the magic roundabouts

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Marvellous machinesThe magic of Brussels’ Christmas carousels

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Created by Les Machines de l’île, the beautiful Manège

d’Andrea is no ordinary fairground carousel

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The

Wander through Brussels’ crowded Place Sainte-Catherine this month

and, amidst the fairy lights, mulled wine drinkers and cheery chaos of the ice rink, something rather odd might catch your eye. It could be a giant octopus, its articulated wooden tentacles quivering as it rises and falls; a glossy black stag beetle rearing up with a small rider clinging to its back; or a bulbous eyed, jewel-green chameleon, head moving jerkily from side to side. Look down towards Place Sainctelette at the right moment and you might even spot a shiny tin Soviet-era rocket rising bravely through a red canopy, up into the sky and above the crowds, then down again, watched by a queue of aspiring junior astronauts.

What are these dreamlike objects? Any Brussels child could tell you: they are the Christmas market carousels – playful, intricate and hauntingly strange.

The Manège Magique (with its pterodactyl, grasshopper and hot-air balloon) and the Manège d’Andrea (featuring an airborne winged horse, stag beetle and ostrich) have appeared here every year since the first Christmas market in 2002, and are well on their way to becoming Brussels institutions – a moment of pure fantasy for !2 a ticket. But where do they come from, and who dreamed them up?

Fantasy islandThe answer lies in Brittany, in the ancient estuary city of Nantes, where an ambitious urban regeneration project, Les Machines de l’île, is dedicated to bringing fantastical visions to life. Here, in a complex of repurposed early-20th-century shipyards, a team of craftsmen and technicians work under the direction of Pierre Orefice and François Delarozière to revive and transform fairground crafts – with extraordinary results. The two men met

at Nantes street-theatre company Royal de Luxe in the 1980s (Orefice was producer and administrator; Delarozière, a fine-art graduate, the set designer) and formed a lasting friendship: they have been creating street theatre and art ever since.

The two Christmas market carousels were Royal de Luxe productions: the Manège Magique was constructed in 1992 and the Manège d’Andrea in 1999. Both combine traditional materials – brass, wood, zinc and copper – with extraordinary imagination and intricate detail. The carousels now tour France, Spain and Belgium, spending each summer back in Nantes with their creators.

The site also houses the 12-metre, 50-tonne wooden elephant created and taken across Europe by Royal de Luxe in 2005 and 2006, and a host of future projects in various stages of completion. Visitors can watch the craftsmen at work, or take a ponderous 45-minute elephant ride along the riverbank. The bravest can

A glorious highlight of Brussels’ annual Christmas market, these fantastical carousels are the result of an ambitious urban regeneration project in France. Emma Beddington meets the men behind these mechanical marvels

Photography Tim E White

BRUSSELS CAROUSELS \\\

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scale a prototype branch of the planned ‘Heron Tree’; a 30-metre high metallic structure with elaborate hanging gardens, which the team hopes will one day arch over Nantes’ reinvigorated dockside.

Delarozière and Orefice are currently finalising something equally ambitious: a three-storey, marine-themed carousel, scheduled to open in Nantes in July 2012. Orefice sets out the challenge: “The Marine Worlds Carousel is three fairground carousels, piled on top of each other. Riders will be able to ‘dive’ down from the surface to the seabed and get a 360° perspective on the sea.” The 35 elements of the carousel

– including a jet propulsion squid, a giant vibrating clam, a monstrous anglerfish and a vast sea serpent – are already finished, and the public can try them out under the watchful eye of their creators in the vaulted concrete and steel workshop complex.

All the fun of the fairOrefice sees his work as a form of street theatre, a way of engaging the public with forgotten spaces and ideas. “At the end of the 19th century there was a craze for really daring, inventive fairground arts: people were constantly dreaming up new attractions, new ways to astonish the public.

After the arrival of cinema, then television, that fell away. We’re trying to reawaken this creativity, to do things that have never been done before with this medium, to make it less passive. In our carousels, it’s the riders that bring the attraction to life: they move the eyes, the mouth and the fins of our creations. There are always buttons to push, levers to turn.”

Although the rides are a triumph of imagination, they’re also a feat of civil engineering. Teams of skilled metalworkers and carpenters, hydraulic and structural engineers have been working on the project since the inauguration of Les Machines de

Orefice and Delarozière (left) are now hard at work on creatures for

the Marine Worlds Carousel, an even more ambitious project than

the Manège d’Andrea (below)


The detail of Machines de l’île’s creations is breathtaking, as seen here in the face of the famous wooden elephant


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FR Les manèges magiquesEntretien d’Emma Beddington avec un des

inventeurs des carrousels du marché de Noël à Bruxelles, véritables machineries fantasmagoriques

Bienvenue dans le monde des ptérodactyles, des criquets et des chevaux ailés… Ce ne sont que quelques-unes des créatures étranges qui font tourner d’amusants carrousels à Bruxelles. Pour 2 ! seulement, le Manège Magique et le Manège d’Andrea vous réservent des moments inoubliables.

Ces constructions, issues de l’imagination de Pierre Orefice et François Delarozière, proviennent des Machines de l’île à Nantes, un projet destiné à renouveler le théâtre de rue et les scénographies urbaines. Les chemins de ces deux créateurs se sont croisés dans les années 80, à la Compagnie théâtrale Royale de Luxe. Ils se sont ensuite lancés dans leurs explorations, alliant matériaux traditionnels et sens du détail, pour produire un bestiaire de machines vivantes comme le Grand Eléphant, que la Compagnie Royal de Luxe a baladé à travers toute l’Europe en 2005-2006, ou le carrousel monumental à trois étages du Monde marin.

