On the back of the whale, between the object and the territory, is a landscape
Gazes:
We are in Grand-Métis, on the back of the whale, in the great Gaspé country, a piece of America whose coastline rivals that of several European countries. We are talking about geographical excess with all that goes with it of visual immensities and endless coastal landscapes. It is thus from a territorial, even continental positioning that we approach a process of ideation that will ultimately decline to the scale of the object.
Object and territory, it is within this gap that we situate the terms of reference of this workshop.
Morphologically, the region of Grand-Métis resembles the undulations of a carpet that runs from the heights of Saint-Octave to the shores of the St. Lawrence. It is at this point that it meets the ribbon of beaches forming the Gaspé coastline.
Elsie Reford's historic gardens evoke the image of a hollow, a deep, fertile and enveloping space that occupies the relative center of an upper plateau. In a word, it is the womb of the Jardins de Métis, "it's womb". At its exit, the Royal alley introduces us to the Reford Villa, a historical artifact inserted in the setting of the Gardens. Beyond this central core that forms the main attraction of the site, the figure of the gardens unfolds over 25 hectares and projects a diffuse image on the visitor.
The Device:
Shoreline.
Since Montreal, a conceptual notion has never ceased to animate us: the shoreline. A notion rich in meaning, it encompasses both the scale of the object and that of the territory. It suggests the phenomenon and the play of the tides, the idea of appearance and disappearance. These notions are closely related to the ephemeral and recurrent character of the international festival of contemporary garden art. Thus, a fine reading of the Gardens, coupled with a territorial and regional vision, guided our reflections and the ideation process related to this workshop.
The Programmatic Alley (second shoreline).
The unifying theme of the shoreline that emerged from the ideation process translates into a global strategy whose primary objective is to strengthen the east-west links of the Gardens, particularly in response to the relative remoteness of the site of the contemporary garden festival. This reinforcement is concretized on the ground by the reformulation of a traditional archetype of landscape art; the alley; a second shoreline, a new shoreline on which the evolving program of the Gardens will be able to run aground.
- As a primary device for linking the major thematic blocks of the future landscape park, the path follows the line of an existing road that crosses the site of the Gardens from east to west.
- Mediation element between the parking area to the south and the internal network of the Gardens.
- Scenographic itinerary made up of openings and closings, tightening and loosening, punctuated with furniture and signage.
- Conveyor and orientation device with the capacity to intercept and channel the movement of visitors towards the various animation and interpretation poles of the Gardens, from the zones furthest from the parking lot.
- Technical corridor carrying the electrical and sanitary infrastructures of the primary and secondary poles. It ends in the west with an observation point on the mouth of the Métis River.
In parallel to this initial gesture, a network of hedges and a signage network exploit the gradations of scale and the sectorial singularities of the Gardens. In addition, the technical and administrative block is decompartmentalized and integrated into the Gardens; the Hedges and Sheds concept. This set of cedar hedges diverts the primary function of the vehicular maneuvering areas and generates sub-spaces with multiple functions (bump-outs, seasonal storage filters, relaxation areas, educational enclosures, etc.). This landscape strategy also aims to densify the outdoor spaces in response to the problem of scattered technical and administrative buildings, as indicated in the strengths and weaknesses tables of the development program.
The Blue Line (breadcrumb trail).
Moreover, taking into account a restricted budgetary framework, we propose an architectural approach and a landscape strategy that are pragmatic, focusing on efficiency and economy of means. Thus, the programmatic alley is intended to be a modular element that will gradually manifest itself on the site as the thematic blocks of the Gardens evolve.
It is also a catalyst element via the Blue Line (blue tarpaulin stretched over Frost fences), a signaling device with multiple registers, including the blue poppy (emblem of the gardens), the sea, the "color-field painting" of the fifties in New York and finally, the "blue screen" of the seventh art on which so many worlds are projected ... A real Ariadne's thread, this orientation element will initiate at little cost and in a striking way a scenographic journey on the scale of the site. A path, let's emphasize it, highlighting the inaugural season of the international festival of contemporary garden art in the year 2000. Following this event, it will be up to the administrators of the Jardins de Métis to decide whether the Blue Line will be permanent or ephemeral.
Architecture (the industrial object).
The architectural approach is intended to be contemporary. Notwithstanding the Villa Reford, which we consider a historical artifact within a garden setting, the image of the new buildings refers to the timber piles that characterize both the history and current uses of the region and the Mitis River. This analogy is approached by the emergence of small pavilion buildings whose rigorous templates and envelopes made of wood strips propose a new reading of the industrial object. Associated with the primary volumes, a system of lath panels defines the exterior areas of the buildings, acting as sunshades, windbreaks and rhythmic elements in the facade. Developed according to the idea of a series of filters separating potentially conflicting environments, they also act as supports for climbing vines, i.e., as elements of insertion into the landscape.
A color code allows to identify the main functions of the architectural program: blue for the media display, red for the main wooden envelope, yellow for the exterior shelter, vertical and horizontal laths. The objective is to establish an architectural typology that is easily identifiable through its chromatic codification. The main and secondary reception hubs are located on either side of the programmatic aisle. This spatial arrangement generates a tightening effect where they overlap, while preserving the freedom of passage inherent to the concept of the alley.
