Tile Garden in Chaumont, France:
Traditional Craftsmanship of Tile in a Contemporary Garden Practice
680 Pieces of Tranditional Chinese tile were transported from China to France, used for a contemporary garden in an ancient castle: Chaumont. As a garden practice, the core design intention of the Tile Garden in Chaumont is exploring the resilience of culture by using traditional craftsmanship in an innovative way.
When people talk about garden, high cost and high maintenance are always in this topic. Based on the wisdom of resilience in ancient eastern world, the methodology of traditional material – the clay tiles were rethinked, in order to create an ecologically resilient garden with low cost and maintenance by blurring the boundary between irrigation and water feature.
Looking back to Chinese history and learning from it are helpful for contemporary dilemmas. Ancient Chinese roof was built by clay tiles, a waterproof material, not only for draining but also for collecting rainwater. Garden can be easily irrigated by the arranged clay tiles. Then we step forward to explore a new relationship with a roof of traditional tiles and the runoff above it, in order to make a place for celebrating the movement of water.
When visitors go pass the entrance, they will meander in the bamboo forest. The shadows of bamboo create a feeling of poetry on the tile pavement and make a place for enjoying the beauty of traditional sustainable material. Then visitors walk onto the ramp going up, which is similar to climb up a Chinese traditional roof with sparkle tiles and water flow. As water flow down and get retained on the tiles, this garden blurs the boundary between a joyful water feature and an irrigation system by engaging resilient and sustainable approaches within contemporary context.
Location:
Chaumont, France
Design year:
2022
Year Completed:
2023