What happens when a master concreting craftsman with a penchant for collecting is given total creative freedom?  This is not an easy question to answer, but it is probably fair to say that no-one would be able to predict an outcome quite like the incredible world of Bodan Litnianski.

This Ukranian-born Frenchman began his remarkable constructions as a part of the rebuilding process on a modest suburban block following World War II.   Gradually progressing from shell decorations on the outer walls, to columns with connecting beams and then… well, the pictures really have to be seen to be believed.

A collector, a hoarder, a builder, a sculpter; Bodan’s efforts continue to amaze and astound as people are exposed to the value he placed on discarded objects.  The care with which so many diverse cultural remnants have been reused is evident in the smallest details as well as the entire broad-sweeping vision.  Truly an ordered chaos like no other.

We discovered Bodan Litnianski in several forms at Outsider Environments.  Head to this informative blog, if you are interested in following the plight currently being undertaken to save the Garden of Shells…

” … a powerful plea by the architect Jean-Marc Huygen to save the site as an example and a source of inspiration to live differently nowadays, once one realises that this site is a heritage of humanity and has all aspects of sustainability, the paradigm of our time.”

Outsider Environments

Bodan Litnianski’s Jardin du coquillage / Garden of shells