DIVERSES RÉALISATIONS

Mon jardin imaginaire. C’est un jardin de rêve, qui unit l’ancien et le contemporain, l’est et l’ouest. Basé sur le modèle Perse, il à un caractère calme et spirituel grâce à ses lignes disciplinées, mais il brille quand même avec des couleurs vivantes et joyeuses.

*Excusez-nous, le texte qui suit est toujours en Anglais; traduction en cours.

JARDIN DE SOUHAIT

This most ancient of garden forms originated in the region centred on the Middle East. This archetypal garden is divided into symmetrical sections by axial water channels. Traditionally, it is enclosed behind walls, creating a tranquil resting place sheltered from the harsh outside world.

While this garden form is often thought of as Islamic in origin, it clearly predates Islam, subsequently adopted and brilliantly incorporated into Islamic philosophy.

My garden is a cool green oasis amidst a parched and sun-baked land, recalling Paradise on Earth. Within the garden, the world-weary traveller’s thoughts turn to the infinite; his heart yearns for peace, and his soul for rest. It is a brief glimpse of the tranquillity to be found at the journey’s end.

In the arid Middle East, beauty and functionality go hand in hand. The axes of the garden carry precious water for cooling the air and irrigating tall shade trees and fruit orchards. But when this garden form is taken out of its indigenous context and placed into a temperate climate, in a modern setting, its function becomes more abstract and the aesthetic element can dominate. In the absence of a threatening outside environment the need for defensive fortifications evaporates. Yet the feeling of seclusion remains.

Structurally, the garden is on three levels, gently ascending toward the source of water, softly cascading over a series of waterfalls and past fountains along a central channel to the lower end of the garden. Brick-edged walkways on either side of the channel are flanked by planting to the outside.

Substituting for perimeter walls, the boundaries of the garden are formed by a series of translucent fabric panels which form a screen animated by the shadows of the waving plants.



In the central beds around the circular pool, brightly coloured plants weave a tight carpet of contrasting foliage strewn with bright jewels of flowers, shining amongst the dancing water.

This garden preserves the strong spiritual dimension of the Persianate form without being bound by any particular historical or cultural dogma. It achieves a quiet, meditative character, not by excluding the outside world with high walls, but by exerting a magnetic impulse, drawing you in and stirring your soul.

Photographs taken by Souren Ala: Bagh Eram, Shiraz; Arg Karim Khan Zand, Shiraz; watercolour rendering of Garden of Yearning, by Christopher Cole; Representative Plants from private garden, West Midlands.