A Visionary Garden .. Veddw

Veddw – Front Garden

Veddw Blooms - Doorway through Hedge (Alice Joyce photo)

Definition: Visionary – A person with unusual powers of foresight; utopian, chimeric, dreamer, enthusiast, escapist, exalted, idealistic, illusory, zealot.

Veddw House Garden has been written about and praised by such luminaries as Germaine Greer.

Veddw - Hedges Reflected - Pool Garden (Alice Joyce photo)

Created by Anne Wareham and Charles Hawes, the contemporary setting at Veddw is compelling in ways that only the rare gardenscape can reach deep inside and grab at one’s soul, even as the mind is busily engaged in noting the garden’s bones, appreciating the artful plantings, and bold forms.

Veddw Overview (Alice Joyce photo)

Veddw grows up in the arcadian landscape of Monmouthshire in south east Wales, where my meeting with Anne and Charles was all too brief.

Veddw Hedging to Bench (Alice Joyce photo)
Veddw (Alice Joyce photo)

Veddw – Reflecting Pool Seat (Alice Joyce photo)

A sad fact of traveling: timing does not always play out as hoped for. And with too little time to wander about the garden – a place that deserves two or three lengthy visits to take in all the elements / the overall effect – I’ve struggled to write cogently about the experience of this rare contemporary garden. Moreover, an innovative work of art.

Veddw Veg Plot (Alice Joyce photo

Veddw Crescent Border  (Photo: Alice Joyce)

Having decided to wait no longer, I offer a photographic diary of my perambulations through the Gardens at Veddw House.

Spring … Veddw  (Alice Joyce photo)

Do visit the web site: Veddw

to find stimulating essays describing the garden, and view photographs by Charles Hawes.

Veddw Ruin (Alice Joyce photo)

Bronze foliage Rodgersia (Alice Joyce photo)

Veddw … Cornfield Garden (Alice Joyce photo)

Stephen Anderton and Charles Hawes have written a wonderful book that I highly recommend, a lushly photographed, provocatively written effort providing insight and guidance for an au courant journey through the gardening scene in Wales, be it from your armchair or in real time!

Discovering Welsh Gardens – Available on Amazon.com

Veddw (Alice Joyce photos)

August 13th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: England, Landscape Architecture | 11 comments - (Comments are closed)

Gardens, Art and Architecture - Chicago

The city of Chicago’s lakefront gardens, art and architecture draw locals and tourists, alike, to a year-round destination of cultural and sensual pleasures. May, 2009 heralded the opening of the new wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, designed by architect, Renzo Piano.

Millennium Park Walkway to AIC Wing & Terzo Piano Restaurant (Alice Joyce photo)

Although completed behind schedule, Chicago’s Millennium Park opened in 2004 to demonstrate a crowning achievement for the City, and an international success for Mayor Daley, the man responsible for spearheading the effort. One of the delights of Millennium Park is the 2.5-acre Lurie Garden: Kathryn Gustafson/Piet Ouldolf/Robert Israel design. In 2009 a stunning walkway had recently opened to the public, leading from the Lurie Garden directly to the elegant Terzo Piano Restaurant and another entryway to the Art Institute’s new upper level.

Chicago's Lurie Garden Agastache (Alice Joyce photo)

Art Institute of Chicago New Wing, Sculpture Terrace (Alice Joyce photo)

In the photo, above left, The Sculpture Terrace provides stunning views, looking out over the Lurie Garden, and beyond to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion designed by architect Frank Gehry.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion - Frank Gehry Design (Alice Joyce photo)

Through the sculpture terrace’s glass wall atop the Renzo Piano-designed Modern Wing, the view of the Lurie Garden takes in the rill, which culminates in a sedate waterfall.

View of Lurie Garden from AIC terrace (Alice Joyce photo)

Lurie Garden Rill (Alice Joyce photo)

Margo and Thomas Pritzker Garden: One approaches the Pritzker Garden from the museum’s Griffin Court, in the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. Facing Columbus Drive, the space is designed with an elegant simplicity, given a sense of shelter by the flying carpet overhead (photo below – upper left), so named by architect Renzo Piano.

