Garden of Multilingualism

A green pocket set amongst the towers

The design approach adopted by the landscape architect Michel Desvigne is that of a miniature countryside, inspired by farming spaces. Their plantings will draw on the local geography, visually underlining the slopes, and combining to form irrigation and management systems. Moreover, the site in its current condition sits on a notable slope. Planting rooms will be introduced to the landscaped topography of this garden, forming a rich palette of planting. The purpose of these rooms, in addition to welcoming visitors in their leisure time, is to satisfy the demand for organising festivals of various kinds. These rooms will be able, for instance, to be a home for art installations, permanent or temporary, on the theme of multilingualism. The paths of the garden follow the topography of the site and connect the planting rooms. As in farmed landscapes, the connection between the parcels of land is achieved using a single feature that follows the levels of the ground. The path will be paved in stone, into which words in various languages will be inscribed.

A rich framework of shrubs, arranged in four groups, provides structure to the garden: a lavender field, vines, a hydrangea nursery and fruit orchards. These tiers will tie in with a wide variety of smaller plants, placed in groups to represent in each case a dominant shrub species in combination with other shrubs, flower species and aromatic plants.