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UNESCO Japanese Garden, Paris, 1994
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On a visit to the UNESCO in 1992, I learned that the Japanese garden designed by the American sculptor Isamu Noguchi had not been properly maintained for many years. Having focused my art research on urban questions, I became enthusiastic about the idea of what this garden could be. The urban planners and landscape architects that I consulted also shared my interest.
The concept of garden maintenance does not represent the same reality in Europe and Japan. The maintenance of the traditional Japanese garden cannot be separated from its creation. The two proceed from a representation of a world and a time at once past and to come. Our time is characterized by an abundance of manufactured objects; it is important that the artist think about the organization of what surrounds us in our daily lives. The artistic act is not merely to produce.
We completed the restoration work in collaboration with a team of Japanese gardeners and many students from the National Horticultural School in Versailles.
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Sample page from the maintenance manual that were created for the project.
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Two views of the garden after restoration
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