StraightIrishYews
Me: “How these trees are positioned, reminds me of the chairs in our classrooms. This artificially cut lawn leaveslittlespaceforotherspecies Ourculturelikestohomogenize Can we only appreciate nature when it is as domesticated as we are? With our need to control,webringabout theultimateuncontrollable:theAnthropocene(ratherCapitaloceneorPlantationocene)”
Gilles Clément: “A garden for me is a site where gardeners recognize theirdependencyonotherspeciesrather than taking control We want to design with the genius of nature rather than against it For me,thegardeneris first of all anobserver Thegardenerhelpslifeflourishratherthanrestrictingitandmakingitneatandtidy And this control you are talking about, it was always an illusion Thebirds,squirrels,insects,andevenplantstravel through the garden, coming in and out as they please The boundaries between the “enclosed” garden and the landsurroundingitgetblurred,andlifespillsoverfromoneintotheother”
Me: “Humanity is widespread globally,andwhenweviewourworldasaplanetarygarden,it'sclearwe'vebeen poor stewards of the garden Our garden is devastated, both humans and nonhumansaresuffering Technology and globalization gave rise to a planetary consciousness, revealing our predicament, partlystemmingfromour relationship with the natural world Could it be that thegardenitselfiscomplicitin,orevenresponsibleforour perceived separation and romanization of nature? In gardens, we are the observers, looking at nature, without actively interacting with the more-than-human world. Is it not ironic that the UK, the country where the industrialrevolutionhastakenplace,hasoneoftheliveliestgardencultures?”
Gilles Clément: “While that can be,Ialsothinkthatgardenscanbetheplacewherethisrelationshipcanevolve into a healthier form. Nature is not at the service of man: we exist within her, submerged in her, intimately associated with her The “planetary garden” is a means of considering ecologyastheintegrationofhumanity–thegardeners–intoitssmallestspaces.1”
Me: “Where welivealongsideotherbeings,itseemslikegardenscanbeaplaceofsymbiosis,aplaceofrespect forourfellowearthlings ThisideaofsymbiosisformeisapointofattractionIcanenvisionwhenIlosehope”
Gilles Clément: “Exactly And this is why I have been fascinated by Eastern traditions such as the Shinto religion of Japan.Europeiswherethisdestructiverelationshiptonatureoriginated.LookingatEuropenow,itis a collection of scrap, piled up (towns, villages), interlinked (streets, paths, road systems), or inserted into “secondarynature”(cultivation,stock-raising,forests).2”
Me: “Our modern notion of the universe as a mechanistic, dead clockwork is an anomaly in human history. Animism as we call it in the West, for most of our ancestors was not a worldview, but the felt experience of living alongside the more-than-human world, a felt sense of the interconnection of life. Japan was somewhat able to hold on to this For usmoderns,Ithinkittakestimetorevivethispartofourselves,soItrytobepatient withmyselfwhenIfallbackintoareductionistunderstandingofthelivingworld.Havingsuchstunningscenery definitelymakesiteasiertoreconnectthough”
1
2
Clément, G (2015) p.122
Clément, G. (2021)
WearriveatthePlayhouse Weobserveaplantthathasgrownoutofthecracksofthehouse
Me: “These cracks are what give me hope Life emerges everywhere it can Whilewemightbringourselvesto extinction and take many other species with us,ItrulybelievethatLifewillsurvive Iamcertainthatsomesort of earthling will make a home out of and thrive in theruinsofmodernity Gaiawillbeabletoadapt AsLatour writes, the discovery of the earth as a self-regulating system was as profound as the Copernican revolution What Copernicus did to decenter the earth, Lovelock recentered it again, showing that our planet is extraordinary in the sense that the earth’s systems are not in a fixed, static equilibrium but are dynamic and self-regulating,maintainingconditionssuitableforlife 3 Gaiaisanabsolutewonder”
Inthecracks, Wherenoonelooks, Emergeslife, Whereveritcan
Outoftheruinsofourcivilization, Willemergeahome
3 Latour, B. (2017) p. 60
WeenterthePlayhouse Ononeoftheboards,IreadamessagefromDorothyElmhirst,writtenin1940:
“Despite the war; or perhaps because of the war – I have begun to concentrate on the garden. I find I have a great desire to add to the permanent beauty of Dartington in these days when everything seemssotransitory I have never dreamed before ofthesatisfactionderivedfromworkofthiskind.Inanycaseithasbeenasalvation tome ”
Me: “Intention matters This desire to create somethingbeautifultogetherwithotherspeciesisprecious-dareI say radical - in a world filled with ecocide and an ecophobic culture Nonetheless, there is a discrepancy between what we perceive as beautiful and what is ecologically intact Where is the room for the nasty, the messy,theuncontrollable?Suchasthetigerispartoftheweboflife,andsoistheleech Allofthemareneeded Ecologyisasbeautifulasitiscruel”
GillesClément:“Theaestheticofthegardenissecondary Reducingcomplexitytobeabletocontrolanareaina way that we perceive as beautiful is anthropocentric The planetary garden tries to decenter the human Andit must always stay agile, being able to adapt to changing conditions, which is what I call the garden in movement ”
Me:“Wedonotwalkthroughthegarden,butweareinit,entangledinit Gardenersareinherentlyactive,andit seemsthatcurrentlytooactive.
