16. Les cannes du Festival
Here, it’s cane (not Cannes) that’s the star of the show, mischievously hijacking the famous film festival’s image and delivering an experience infused with humour. Visitors find themselves in a restyled, dark room, where an overhead bamboo canopy teases the timid treetops, their leaves brushing past each other without ever actually touching. Spotlight-esque flashes filter through the foliage, while thick, dark vegetation envelops visitors in an atmosphere of intimacy.
Then comes the transition from shade to light, when the glory-seeking cane, hailing from all corners of the globe, take centre stage. Standing tall, proud and slender, they make for an all-star cast, ready to charm judges and audiences alike.
The experience culminates in the iconic montée des marches, a.k.a. the climbing of the stairs, as a red carpet of plants leads visitors to the ultimate reward: the fabled Palme d’Or.
But in cinema, as with anywhere else, not all films end up triumphant. The less impressive end up in the vegetable garden, where turnips and tomatoes serve as a tasty little nod to the most dreaded of reviews. Who knows, maybe another time? After all, in both the seventh art and in gardening, perseverance always ends up bearing fruit. As Jean de La Fontaine wrote, ‘there is no road of flowers leading to glory.’
DESIGNERS
Cyril Guillemain is a landscape gardener, biologist by training and ecosystem engineer. He has built a career at the crossroads of life sciences, engineering and economics. He is a graduate of the Universities of Tours, Toulouse and Metz, as well as the National Graduate School of Chemistry and Physics of Bordeaux (ENSCPB), Centrale Paris and the Graduate School of Economic and Commercial Sciences (ESSEC). In 2018, after several years devoted to the study of the electricity industry’s environmental impact, he founded Petite Nature in Paris, a company devoted to the layout and ecological maintenance of urban landscaped areas. Today, he assists Parisian companies in the management and development of their natural spaces, with preservation and reinforcement of biodiversity in urban environments as a priority. Socially and environmentally committed, he is also a board member of an association for integration of the long-term unemployed, and works actively to promote a local, circular economy.
Carlos Gil Perez is a civil engineer. His career has focused on the design and construction of water management facilities, including watercourse protection, urban development and sewerage systems, notably in the Canary Islands, a region particularly exposed to water-related issues. Graduating in 2008, his final-year project involved creation of a hydraulic structure designed to reduce water velocity. Since then, he has worked on numerous public engineering projects, carrying out calculations and dimensioning of structures, mainly in concrete and steel. These experiences have increased his interest in environmental site management. Hence, he has also carried out environmental supervision missions, applying European regulations in order to limit works’ impact on the natural environment. In the same vein, he joined an international project making sustainability and integration of plant life central to urban planning. A lifelong nature and hiking enthusiast, he is particularly sensitive to the role of vegetation in quality of life and balance of cities.