4.16 ^E
Jardin caché
Hidden Garden
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Cut in the rock of the hillside, a crevasse in the rock is welcoming, while distancing man from the plant species that are disappearing or endangered, but also dangerous or thought to be so. The most dangerous species is not the one we see: all these plants have in common that they are unloved or too-loved, and usually hunted down to the point of eradication or, on the contrary, kept enclosed for safekeeping. But all are part of our natural environment ; all sketch out a possible landscape. Thus the crevasse provides a sort of immersion in the flora ? whatever its nature ? leaving as much space to the species that invade the world, these "vagabonds" ( giant hogweed, evening primroses and touch-me-nots of America, Canada fleabanes, etc. ) as to those that are disappearing. As much space to those that burn, sting and sometimes smother ( giant hogweed, sumac, poison ivy ) as to those that can be caressed without inflicting pain. As much space to the inventions of nature ( natural hybrids born of vagrancy ) as to new man-made beings ? the GMOs. Here ? in the present case of the immersion ? man is considered as a being in nature on equal footing with the others. Thus the "hidden garden" speaks of questions that oppose those in favor of stirring up the planet and the radicals in favor of Ecology, innovators and preservers. It approaches the biological territory from an angle generally closed to science: that of just a garden, a privileged meeting place for Man and Nature where dreaming is not forbidden.
 For the creation of the Nature house in the Christina Enea Park we propose keeping the existing house dating from the nineteenth century and restoring it by repainting it entirely with white paint containing an herbicide. It is a question of assuming both esthetic ( cultural ) and biological responsibility for the upkeep of the architecture against the natural sensitive world: a Nietzschean combat against biological deterioration (moss, fungus) chemical deterioration ( oxidation, efflorescence ), esthetic deterioration ( stains, fading colors, peeling, blackening ), an architectural gardening struggling against nature, repainting every year, as one cuts the meadows every year. White paint will cover the entire house from the roof tiles to the shutters, to the gutters. Architecture here assumes a stance against nature, be it biological, chemical, physical or esthetic.

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Jardin caché
Renovation, restoration and adaptation of the Cristina Enea Park, City of Donostia - San Sebastián, Spain
Preliminary plan, spring 2002
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Décosterd & Rahm, associés
with Gilles Clément and Joseph Andueza
Project Manager: P.Georgieff / M.Georgieff / N.BonnenfantI, Illustration: Milisic, GraphicsF. Mussard