‘Lighting – Outdoor’ honour at the Architect’s Newspaper Awards.
Do LaB, an LA-based creative team, redefined the stage with “Warrior One” this year with collective experiences inspired by environmental sustainability and human connection.
It was also a homecoming for New Mexico-based artist – Don Kennell, the designer of the quarter-mile-long kinetic Balloon Chain – Robert Bose and a legendary artistic group – Raices Cultura from Coachella.
Art for Art’s Sake
Paul Clemente, the art program manager of the festival, stated “Our art program allows visitors to experience connectedness while exploring shared global interests and perspectives related to these large-scale installations.”
The architectural installations at Coachella induce a cultural and diverse charm to the music festival. The installations were created with the purpose to carve an international identity for the designers. We know Coachella for its enticing lineup of renowned singers and musicians. However, the music festival casts an unworldly spell that unites the global artistic village to express its authenticity. Coachella Music Festival is held annually and it comes back every year to surprise you with something new and exceptional!
