The theme of the 2014 Garden Festival of Chaumont sur Loire titled "The 7 Deadly Sins " invites the architect to a moral reflection on the individual even before the design and made figurative work.
The context dreamy, fairy-tale of the park of the castle of Chaumont fascinated by the dreamy imagination of the architect and invites you to think about the theme of the competition with the eyes of a child.
I was inspired by the text of an Italian song that mentions " the key to happiness is disobedience itself to what is not there " and talks about how the growth to adulthood and life within a structured society in regulatory requirements , moral and spiritual man makes addicted , forgetting the pleasure of disobedience that makes us masters of our existence and truly free , forgetting the pleasure of wonder of discovery, moving away from the ability to imagine , as we stand in his hands a life " without flavor . " I thought the theme of the competition seen by a child can return to a freer essence when you exceed the complaints of adulthood and the " 7 deadly sins " that basically represent a moral category , there are simply not finding a coexistence disenchanted , pure , at least melancholy for the visitor. Is this not the biggest regret in the memory of our childhood ? The need to find a compromise between the aspirations , dreams and real life ( " I curse the way I made my way to die safely where i’m attacked , my cowardly way to stay hoping that there is not one that exist "). So I think my garden would be so disenchanted but honest these 7 human impulses in such a way that synaesthetic live together in human nature even in the most evil and dark .
The walk in the garden where the visitor , like a modern Ulysses or Alice in Wonderland , through plants, aromas , sensations and references to childhood, is the initiatory journey of man in a dream world in which live pride , avarice , gluttony, sloth, lust, anger and envy , aspects of life from which man is progressively "educated " to approach and dismissed during the existence of judgments and ethical barriers . For this reason, the path within the garden is bordered by metal wires or low brambles to constitute a limit between the visitor and the installation. What the visitor is an imaginative journey through a winding path that takes the forms of decorative gardens of Versailles between regular plots of daffodils and roses ( arrogance) , passion ( lust ) , carnivorous plants ( throat), grasses and Babù black , lavender, violets of thought. Externally the planting is bordered by an expanse of turning paper and a paper airplane that with their motion create a breeze that stirs and embraces the flavors and sensations from the data tree species . Air , turning and box-like containers of plants appear magnified , as in dreams of childhood memories distorts the perception of objects and alters the perception of time and space.
The route is marked in white pebbles rhythmically with long corten steel plates that bear the title of the garden and lead to an oval where you stand in a circle 4 mirrors facing the visitor nestled among daffodils and white roses. This point of the path is focused on the theme of pride , the visitor is observed simultaneously from multiple points of view that captures the essence of this solitary deadly sin that distances between them concentrated in the adoration of the men themselves.
The route continues alongside an apple tree to which it binds a hammock surrounded by a lawn of pansies symbol of the feeling of sloth , inertia and lethargy of living but also in helping to lure slowly and meditation , aspects often necessarily forgotten by our society. Still followed the path goes up to a ladder leaning against the perimeter fence . Is there a way out so that you can return to real life? Or do we want to get lost along the way ?
The theme of the 2014 Festival of Chaumont sur Loire is therefore the metaphor of a journey towards Dante's human nature in all its complexity and a reflection on our condition.
From the point of view of nature are intended to evoke the essences used figuratively the 7 deadly sins. We are privileged essences , adapting to the topic above, at the same time would ensure a homogeneous bloom between spring and summer as well as a large green mass that would give almost the idea of entering a forest ( rudbechia shining , black bamboo , calamagrostis , lavender) . Large white wooden boxes of different heights are the containers in which they are planted many of the woods in , these are elements that also allow you to overcome problems with the consistency of the ground of Chaumont often excessively rich in water as explained by the ban.
From the point of view of materials used for the realization of the installation the main elements are:
- Pedestrian path in white pebbles with corten steel plates . It 'will be a first constipation soil resulting in the drafting of a special net of consolidation of the soil and base for the preparation of crushed stone . The path, bordered by strips or curbs ECOLAT metal , involves the insertion of long corten steel plates that pass through it going to get lost in the garden. The plates will bear the title of the garden ;
- Installations within the garden including pinwheels made of plastic material to ensure durability , paper airplane ( also made of plastic or wood) , hammock, wooden staircase and mirrors.