Pritzker Garden with Ellsorth Kelly's 'White Curve' (Alice Joyce photo)

Chartreuse chairs are placed about the crushed stone terrace, the bright enameled seating producing an ambiance that conjures up images of European gardens. Naturalistic plantings of grasses soften the sleek setting, punctuated by the spare placement of trees with peeling bark. White Curve:  A work by Ellsworth Kelly glimmers with the changing light on the museum wall. The sculpture’s reflective surface is animated by reflections of the garden’s columns & trees. Specially commissioned in collaboration with the building’s architect, Renzo Piano, the work is the largest to-date in Kelly’s oeuvre.
May 4th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: Chicago, Foodie Havens, Landscape Architecture | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)

Parc André Citröen, Paris


Parc André Citroën (ALICE JOYCE photo)

I set off on a pilgrimage not so very long ago, inspired by the contemporary landscape design of Parc André Citröen – representing the work of Alain Provost and Gilles Clement.

The park rose up in the southwest corner of Paris in the Javel neighborhood, a site appropriated as part of the city’s urban renewal efforts, after the closure of the Citröen car factory.

Away from the well-trod tourist paths, Parc André Citröen has won praise (and criticism, alike) for the forward-looking aspects of its design: A complex geometric layout full of surprising juxtapositions and horticultural interest.

Elements of cool postmodern style appear as architectural devices, defining the character of discrete spaces. At the same time, sequestered areas are given over to lush planting schemes and shaded allées, fostering a sense of intimacy. The parkland extends over 30 acres, and futuristic bent aside, its plan encourages visitors to linger amid open areas of lawn, a bamboo grove, and a rock garden.

Large-scale water features call to mind the aesthetic fountains and pools of classical landscapes, while inducing young and old to relax and refresh. Arranged on an axis perpendicular to the Seine, the totality of the park is oriented to echo the order of historic Parisian parks farther upriver.

Overview – www.worldarchitecture.org

The overall design concept puts into play an often startling sense of contrast, advancing from obviously man-made configurations to areas meant to reveal the spirit of untouched, natural places. At the heart of the park is a sprawling grassy expanse set off by a wall of clipped hedges and promenade evocative of formal French gardens.

Waterfall - Parc André Citroën (ALICE JOYCE photo)

Water elements lend particular distinction to a number of compartmentalized environments. Entering one such space, you see water flowing gently over an inclined wall, while directly across the way, its counterpart achieves drama with a decidedly vigorous deluge over a stepped surface.

Parc André Citröen - ALICE JOYCE photo

Cascading plantings of fragrant herbs echo the waterfall’s architectural form.

Moving on, a series of small theme gardens emerges, revealing a richness of shrubs, specimen trees and perennials. Unusual plant material is noteworthy in creating atmospheric garden spaces, such as the Jardin Blanc & Jardin Noir.

A tunnel passage signals the transition to another color-themed space, accented with blue salvias, fragrant mints, California lilacs, a wisteria-draped arbor, and  a pergola cloaked in variegated porcelainberry vine melded with clematis. At another juncture, towering mirrored-glass buildings are partnered with a long reflecting canal. The crisp outlines of the adjacent hedges restate the angular facades.

Interior - Parc André Citröen (ALICE JOYCE photo)

Suggesting sanctuary, an array of small-scale buildings line up along a walkway. A bold rectangular opening entices me to enter one structure, where I find an interior that capitalizes on a play of light and shadow created by a slat roof: The floor wears a carpet of Scotch moss.

When in Paris .. Parc André Citröen is located in the 15th arrondisement: Metro stop Balard or Javel.

Parc Citroën (ALICE JOYCE photo)

Parc Citroen Walkway (Photo: it_outsider)


April 9th, 2010 | Tags: , , , | Category: France, Green Destinations, Landscape Architecture | 7 comments - (Comments are closed)
 
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