Archicolture / Ombre

2002 Canada - Grand Metis, Quebec

Temporary garden for the “International Garden Festival 2002” of the “Jardins de Metis”, Reford Gardens, Grand Metis, Quebec, Canada.
Shadow is a key-element of both architecture and garden design. It defines space and distance, it gives perspective.
In gardens, shadows also refer to a darker emotional level of perception. Our design considers the site like an archaeological excavation field. The visitor is confronted with an array of seemingly identical, but freely placed opening in a bare ground.
The reference to a necropolis is strong, with its shadows of the past hanging metaphorically on the very present times.
Entering the garden one soon discovers that the ground inside the openings is unexpectedly covered with low, densely growing and flowering plants.
Passing from the perception of an “endless” repetition of excavations to the encloser of sunken beds and from a lifeless context to the thriving ‘micro-gardens’, creates a reassuring change of scale.

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