Orefice considère leur travail comme une façon d’intéresser le public à un passé oublié. « A la fin du 19ème siècle, les gens se passionnaient pour ces drôles d’arts forains, » explique-t-il. « Nous essayons de réveiller cette créativité avec nos carrousels, où les usagers donnent vie aux attractions. » Derrière ces machines se profile également de l’ingénierie civile, avec ses nombreux métiers : ferronniers, charpentiers, ingénieurs en hydraulique et structures métalliques.

Mais comment leur viennent les idées ? « Nous nous retirons tous les deux durant des heures, » répond Orefice. « Ensuite, sur base de nos discussions, François réalise des esquisses. Ses plans sont incroyables ; malgré leur côté technique, une grande beauté en émane. Je pense que nous sommes un peu comme les frères Coen ou Dardenne : un duo gagnant, et nous voulons continuer à créer. » Nantes – et Bruxelles – n’ont plus qu’à attendre leur tour pour entrer dans ce monde de manèges enchantés. lesmachines-nantes.fr ; plaisirsdhiver.be

NL De magische draaimolensEmma Beddington ontmoet de mensen

achter de magische mechanische carrousels die elk jaar te vinden zijn op de Brusselse kerstmarkt

Een pterodactylus, een sprinkhaan en een gevleugeld paard, … deze en andere wezens vind je allemaal terug op de Brusselse kerstdraaimolens die speels, intrigerend en soms angstaanjagend zijn.

Ze zijn een product van Les Machines de l’île in Nantes, opgericht door Pierre Orefice en François Delarozière met als bedoeling kermisattracties te transformeren en te doen herleven. Beide mannen ontmoetten elkaar bij het straattheatergezelschap Royal de Luxe in de jaren 1980. Hun creaties combineren traditionele materialen met uitzonderlijke verbeelding en oog voor detail.

Orefice ziet hun werk als een manier om het publiek aan te spreken met vergeten ideeën. “Op het eind van de 19de eeuw was er een rage omtrent gedurfde kermisattracties,” zegt hij. “We proberen deze creativiteit opnieuw aan te wakkeren … en in onze carrousels zijn het de mensen die de attractie tot leven brengen.” De ritten zijn ook een prestatie van ingenieurschap met behulp van ervaren metaal- en houtbewerkers, alsook van hydraulische en structurele ingenieurs.

Waar komen de ideeën vandaan? “We trekken ons allebei terug, soms urenlang,” aldus Orefice. “Dan tekent François wat we besproken hebben. Zijn tekeningen zijn ongelooflijk; het zijn bijna technische plannen, maar tegelijkertijd bijzonder mooi. Volgens mij zijn we te vergelijken met de gebroeders Coen of Dardenne. Het is een partnerschap dat werkt en we willen blijven ontwerpen.” Nantes – en Brussel – kunnen slechts toezien en wachten op hun volgende droomwereld. lesmachines-nantes.fr; plaisirsdhiver.be

l’île in 2007, and a high-tech heart beats behind their intricate, handcrafted exterior. Orefice explains: “There’s a whole digital aspect to the work we do: the construction and testing process uses complex software, the same type used in the aviation industry. The core of the workshop is a design studio, with a team of 15 engineers working on the structures, the articulated arms, safety testing and so on.”

Great mindsBut where do their ideas come from? And how can something so intensely technical remain playful? The complicity between the two men is plainly a driving force. “We hide away, just the two of us, for hours at a time, usually in a café or restaurant,” says Orefice. “We imagine things together, think about how they’ll interact, then François draws what we’ve discussed. His drawings are incredible; they’re almost technical plans, but also very beautiful.” Orefice compares

their working process to filmmaking: “I think we’re a bit like the Coens, or the Dardenne brothers. Ours is a very complex art form with myriad variables, like cinematography. Having two minds, two aesthetic viewpoints, allows us to meet those challenges. Also, we know each other so well that we work really quickly, and instinctively. That’s why after all these years, it’s still enjoyable.”

The sheer magnitude of the challenges – technical, financial and creative – facing a project such as Les Machines de l’île seem overwhelming; theirs is a breathtakingly ambitious sort of fun. Do they ever doubt themselves? Absolutely, says Orefice. “We’re never sure of ourselves when we start work on a new project, especially since each one is more complex than the last,” he says. “Over time, I think we’ve realised we usually get where we want in the end, but at the start, quite frankly, we’re terrified. But we’re lucky; it’s a partnership that works, and we want to keep going, keep creating.” With imagination as extraordinary as this, it’s difficult to imagine them doing anything else. Nantes – and Brussels – can only watch and wait for their next dream world.

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Plans for the elephant show the beauty of Delarozière’s sketches

Ours is a complex art form with myriad variables, like cinematography. Having two aesthetic viewpoints allows us to meet challenges

Brussels Plaisirs d’Hiver (tel. +32 (0)2 551 5470, plaisirsdhiver.be, 12-9pm weekdays and 11am-10pm weekends) will host the carousels until 2 January 2012. Les Machines de l’île (lesmachines-nantes.fr).

In a spinDiscover the magic of the Christmas carousels for yourself this month in Brussels


the magic roundabouts

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