Designed and built by Marc Fornes/The Very Many, Labrys Frisae is a spatial installation blurring the distinction between edge and space. Visually, the piece is stunning but its long lasting impression comes from its spatial effect as well as material ingenuity. This installation is impressively made from aluminium less than 1 mm thick. Furthermore, it can sustain live test loads of up to three people walking on its surface.

Labrys Frisae provides an immersive, multi-sensorial experience. The structure’s interior leads a visitor to lose their sense of time as they explore the dynamic curves around them and try to understand the complex spaces. At night, perception is changed further from the play of shadows that emerge through the intricate perforation completely covering the aluminium skin of the shell.

The design process leading to the creation of Labrys Frisae was an exhaustive one of trials, errors, conclusions and reboots, met by an assembly process that is meticulous and hands-on.

Labrys Frisae is self-supporting. (The piece wraps around a column standing in its middle, but does not actually utilize the column structurally.) Though the visual effect is ornate, Fornes’ systematic objective is a minimalist one — unify surface, skin, structure, ornament and spatial experience into a single system.

All photos by The Very Many.