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Du Domaine Menier à la ville nouvelle de Marne-la-Vallée, panoramas des parcs d’une dynastie industrielle amatrice de jardins by Julien LABORDE – Château de Bénouville
From the Domaine Menier to the new town of Marne-la-Vallée, an overview of parks in an industrial dynasty with a passion for gardens
In 1825, the Menier family settled in Noisiel, in the north of Seine-et-Marne, offering a perfect representation of a 19th-century industrial empire. Thanks to its famous chocolate, a genuine industrial dynasty was passed on over five generations. Throughout this period, they built an empire comprising several castles (Noisiel, Rentilly, Malnoue), together with an agricultural estate created around a modern farm model. Whilst these acquisitions demonstrate the family’s influence, they also bear witness to their taste for art in general, and gardens in particular. Indeed, in each of their estates, they made subtle yet innovative modifications, transferring discoveries and research from their factories, to apply them on their grounds.
The sale of this vast estate in 1970 enabled the French State to create one of the four urban quarters of the new town of Marne-la-Vallée, whilst preserving the original plan and composition of the former estate.
Julien Laborde
Julien Laborde is a DPLG qualified landscape architect, specialised in heritage and historic gardens. His undergraduate course in geography enabled him to study each site in its enlarged context. He was awarded the Michel Baridon grant by the Fondation des Parcs et Jardins de France (French Foundation of Parks and Gardens).
In 2010, he created his own business focusing on landscape at all levels, from territory to garden, placing time at the heart of his reflection and his approach. His work, at the crossroads between geography and heritage, draws inspiration from local skills and know-how, as a source and the basis of his profoundly territory-based reflection. He intervenes on heritage sites (Historic Monuments), listed sites, UNESCO properties, ‘Grands Sites de France’), and on a number of historic gardens (heritage studies and restoration projects). He is currently working, in particular, on the gardens of the former dukes of Lorraine in Nancy and Lunéville.