04. Saute qui peut !

At the heart of this garden, give in to surprise for a deeper experience. Spontaneous, common, but unfamiliar plants offer up an array of emotions and sensations for visitors to feel. Luxuriant vegetation, abundant fragrances, disconcerting temptations for the taste buds, silky-smooth, sticky and even prickly leaves. In this exuberant, warm but malicious garden, be on your guard! Ambiguous signs pop up as you wander: a foot bath and lockers invite you to take your shoes off, a concealed shower resonates drop by drop, a high chair and clothes loom up out of nowhere, left by the wayside, and beware of the crocodile lurking in the thicket … The garden’s swimming pool, with its bamboo and parasol, palm tree and cocktail, throw you a challenge: only the bravest among you would dare dive into its sea of nettles, despite the beautiful irises and fresh smell of the aquatic mint. You’ll sting yourself if you rub it! The union of these myriad plants, at once stinging, fresh and fragrant, triggers the vivid sensation of a prolonged thrill. The promise of a swim may fade, but the immersion remains immense among this curious flora, making you shiver with delight or aggravating your senses.

Jonathan Rouvillois, architect, Julien Lamoureux, arborist, Louise Prulière, set designer and Claire Tanguy, botanist

 

After graduating from the Paris Val de Seine School of Architecture, Jonathan Rouvillois studied for a DPEA (Special Diploma in Architecture) in Architecture and Philosophy at École de Paris la Villette, supervised by the GERPHAU research laboratory. He has worked for a number of agencies, and seeks to reconcile architectural practice with theoretical considerations.

Currently an independent climbing arborist and a teacher at Lycée Bougainville in Brie-Comte-Robert (CS pruning and care of trees), Julien Lamoureux began his education on the scientific side before finally opting for a career in landscaping (Higher Technical Certificate in Landscape Architecture) and tree care. He was one of the founder members of the “Pelle Mêle” association in 2008 and devoted himself to organic farming for two years (market gardening and the bakery trade), going on to set up his own company “Lamoureux des Arbres” in 2010.

After attending preparatory classes in literature and going on to study History of Art at the Sorbonne, Louise Prulière took a DPEA (Special Diploma in Architecture) course in scenography at the Nantes School of Architecture. She has worked as a trainee in theatre companies (l’Eternel Ephémère, Haut et Court and La Machine) and performance venues (le Lieu Unique, la Ménagerie de Verre, and the Paris Opera’s design office), and more recently as exhibition scenographer at “Lieu 37” and for the Museum of Printing in Nantes.

Claire Tanguy chose to study Landscape Architecture (Baccalaureate in Science and Technologies of Agronomy and Environment, and Higher Technical Certificate) and her love of gardens has always stayed with her. As part of a specialisation at the Chateaufarine CFPPA (Centre for Professional Training and Agricultural Development) in Besançon, she joined the Jardin des Plantes d’Orléans team as an apprentice. In 2007, she obtained an accredited diploma as gardener-botanist, a post that she has occupied since 2008 at the Jardins du Rivau in south Touraine, where the gardens’ designer, Patricia Laigneau, entrusted her with the task of introducing such ecological cultivation practices as tolerance for indigenous plants. Always seeking to improve her botanical knowledge, she has benefited from several placements with the naturalist and nurseryman Olivier Tranchard.