2019 edition - Gardens of paradise

01. Le jardin des solitudes

published at 20/03/2019

PRIZE FOR A TRANSPOSABLE GARDEN

Awarded on the 21st of June 2019 by a jury of professionals renowned in the world of garden art

Le jardin des solitudes, Festival International des Jardins 2019 - © Éric Sander

Although the notion of paradise varies from person to person, it may lead to the experience of perfect solitude. In this garden, visitors are encouraged to follow their intuition and listen to their own desires.

Visitors are offered various plant settings, leaving them free to find their place in one of them. Sitting in the place that works for them, with their bodies at rest, they can let their minds wander. By submitting to the surrounding nature, they are treated to some time to meditate that is theirs alone.

An austere, unostentatious antechamber takes you to an increasingly narrow pathway leading to the pond in the midst of the garden. Benches are placed here and there like pieces of origami, awaiting you between plant life and ground surfacing. Each bench is unique, encouraging walkers to choose a place to reflect according to their personality and the emotions that the garden arouses in them. The plant settings are clearly dictated by the interplay of foliage which varies in density. Solitude can be enjoyed in the shade or sunlight, with your senses stimulated.

DESIGNERS

Damien DEROUAUX, landscape architect and Sven AUGUSTEYNS, urban planner, architect and co-creation expert

BELGIUM

After graduating with a diploma in Agronomy – Environment, Damien Derouaux’s desire for a more creative job prompted him to pursue studies in Landscape Architecture at the ISIa Gembloux Higher Institute of Agriculture and Industry (Belgium) and TU Dresden technical university (Germany). Having worked for over five years at Wirtz International, a firm based in Antwerp, he recently started his own firm. This latest collaboration has enabled him to develop a philosophy about garden art and its multiple opportunities for intervention as well as to gain experience abroad. An additional course in Visual Arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp encouraged him to experiment with shapes, materials and proportions. It also enabled him to sharpen his creative mind. He is confident that multidisciplinary work and collaboration generate unique and innovative ideas. He believes that intuition, context and emotion are key to any approach to spatial planning.

Sven Augusteyns works in the field of landscape and urban design with a focus on adapting to climate change and participatory design. He cofounded Ringland, a park of 15 km over the Antwerp ring road. With hundreds of experts and citizens, he launched this integral project aimed at fighting air pollution, the lack of green spaces, flooding and mobility problems. The significant amount of support the project received led to the government approving it. He currently works at the landscape architecture and urbanism firm, OMGEVING, where he is an urban planner and co-creation expert. He is interested in multidisciplinary work, dedicating his free time to citizen science projects measuring air pollution (curieuzeneuzen.be) and mobility (straatvinken.be). He studied Architecture at the LUCA School of Arts in Ghent (Belgium). He then finished off his studies with a Masters in Urbanism and Strategic Planning from KU Leuven University (Belgium) and the New School for Design in New York.

DESIGNERS

GARDEN SPONSORED BY

GARDEN CREATED WITH SUPPORT FROM