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Visions de jardins by Robert MALLET – Château de Bénouville
Visions of gardens
The optical effects used in gardens can either offer the spectator vast perspectives or enclose him in a cage. Many photographs illustrate how the spaces around us can be visually enlarged, hence also leading us to increased open-mindedness. However, today, we can note a disquieting alteration in the vision of these spectators, in particular children who are isolated from nature and who live in a chaotic environment. In such circumstances, the role of gardens in our society could prove to be very useful.
Robert Mallet
Active in the field of gardens and botanic collections for over 40 years, Robert Mallet is a founder member of the Association des Parcs Botaniques de France (Association of French Botanical Parks) and the Association des Parcs et Jardins de Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy Association of Parks and Gardens). Former member of the International Dendrology Society (IDS), he is also an active volunteer for the “Shamrock” National Hydrangea Collection in Varengeville-sur-Mer. He has successively occupied positions as a bank employee, at the INSEAD, manager of the Parc des Moutiers (1968-1985), market gardener from 1978 to 1990 (and, as such, has been involved in the Journées de Courson since its beginnings in 1982, and in many other such events), then editor (Hortensias et autres Hydrangea, volume 1 and 2, by Corinne Mallet). He is the author of several works and currently gives a number of conferences in Europe and the United States on subjects associated with plants and gardens as places of learning.
Further reading :
L’optique des jardins, Ulmer, 2003
Renaissance d’un parc, Centre d’art floral, 1996
Les plantes couvre-sol, Rustica, 1980