23. LES COULEURS DU PÉCHÉ
published at 03/10/2017
Playing with words, the lady who designed the garden presents the peach tree (which, in French, is “pêcher”, which is pronounced the same as “péché”, meaning “sin”) as the central element of the garden, instead of using the Biblical metaphor of the apple.
The sweet, tender, juicy flesh of the peach, its velvety skin, its colourations varying from light pink to rose red, all illustrate sensuality as much as they illustrate our most complex, contradictory emotions.
After having passed the metal entrance porch, we wander along the path of which the surface, which is entirely covered with peach stones, grinds underfoot and finally leads us to the heart of the garden, where there stands, not an apple tree, but a peach tree, a tree that carries all sensations.
We walk quietly around two small hills with gentle slopes. We can take time to meditate serenely on the theme of sins, here handled with finesse and irony through pastel-coloured vegetation, carefully planted on either side of the green area.
DESIGNER
Marie-Pierre Servantie, DPLG chromo architect
FRANCE
Marie-Pierre Servantie lives and works in Bordeaux for the firm Architecture-Couleur that she set up in 1983, specialised in architecture and colour in the environment and chromatic urban planning - one of the few firms in France to provide both services. Owing to her research and experimentation in the field of colour, and her specific method of analysing colour, she is able to create colour charts, colour master plans and palettes to meet the specific requirements of local authorities, public and private companies, public establishments (hospitals, secondary schools and universities) and manufacturers.
For her, colour is more than just a passion; it is a vocation which began when she started studying architecture. In her 2nd year she threw herself into the concept of colour and finished her degree off with the theme of Colour in the architectural environment in 1982. Her approach was a pioneering one, in a field dominated by black, grey and white. Two decisive meetings then validated her choice to go down the path of colour which she had chosen and which she would never leave: François Parra, president of the French Centre of Colour, and Jacqueline Carron, colourist painter became her mentors, their invaluable teachings constantly guiding her daily working life in the profession of colour architect. She takes part in training courses, symposiums.
