Les jardins botaniques d’Espagne. Évolution d’un outil scientifique by Daniel LARRALDE DEL SOLAR – Château de Bénouville
The botanic gardens of Spain. Evolution of a scientific tool
The very first botanic gardens blossomed in Spain in the 15th century. Expeditions to the New World intensified exchanges of plants between America and Spain. Hence, plant collections such as those of Seville and Valence were created; they belonged to illustrious doctors and learned men, or to universities. The Spanish kings also encouraged the development of botany. In 1553, Philip II had one of the first Spanish botanic gardens developed in Aranjuez. In the 18th century, Charles III ordered for the creation of the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid and the La Orotava botanic garden in Tenerife, two national treasures to this very day. Since, botanic gardens have multiplied, structures adapting to new needs, just like the garden opened in Barcelona in 1999. Beyond their scientific status, botanic gardens are also spaces for discovery, pleasure and walking.
Daniel Larralde del Solar
Daniel Larralde del Solar is a qualified architect, who graduated from the University of Navarre in 2000. In Pamplona, he worked with the architects Francisco Mangado and Tabuenca & Leach, among others. Following a Master’s Degree in landscape architecture at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, then a bursary from the National Graduate Landscaping School in Versailles, he worked as a landscape designer with Michel Desvigne’s landscaping consultancy on garden and public space projects. His taste for heritage led him to specialise in historic gardens via a JHPP (historic gardens, heritage and landscape) Master’s Degree at the National Graduate Landscaping School in Versailles, and in botanic gardens at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He has since worked on heritage projects. Committed to knowledge transmission, he teaches at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, within the framework of the Master’s Degree in historic gardens and ecosystemic services for green infrastructure. He has also taken part in conferences associated with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, offering his expertise on new residential models in Europe.