In the middle of a lightly populated island in the middle of a French reservoir—the Ile de Vassivière—an eerie green glow rises from the crest of a hill at dusk, indicating that you’ve found OTRO, a phosphorescent skate park of sinuous bowls and tunnels. Designed by artist Koo Jeong-A, L’Escaut Architectures, and skateboard consultants Brusk and Barricade, the project is described as “skateable artwork” and located near a large chateau housing the International Center of Art and Landscape, a light house designed by Aldo Rossi, and a humanoid piece of land art only visible from high above.
OTRO was built just like any typical skate park, by shaping a web of rebar reinforcing around excavated bowls and carefully adding concrete on top. In this case, a layer of primer and a coating of phosphorescent paint was added to achieve the stunning effect. Koo Jeong-A first came to the island in 2007 for an exhibition and, according to L’Escaut’s website, “had been impressed by the mysterious winter landscapes of the island and the atmosphere that arose from it…an unreal, phantasmagoric and powerful dreamscape belonging to the imaginary world of the artist.”