Marc Leschelier installs a walkable field of pre-architecture
Marc Leschelier brings his practice of pre-architecture to Florence with the monumental installation Ancient / New Site. The project occupies the central square of the Fortezza da Basso with 18 monolithic structures that visitors are invited to enter, cross, and inhabit. Spread across 1,700 square meters, the structures are built from scaffolding frames clad in concrete canvas, a material that has become central to Leschelier’s work. Originally developed for infrastructural purposes such as slope stabilization and roadside reinforcement, concrete canvas is a flexible textile impregnated with cement. Once positioned and moistened, it hardens within 24 hours, forming a mineral surface capable of functioning as a load-bearing architectural element. Leschelier uses this industrial material not only for walls but also for roof-like enclosures, pushing it beyond its intended applications.
all images courtesy of Marc Leschelier
18 monoliths form the installation in venice
French architect Leschelier is known for building architectures without predefined use. Rather than responding to zoning codes or conventional programs, he works in open landscapes, sculpture parks, and temporary settings, developing what he describes as pre-architecture: constructions that exist prior to function, regulation, and typology. Drawing from performance art, vernacular forms, and industrial abstraction, his work proposes architecture as a physical language that communicates through scale, mass, and presence rather than through use. This approach positions his practice as a critique of what he sees as the discipline’s increasing sclerosis, replacing fixed systems with structures that remain open, ambiguous, and experientially driven.
At Pitti Uomo, this philosophy materializes through a field of 18 monoliths, each measuring five meters high, three meters wide, and nine meters deep. Arranged in a perimeter-like formation, the volumes recall the spatial logic of ancient ceremonial sites such as Stonehenge, forming what Leschelier describes as an almost archaeological geometry. The installation borrows the sense of enclosure, procession, and ritualized movement from the symbolic weight of historical forms. At the same time, the project asserts a contemporary presence through its construction methods and material language, staging a deliberate tension between ancient references and futuristic execution.
Ancient / New Site occupies the central square of the Fortezza da Basso
Experiencing scale inside Ancient / New Site
Ancient / New Site stages a meeting of opposites, soft and hard, temporary and permanent, archaic and futuristic. The monoliths appear massive and immobile, yet their construction is rooted in speed, lightness, and reversibility. This contradiction is not resolved but foregrounded, becoming the primary spatial narrative of the project.
Unlike conventional sculpture, the work is conceived as a site to be traversed. Visitors must enter the installation to access its underground spaces, turning spectators into participants. Bodies navigate between volumes, adjusting to shifts in light, scale, and enclosure. The installation is not meant to be observed from a distance but encountered at close range, where its physicality becomes unavoidable.
visitors are invited to enter, cross, and inhabit the 18 monolithic structures
the structures are built from scaffolding frames clad in concrete canvas
Leschelier is known for building architectures without predefined use
Ancient / New Site stages a meeting of opposites
architecture as a physical language that communicates through scale, mass, and presence
replacing fixed systems with structures that remain open, ambiguous, and experientially driven
each monolith measures five meters high, three meters wide, and nine meters deep
the volumes recall the spatial logic of ancient ceremonial sites such as Stonehenge
the project asserts a contemporary presence through its construction methods and material language
the work is conceived as a site to be traversed
project info:
name: Ancient / New Site
architect: Marc Leschelier | @marcleschelier
location: Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy
curator: PHILEO (guest curator, Art Program 2026)
event: Pitti Uomo 109
site area: 1,700 square meters
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