Le jardin historique dans son territoire, enjeux de restauration by Stéphanie de COURTOIS – Caen (France)
The historic garden in its environment, restoration challenges
Gardeners are well aware that gardens stretch well beyond the physical boundaries of their enclosures or owned properties. The wind and birds transport seeds, sprouts penetrate and adorn the outside world, water follows its course and even visitors take gardens beyond their natural borders, as they ebb and flow with their expectations and sensations.
When the time comes to intervene in a historic garden, a study of the estate’s history – often limited to a given area – understanding the site’s former usage and economic balance, and analysing landscaping interactions can all prove instructive for projects that focus attention on its territorial location.
Such intervention can rely on studies conducted within the framework of the Master’s Degree in historic gardens, heritage and landscape at the National School of Architecture – Versailles, and involves sharing recent experience within a context of climate change and new societal expectations, that render historic gardens fragile yet precious laboratories.
Stéphanie de Courtois
Stéphanie de Courtois is a doctor in history of art (University of Paris 1). She lectures at the National School of Architecture in Versailles and, since 2017, is scientific and educational director of the specialised Master’s Degree in historic gardens, heritage and landscape, in partnership with the University of Cergy Paris.
After her thesis focusing on the landscaper Édouard André (1840-1911), conducted in close collaboration with the eponymous association and his descendents, she continued her research on French and European landscape heritage, its promotion and its protagonists. She constantly contributes to improving its recognition, in particular by engaging in a number of associated bodies, including the CNPA (French national committee for architecture and heritage) and Remarkable Gardens work groups in Île-de-France and Brittany. She recently codirected the publication of the Revue Germanique International, Sortir de l’enclos: Jardins et politique(s) https://journals.openedition.org/rgi/4124, which, from a French-German viewpoint, explores the relationship between power and the garden, the strengths of gardening and the paradoxical role of many gardens that have become frontiers.
Free entry, subject to capacity.
Auditorium du Château
(entrée par le Mancel)
14000 Caen