Swiss artist sculpts sprawling model castle in river bed

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STORY: Location: Toleure river, Switzerland

This intricate castle was sculpted using clay from the dried river bed

[Francois Monthoux, Swiss artist]

“Every year, I come here to build clay sculptures, but this year, it didn’t rain much, so my constructions piled up and gained momentum because of the weather. I did not expect to do this for so long, but the drought contributed to the increase in the size of the city, even though it makes me very sad thinking about the plants, because I love nature, I go out a lot and it really saddens me to see the plants dying all around us. Everything is so dried up, I hope I won’t continue this city for three years in a row, that would be a catastrophe.”

Monthoux began this year's project with modest ambitions

thinking rain would wash his sculpture away

But the drought allowed him to build an entire city of spires

[Francois Monthoux, Swiss artist]

“It’s been six weeks that I’ve been working on it every day. I will probably stop when the rain gets too heavy and I won’t be able to construct, everything will be destroyed while I'm constructing, that is probably at that moment that I will stop.”

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