Fortuitous Biodiversity

 Tiers Paysage Jardin, Saint Nazaire

05

Clement

Pinterest. (2020). Pin page. [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/63191200996619050/ 

Gilles Clement

The French Landscape Architect, botanist, entomologist and writer is known for his important breakthrough in the theory of the landscape world. He honours biodiversity and investigates the well-being of all species in his designs. This is achieved by combining natural materials and a prudent attitude.

Gilles Clement has a lust for learning and has attained 2 separate degrees in landscape architecture and agronomy. This in turn allowed him to become fascinated with the concept of human ecology and is now a professor at Versailles National School of Landscape Architecture and teaches natural history and design concepts. Finally, he discovered the butterfly Bunoepsis clementii in 1974. 

Pinterest. (2020). Le Jardin du Tiers-Paysage. [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/113856696805881473/ 

Design Process

The gardens and spaces that depict the link between diversity of vegetation and how they react within margins and over the course of time. It seems that most of what Clement does has a relationship to his appreciation for life and the great unexpected forms that come from it. whether it be a book he has written about dogs, or a garden that explores scale, it all routes back to the importance of human engagement with nature an the environment. 

Usually his designs are sympathetic to the landscape and encourage the growth of ecological variance; gardens are spaces to be lived in and can be placed of play or relaxation. This is achieved by implementing the concept of movement in his work, identifying that movement is expression and is easily created by adding self-sewing species or plants that produce seeds that are transported via other species of animal. 

landscape theory. (2015). Gilles Clément – landscape theory. [online] Available at: https://landscapetheory1.wordpress.com/tag/gilles-clement/#jp-carousel-505 

‌Review

Gilles Clement stated that: “Real terrain, mysterious but explorable, invites the gardener to define its space, its wealth, its habitat. It holds humanity suspended in time. Each seed announces tomorrow. It is always a project. The garden produces goods, bears symbols, accompanies dreams. It is accessible to everyone. It promises nothing and gives everything." Gilles Clément, 2023,Gilles-Clément-presentation.pdf (kcmind.org.uk)

Part of the contemporary art project 'Estuaire', Tiers Paysage Jardin showcases how concrete and nature can work together. Usually, when curating a landscape, the margins of what you are allowed to design into are already defined, however with this site, the concrete structures fragmented the area and even more thought was needed. Gilles Clement wanted to highlight how planting can be used to accentuate the pre-existing structures and showcases the age and pattern on the concrete. 

Moreover, Clement saw inspiration in this site, where most wouldn't. Knowing that he was heavily motivated by the ecological side of Landscape architecture, he decided to display the ways in which nature can evolve and thrive in the most uncertain places. This site had no soil to be developed an so a simple shallow substrate of sand and gravel was installed. Due to the site being the roof of a submarine base, not much vegetation was there before and so now, it completely brightens up the area and I no longer mind the vast amount of hard materials in the enclosed space. 

Any species that were deposited via wind or bird dispersion were labelled and so encourages the variation of species used on site and gives an unexpected result that juxtaposes the harsh and rigid nature of the walls. 

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