Marc Joseph Saugey Restoration

Abstract

A study entitled “Lausanne Jardins” suggested that an existing public park be made use of during the four summer months of 2000. The site was in effect a meadow bordered by mature trees. It was proposed, in order to evoke a garden within a park, to hang exotic plants (bromeliads, orchids), by way of contrast or analogy, from the boughs of native trees. Thus a bright-red orchid dangled among the branches of a pine tree, a pale green staghorn fern was suspended from a beech, white witches’ hair decorated a plum tree and so on. This “displacement” of plants from distant climes to a familiar environment took the visitor by surprise. It embodied the allure of the unknown, of travel to distant places, and stimulated thoughts of discovery, of the naturalist-explorers of long ago. By adding colour to the greenery and dark browns of the familiar trees, it challenged the distinction between local and exotic, and in a sense improved on and “beautified” what we consider “natural”.