Thishedgewiththeforestinthebackgroundrepresentsformethewaywecurrentlyinteractwiththeworld We humansaredoingtoomuch.Lifeisdiverseandcomplexbutwetrytotrimittoourideas.Asyousay,humans seemtoneedtolearnhowtobeobserversagain,before-ifeven-intervening Iknowfrommyownlifethat often,doinglessismore.”
GillesClément:“Iagree.Iboughtaplotoflandin1977,andIhadchosenthisroute:todiscovernaturebefore controllingher 4 Gardenersneedtobeawareoftheecosystemtheyarein Wewillnot“solve”ourpredicament byanideologicalresponsedreamtuptomanageorsavetheplanet,butwecanfindpointsofinterventionsas theyrelatetospecificcases,seenasalocalecosystemwhosemodelisneverexportable 5 Thediversitywewant toprotectisrepresentednotonlybythedifferentspeciesbutalsobythevarietyofhumanbehaviorinthefaceof thisbiologicaldiversity 6”
Me: “Yes, context is everything From the natural to the cultural realm Culture is a way of beingadaptedtoa specificplace.Itisonlylogicalthatthewesternizationofculturethroughcolonialismandaglobalizedeconomic system led to a devastated planet The accumulated knowledge of culture is erased and replaced by a one-size-fits-allmodel.”
As we pass a tall tree, an inhabitant of this garden seems to be bothered byourpresence,screamingaboveour heads AsIlookup,Iseeasquirrel,alarmingitscompanionstoourpresence
4 Clément, G (2015) p. 143
5 Clément, G (2015) p. 55
6 Clément, G (2020)
Squirrelgazingatus
Me: “Look at him These gray squirrels, native to North America, were first introduced to the UK in the 19th century. They led to a decrease in native red squirrels and severely impactedtheecosystemstheyinhabit.Who arewetosaythattheyshouldnotbehere?We,humans,impacteveryecosystemontheplanet”
Gilles Clément: “Like this squirrel, there are many other species that are “non-native” With the current ecological situation and the changing conditions everywhere, the species' original habitat becomes less important than where it can survive today Planetary intermingling has increased enormously over the past decades becausehumanactivitiesmeanthatweareconstantlymoving,andmakingeverythingelsemove.While intermingling has reduced diversity in local places, plants and animals meet in new and unforeseen circumstances, not permitted spontaneously by geography. Birds travel, and the planet is a territory where multiplespeciesareconstantlycreating“emergingecosystems'',expressingthemechanismsofco-evolution 7”
Me: “And we cannot reverse this intermingling, but wecanacknowledgethelossofplace-basedwaysofliving and the lost diversity of culture and nature Considering all this, how can I, as an“individual”,haveanimpact without bearing the world's weight on my shoulders and succumb to these complexities? I often turn to the butterfly effect in times where it all feels pointless, whichshowsmethatincomplexity,evensmalloccurrences canhavemajorimpactsonasystem”
Gilles Clément: “If the planet is a garden, we are all gardeners – perhaps not aware of it, yet the choices and lifestyles of each of us have a significant impact on the biosphere Wemustrespondtothissituationasquickly as possible if we are not to succumb to the inevitability of irreversible forces of destruction, but rather to developineveryconceivablefieldamentalterritoryofoptimism–agarden 8”
Me: “Thank you, Gilles For me, the garden was never a purely idyllicplace,italwayscarrieditsshadowside, the colonial history of its inhabitants, and the unequal access to them, for both humans and nonhumans Yet, gardens give me hope The planetary garden, with its beauty and ugliness, isareality,nomatterifweactupon thisrealizationornot
We are mostly associating human intervention with something negative, forgetting that most biodiversity hotspots are on indigenous territories that are actively managed This makes me wonder if we as planetary gardeners could bring about a positive Anthropocene, where we strongly impact the ecosystems, but in a way thatbenefitsalloflife”
7 Clément, G (2020)
8 Clément, G (2015) p.112
We are now arriving at the end of the garden I thank my companion for his presence As I exit, Clemens is fadingout I’mwalkingdowninthedirectionofTotnesandthesunisslowlysetting
Thisbeautyofthegarden,andthehorroroftheplanet, CanIkeepbothinmyheart?
IsGaiadying,ormerelyinitiatingitselfintoanewperiod?
Istheresomethingbeyond,thatIwillonlyfind, WhenIamgone?
References
Clément, G. (2015) "The Planetary Garden" and Other Writings. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated
Clément, G (2021) The Architectural Review: In Practice: Gilles Clément on the planetary garden Available at: https://www architectural-review com/essays/in-practice/in-practice-gilles-clement-on-the-plan etary-garden (Accessed: 27 October 2023)
Latour, B (2017) Facing Gaia: Eight Lectures on the New Climatic Regime Polity
Bibliography
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ATTP TU Wien (2020) Gifts of Gardens of Planetary Scale | Gilles Clément. 28.11.2020. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= v3Bb1mcc (Accessed: 27 October 2023).
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