The Festival Site (open field).
The festival site is designed in three stages:
1- Green boxes.
These perimeter elements are intended to be an extension of the green rooms currently in place to the north of the site. They are a series of green cabinets inserted along the wooded borders to the east and south of the site. Note that these cabinets may be the locations for the "progressing gardens" referred to in the Orientation Statement.
Associated with the green boxes are the following elements:
- The "Hanse/ and Gretel" Passage: linear gap cut into the woodland forming the eastern boundary of the site. A pathway approximately three meters wide, it leads north to one of the existing green rooms and south to Route 132. This element can be associated with the mythical crossing of the "dark wood". It goes without saying that creators and the public will be encouraged to make it their own.
- The "Blue Box": a flood-proof creative space, it is accessible from the shore and clearly visible from the top of the cliff that overlooks this portion of the coastline. Located in the tidal zone, near where the existing creek empties into the river, the blue box is inspired by a similar element that was once present in this area and that can be identified on aerial photos of the area dating from the 1950s.
2- Depth of field.
Stripping of the clay fill of the central wasteland and transformation of the latter into a long grass meadow. The existing stream is preserved and its slopes softened following the lowering of the land. The rectangular configuration of the new prairie refers to the agricultural rows typical of the immediate region and moreover exploits by landscape analogy the marine environment. The creators will be invited, according to the themes of the day, to deposit their works there in a random way, works that can then be perceived as vessels drifting on a sea of moving grass.
3- Observation promontory.
Land art made from clay soils recovered during the previous stripping works, this element serves as a sound screen at the place of Route 132 and gives from its top a privileged view on the central area of the festival. The arrowhead geometry of the promontory responds to both the dynamics of the programmatic path and the thrust of the long grass prairie. In addition, note the spanning of the central prairie on the opposite side of Route 132. This gesture suggests the possibility of a series of artistic interventions in this area. In addition, the concept of the Affiches jardins / Jardins affiches, a major signage element along Route 132, a space-structure that invited artists can appropriate and manipulate at will.
Thus, the concept for the development of the festival site aims first of all to create an effect of contrast between the order of the green boxes on the perimeter and the random expansiveness of the central meadow. Once again, we rely on the economy of means, on balanced fill and excavation operations as well as on a simplified staging and landscape structure. This device presents a programmatic flexibility allowing, at the limit and according to the circumstances, only one creator to occupy the central meadow. Moreover, the presence of a series of green boxes to the south, bordering the programmatic alley, introduces the visitor to the festival site, acts in complicity with the possible sculpture garden on the opposite bank and opens up a very interesting possibility, namely, the repercussion of works upstream of the alley.
Secondary routes.
Associated with the main landscape and architectural strategies, we find secondary itineraries and themes such as the Route of the Torches of the Historic Gardens, as well as the diffusion throughout the site of a type of furniture inspired by the Adirondack chair, furniture arranged in such a way as to encourage convivial gatherings. In addition, we foresee the possibility of a close link between furniture and signage; a constellation of points that could eventually guide the visitor through the secondary routes of the gardens. In the end, we recommend a sectorial strategy at the level of the Villa Reford which, by means of a landscape sequence with a particular character, amplifies the sensory interest of the terminal axis leading to the observation belvedere; concept Hedges and Flies. This device refers to the original function of the Villa, that of a salmon fishing camp. It is a detour from traditional topiary art and aims to inscribe the object (the fly) in the landscape.
In conclusion, this global strategy offers avenues for development that meet the functional and spatial concerns of managers. It proposes pragmatic solutions that can be implemented in the short term and reveals the latent potential of the site. The conceptual sketches demonstrate the ease with which the pro-agrammed walkway and in particular the new reception area can be grafted onto the existing. We believe that this figure reinforces the identity of the site and the region and goes in the direction of a landscape park whose figure will be open to the third millennium. It introduces a new form of representation which, through the play of landscape and architectural analogy, allows us to address the object-territory gap on the site of the Jardins de Métis.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
Like the previous proposal, this project presents relevant solutions to some specific issues. However, the landscape concept lacks clarity and coherence and the whole is more of a collection of elements and sampling of ideas.
Thus, by the intrusion of contextual elements within the site of the Gardens, this project shows an invasion of the territory where it is difficult to identify the really essential gestures. Moreover, it leaves doubts about the appropriation of the existing landscape, particularly in the historic gardens where the proposed interventions risk confusing the visitor.
In this sense, the proposal appeared too literal and perhaps a bit decorative. Like the graphic presentation, which sometimes tends to emphasize secondary elements.
Some of the intentions are interesting, such as the vernacular approach, which may be very judicious. However, the inspiration seems to remain a graphic fact rather than a true conceptual statement.
Furthermore, some ambiguity persists regarding the definition and presentation of certain devices such as, for example, the axis of the old road sometimes presented as a filter and sometimes as a barrier.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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