When I arrived in Costa Rica, my dreams were insane and wild. Very detailed, mixing very random bunch of people and moments of my life. It is true that I was sleeping a lot more than usual… which helps! It felt like my brain was going through a major cleaning / sorting process. The tectonic plates of my brain were very active.

(Lire en français)

I created a note on my phone to write and remember those crazy dreams. The ones I am sharing here with you are shaped by a very strong sense of landscape and place. The experience is always very powerful and immersive, both visually and physically. I usually also try to note the links I see between the dream and some real experiences I’ve had during the day, the event that happened before, or the book I’m reading.

I am fascinated by the wild and unbridled creativity of dreams, and the variety of spaces they have us explore. I’ve found these spaces are also the reflection of different emotions: astonishment, desire, frustration, concern, jealousy … What I love most are the unlikely details which are often really hilarious.

In any case, I hope you archive your favorite dreams too! And that you will maybe share some with us here.

Pearly cocoon

I am with a bunch of people inside a huge space, it’s an artist’s studio and a contemporary art installation. It’s a barn, or a farm. Its vast wooden beam structure is entirely wrapped with plastic wrap. It’s very beautiful, it creates pearly rainbow mermaid reflections on the windows, and an infinite range of shiny reflections everywhere else. A huge architectural cocoon in the natural light. I try to find a spot with a table where people are drawing. I start drawing the map of the Butterfly Conservatory and the whole property. I don’t have the time to finish, someone come move the tables. It is the studio of an artist who is going to arrive, we need to move out.

(when I was a volunteer at the Butterfly Conservatory)

Heavy water

We are required to pass a swimming exam in front of an instructor in a rather strange shape. The pool is looped like a track and seems like it’s been shaped by hands, like a big hand-made pottery. (NB : it looks like the frogs’ habitat I noticed today a the Conservatory!) There are several sections with different depths. The water is weird, it has a rust color and it weights heavily on the body. It’s very difficult to move in it. Still, we need to show the instructor we can perform the swim she’s shown us (a type of underwater crawl). I try my best but I cannot do it at all.

(after a frustrating evening trying to cook beans that took forever!…) 

Signs in the lawn

I am with my dad and I decided to put together a show to decipher the signs of an esoteric culture. I am leafing through books filled with symbols. I’m in a cabin in the woods surrounded by many exotic treasures. An expert comes to show me some signs that can be seen in everyday life, such as this perfectly mowed border of grass that draws an arched line in front of the wall of our volunteer house in El Castillo (hahahaha!)

(from the view I had on our house and the volcano when I was coming back from grocery shopping in El Castillo.)

Riding the river

I am with my brother Emile. A river runs next to the house (we live in ? we rent ? In any case, it’s a very big house with many floors, rooms and people. There’s also a production company!) We discover that we can jump out from the bathroom window directly in the river running down. The texture of the water and the tiny rapids can be surfed directly on feet. It’s easy, smooth and magical! The water is crystal clear and below our feet we see birds huddled under the water (owls? big partridges? …) We have fun slaloming between them and above them without touching them, like on a soft glass floor. It’s the bomb, we do this river ride several times :))

(when I start reading Barbarian Days, A surfing life by William Finnegan)

Velvet mountains

I am stroking a corduroy hill in SLO. It is as soft as it is green. My hands can touch it and really feel the texture of the velvet, formed by the moss that covers the slope of this incredible topography. The scale between my fingers and the folds of the corduroy velvet mountain is crazy, my hands must be huge

(after a hike in Reservoir Trail with beautiful views on SLO’s mountains)

Bonus dream

I am reading out loud the book The Invention of Nature to … Bjarke Ingels ! -hahaha, true dear architects friends 😉

 

Tell me if you also see intense landscapes in your dreams!

I wish you beautiful nights,