Colossal Cacti, by Office Kovacs. Photo by Andrew Kovacs.

As long as it has been known as a world-class music festival, Coachella has also been dedicated to the installation of artwork at the scale of architecture. This year, artists and architects including Francis Kéré, Peggy Noland and Dedo Vabo boasted impressive works during the festival. But it was Colossal Cacti, the project by Office Kovacs, that most skillfully referenced both the desert landscape of Indio Valley and the postmodern tradition of the architect's Los Angeles home base. 

We interviewed Andrew Kovacs, the UCLA professor that leads Office Kovacs, about the fabrication process (beautifully photographed by Phil Donahue) and public reception of Colossal Cacti, while also discovering that the film's intention is always to bring architecture to the people.

How were the Colossal Cacti fabricated? 

Colossal Cacti was fabricated on site by the incredibly talented team at Coachella. 

How did you choose the materials for your project?

This question pertains to the lifespan of the installation. There are 7 Colossal Cacti. The biggest 4 are constructed out of wood boxes that are stacked. The smallest 3 are constructed out of steel, and the idea is that they will be made permanent in a nearby city afterwards. 

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Colossal Cacti @coachella 2019 with @erin.k.wright @ocaptainuniverse @raffileh #coachella #coachellaart #colossalcacti
A post shared by Andrew Kovacs (@archiveofaffinities) on Apr 13, 2019 at 5:25pm PDT

Our mission is to not bring people to architecture, but rather to bring architecture to the people. This attitude runs through everything we do.    

Did visitors appropriate your installation in a way that matched your expectations? 

The way visitors appropriated our installation exceeded our expectations. We aimed to provide shade and a place to rest or to rendezvous for festival goers while also providing a backdrop that was reminiscent of a skyline - a skyline of cacti. Throughout the day as the sun moves, each Colossal Cacti provides shade for festival goers. Each Colossal Cacti has a stepped plinth that also allows festival goers to sit, lounge, relax, and take a break. 

Does Colossal Cacti build on the interests you've explored in your other projects or is it entirely new territory?

Certainly there are themes that are present in Colossal Cacti that have been running themes throughout our past projects. The play of scale and size, the use of ubiquitous and recognizable shapes, the use of found objects, the use of playful colors composed in a playful way, the role of images play in architecture production and dissemination - all with a desire to have a larger audience engage the work, and ultimately architecture. Our mission is to not bring people to architecture, but rather to bring architecture to the people. This attitude runs through everything we do.    

How did you choose the color scheme?

We wanted bright and fun colors that would make great backdrops with the California sun. The elevation faces of Colossal Cacti generally get a different color. We used of road reflectors, the ones you find on highways between lanes. The overwhelming quantity of these road reflectors are white and are laid out in a grid over each Colossal Cacti face referencing the spines on cacti. Every now and then a road reflector is a different color, providing a complimentary visual accent to its respective Colossal Cacti face.   

What will happen to the project after Coachella?

At the moment, the plan is that the 3 made out of steel will be made permanent in a nearby city. As for the 4 made out of wood, at this point they will likely be dismantled. 

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Day two! #coachella2019 #coachelladay2 #colossalcacti
A post shared by Grace Lee (@artbygracelee) on Apr 13, 2019 at 10:06pm PDT