"The Planetary Garden" and Other Writings

By Gilles Clément, Sandra Morris and Gilles A. Tiberghien

Celebrated landscape architect Gilles Clément may be best known for his public parks in Paris, including the Parc André Citroën and the garden of the Musée du Quai Branly, but he describes himself as a gardener. To care for and cultivate a plot of land, a capable gardener must observe in order to act and work with, rather than against, the natural ecosystem of the garden. In this sense, he suggests, we should think of the entire planet as a garden, and ourselves as its keepers, responsible for the care of its complexity and diversity of life.

"The Planetary Garden" is an environmental manifesto that outlines Clément's interpretation of the laws that govern the natural world and the principles that should guide our stewardship of the global garden of Earth. These are among the tenets of a humanist ecology, which posits that the natural world and humankind cannot be understood as separate from one another. This philosophy forms a thread that is woven through the accompanying essays of this volume: "Life, Constantly Inventive: Reflections of a Humanist Ecologist" and "The Wisdom of the Gardener." Brought together and translated into English for the first time, these three texts make a powerful statement about the nature of the world and humanity's place within it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Release date: Jun 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9780812291384

Gilles Clément

Gilles Clément (Argenton-sur-Creuse, 1943) jardinero, paisajista, botánico y ensayista francés, ha sido profesor de la Escuela Superior de Paisaje de Versalles desde 1980 y es el artífice de diversos parques y espacios públicos como los jardines Le Domaine du Rayol (Var), el parque Matisse (Lille), los jardines del Musée du Quai Branly (París) y el parque André Citroën (París). Ha escrito numerosos libros relacionados con el paisajismo, además de novelas, ensayos y otras publicaciones en colaboración con artistas, y ha publicado el fundamental tratado del paisajismo contemporáneo El jardín en movimiento (2012), Manifiesto del Tercer paisaje (2018), Breve historia del jardín (2019), La sabiduría del jardinero (2021) y Especies vagabundas (2021) junto con Francis Hallé y François Latourneux, todos ellos publicados por esta misma editorial.

Book preview

The Planetary Garden

RECONCILING MAN AND NATURE

Le Jardin planétaire (The Planetary Garden)

exhibition, Parc de La Villette, 2000.

THE GARDEN OF KNOWLEDGE

The guide we had chosen was surly, with a slight stoop. He looked like a bear in costume, his white shirt fastened at the neck without a tie, one corner of the collar somehow raised toward the sky, the other hidden under a black jacket that seemed to be asymmetric. He was nodding gently and smoking, belching huge oblique puffs of smoke. Meanwhile, people were moving toward him. We waited for the clouds and persistent smell of tobacco—officially prohibited here—to disperse before approaching him to listen.

We had come a long way. Having set out the previous day from an ordinary garden somewhere in the country, our journey had ended in town at the doors of the planetary garden. Just a brief pause. From now on we would rely on words to transport us; approaching the world from a new angle, the TGV, sharpening our wits, meant leaving behind us between stations fragments of history passed through all too quickly. Seemingly, we were going to speed up the pace between past and future within a few steps. We were ready. Inside our bags, some ham and bread, and for Lucien, we knew, a flask of wine.

During the previous week there had been growing excitement in the village. Another Parisian folly, a treat for the rich. The weather forecast made the decision for us, it was cold, the flooded marshlands were beginning to freeze, no possibility of working in the vegetable garden any longer. A small group was organized to get refundable tickets. We would also have to take the métro.

We talked about it that evening. Lucien the sailor knew the Mediterranean, his own personal sea. He loved that image, the waves, the horizon. It’s there, do you see, the tiny Mediterranean in the blackness of space: he was showing us the planet. The others told him, you’re dreaming, and he replied yes. We tried being serious, laughing; but it was he who led us on. You have to know how to respond to children—Lucien was beyond that age, but not to us—when they try one last time to fend off the night, begging us: please, bear, tell me a story.

ENDEMISM

Endemism is diversity through isolation, a diversity of creatures and of ideas. Geographic isolation and climatic barriers create as many environments where species appear.

The more habitats (biotopes) there are, the more species there will be capable of living there and societies capable of developing.

The longer the habitats remain isolated from one another, the longer diversity remains. It is expressed through the variety of individuals, behavior, and