07. Territoire de bocage
Awarded on the 22nd of June 2021 by a jury of professionals renowned in the world of garden art
The “bocage” (woodland) is a historic landscape shaped by farmers with respect for their land. It is an area of fields and meadows, surrounded by embankments, hedgerows and trees, thus guaranteeing biodiversity. The “bocage” is a very efficient hydraulic system because rainwater trickles through the fields, therefore encouraging the (re)generation of an ecosystem where water and plant-life are intertwined. This combination of embankments and ditches fosters synergies between the various root systems of the plant-life present and ensures a better flow of groundwater.
The garden has taken inspiration from this rural setting, and progressively unveils an aquatic grid system. Water flows through the garden until it reaches new territory. The original functions of a “bocage” are transformed: they are applied to an urban space that is reinvented, planted with vegetation and developed according to the water cycle. The countryside takes over the city. Flowerbeds and benches are the borders of this new “bocage”. They are added to the same independent structure, a creation that combines the collection and storage of rainwater. An irrigation system is therefore not needed.
Between the intelligence of an ecosystem and the intelligence found in ancestral expertise, inspiration from the natural world is in abundance, enabling us to create more virtuous gardens and outdoor areas, ones that respect the water cycle.
DESIGNERS
KLAZŌ is a multi-disciplinary design studio in Paris. Their work focuses on how towns and regions evolve towards a sustainable model where the well-being of the inhabitants is the main focus. Their projects offer a lyrical, common sense approach to the social and environmental issues we face today. Our goal is to reconnect Mankind to the environment and to live together in harmony!
Élodie Stephan is a designer and graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art et de Design in Nancy in 2008. She was a member of Autobus-impérial from 2008 to 2012, and worked as a project manager on multi-disciplinary design projects for some prestigious architecture agencies (Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, etc.). Since 2008, she has been responsible for the design and programming of around thirty projects for urban furniture, signage and green spaces, always looking for sustainable and innovative ideas. Founder of Studio KLAZŌ and co-founder of the start-up VERTUO - an urban solutions company - she is responsible for the design phase of bespoke design projects and innovative industrial products. In 2019, her innovation 'Bocage urbain' was named as a 'Solar Impluse Efficient Solution' and she was a finalist for the C40 'Women4Climate Tech Challenge'. Finally, she teaches design at the École de Condé Paris for the Master’s course 'Innovative materials and sustainable development'.
Manon Navarro is a young designer and graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art et de Design in Limoges in June 2019. After graduating with a High National Diploma in the expression of visual art, she continued her studies by joining the new Master’s course, Nature inspired Design at the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris in January 2020. She is currently on a work placement with Élodie Stephan at Studio KLAZŌ, and her goal is to create climate-resilient alternatives for urban areas that are both imaginative and stylish.
