Full-scale neoclassical and baroque buildings made of wire mesh loom over festival-goers at Coachella this week, representing artist Eduardo Tresoldi‘s largest works yet. The Italian sculptor is known for his eerie installations of translucent architecture, previously seen in a stunning indoor installation in Abu Dhabi, a ghostly ship sailing across Italy’s Bay of Sapri and the resurrection of a long-fallen church in Puglia. Entitled ‘Etherea,’ the new sculptures are a reflection on humankind’s relationship with our built environments.

“The installation plays ironically on the dualism between the pure and the filtered experiences that intertwine with one another, to eventually leave the man at the center of it all,” says Tresoldi. “With the passage from a macro-reality to a restricted one, the human body becomes a key to read, discover, measure and experience reality, just like architecture itself. An analogy between man, architecture and their surroundings is ultimately established.”

The three structures that make up ‘Etherea’ at the Coachella Music Festival stand at 36, 54 and 72 feet in height, taking Tresoldi’s sculpture to a whole new scale. They make a striking contrast with the palm trees, mountains and spectacular sunsets in Indio, California, where Coachella is set. Shots that include the crowds really reinforce just how big these creations are.

As always, the layers of mesh create a haunting sense of unreality, keeping the scenery and sky visible beyond each of the ‘buildings’ so they feel more like memories or projections than physical structures.

Photos by Roberto Conte