2012 edition - Gardens of delight, gardens of delirium

18. Sens dessus dessous

published at 27/10/2017

"Sens dessus dessous", Festival des Jardins 2012 - © E. Sander

Is not delirium the heritage of madness? And madness itself – does it not provide us with more than a few moments of delight, pleasure and freedom – of mental effervescence?!

Eccentricity, exuberance, fantasy, delight and excess coexist in this world, crowding in upon us but only accessible through imagination, or through madness. Living such experiences is first of all to know doubt, discomfort and difficulty in making the right choice. Stepping off the beaten track, out of the frame and out of kilter, requires certain doors to be opened and strange routes to be taken if one is to make any progress, to become an initiate in the mysteries of madness.

Experience of the unknown, the different, the foreign and the abnormal is essential in this garden. Immersion here is nothing less than total, into “vegetable madness”. For there exists a world, without precedent, sublime and delirious, in which flowers are giant, trees mysterious and plants bewitching… Nature’s unfathomable creativity invests the unknown realms of the vegetable world. An abyss in which to hurl into oblivion the norms that the plants – those that in our madness we think we know – might be supposed to abide by.

Here, nothing is impossible any more…

DESIGNERS

Collectif Troisième Paysage (3P) -Adrien DEFOSSE, CNAM landscape architect and town-planner and Damien ROIDOT, landscape architect and town-planner

FRANCE

Adrien Defosse has been a landscape architect for 6 years and now works for a well-known town-planning agency, on landscaping and urban studies of varying scales. He has sound technical knowledge of urban and landscape development, acquired through different project-management studies. He has a highly sensitive approach to interpretation of territories and landscaped units and a dynamic vision of landscape, while taking full account of the stakes at play in urban development. He is an active member of the French Landscaping Federation (FFP) and organises lectures at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, inviting former landscapers to talk about their “experience of landscaping” to increasingly large audiences.

Damien Roidot graduated from the Graduate School of Garden Architecture (ESAJ) and went on to specialise in landscaping and sustainable development. He now has his own design office in Paris, focusing on large-scale landscaping projects and micro-areas alike. After acquiring considerable experience in high-end private projects, these days he is involved in larger-scale work, at city level. He draws inspiration from everyday life and makes it a point of honour to keep up his craftsman’s know-how through temporary or special creations. He also seeks to transmit his love of his chosen calling through membership of juries awarding certification in landscaping.

DESIGNERS

THE GARDEN'S PLANTS