œuvreuses

This work was created following a public commission passed by the commune of Chalezeule with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Communication. Inaugurated on May 28th 2016.
Associated skills : FREAKS freearchitects.

Typographic design: FormaBoom.

The work pays tribute to the anonymous women who, after the First World War, took over jobs and tasks that had previously been reserved for men, and to all those who succeeded them and whose role in society is often forgotten. The project was an attempt to combine this memory with the present, by betting on the living, the organic.

A square was designed to accommodate a beech tree, the bark of which was engraved with the names of trades and skills performed by these anonymous women, most of them in the feminine. The beech tree has kept this memory in its “skin” and has breathed life into it. The original proposal of women workers has been enriched with new elements following the death of the beech tree too early. For safety reasons, the tree has been pruned and is decomposing at its own pace. The median was enlarged and a young basswood was planted near the trunk. The square thus remains wooded and welcoming for the inhabitants, while retaining a trace of its recent history. The names of women’s occupations have been transferred to the steel risers of the square; in a grey-beige tone, legible while remaining discreet, they will gradually fade away. Renamed by the Comune de Chalezeule, the square is now called “Place des œuvreuses”.