laboratoire écologie et art pour une société en transition
CROSS FRUIT (Verger de Rue)
CROSS FRUIT is an artistic, co-creative, urban ecology and arboriculture project created by artist Thierry Boutonnier together with least. Residents of Geneva, with the contribution of scientists and professionals, will be involved in the design, creation and monitoring of an orchard according to their preferences and the specificities of the neighbourhood. The exchange of know-how, experiences and methodologies through dialogue and workshops will foster cultural and generational integration, paving the way for a form of community-based eco-design.
The orchard will provide a free and accessible food source and will combine classic arboricultural structures with outdoor sports amenities, e.g. trees supporting a football goal or basketball hoops hanging from tree stakes. These amenities will go beyond traditional performance-focused machines, while the structures will accommodate the trees’ growth and vulnerabilities, shifting the focus towards inclusivity and “robustness”, i.e. a sense of resilience, strength and adaptability.
CROSS FRUIT provides new visual dynamics and reinvents our relationship with natural spaces. Working with woody plants (trees, shrubs, etc.) implies a long-term vision (3 to 5 years). Vegetal time goes hand in hand with the time required for the relationship between the project’s guardians and the artist to develop, for the former to integrate the project and for them to appropriate it.
What we’ve done
The first phase of the project was devoted to in situ research in the Onex region, while involving local residents in a community-based eco-design project. Brisolée (a traditional meal based on fire-roasted chestnuts), seed collection, and the creation of shoots ran through the autumn and winter of 2023. In the spring of 2024, during our Olympic/”Crossfruit” Games, the shoots were playfully transported to the future orchard. Over the course of the summer, we organised activities to accompany the growth of the plants, taste different produce in the orchard and celebrate with the local community.
What we’re doing
We are currently in the process of co-creating the next stages of the project, such as designing a plant palette and arboricultural structures and stakes focusing on robustness, and organising tree-growing activities together with the local community. At the same time, young filmmaker Simon David is working on a series of videos about the Onex community and its relationship with the territory.
What’s next
In autumn 2024, the first structures and the tool shed will be built. At the same time, we will be planting shoots and building a new sprouter. In winter, we will organise participatory pruning and tree care programmes, and then start again with new activities to support the life cycles of the plants in the orchard.
Sign up to the newsletter to keep up-to-date and get involved!