Gilles Clement

 

Jardin du Tiers Paysage

I believe this photograph is an excellent example of Gilles Clement’s concept of Third Landscape which is the idea that all the spaces which are neglected or unexploited by man, present more natural riches in terms of biodiversity than forest or agricultural spaces. Clement has shown this well here by successfully creating a design that is visually, very interesting on what most people, including myself, would think is a place that would be near impossible for plants to grow, an abandoned concrete roof. I really enjoy how he has used the gap in the concrete to create a viewpoint along the garden as it offers small glimpses of each of the spaces making me want to explore the place more. It also creates frame for the shallow water where I appreciate how the shadows create a striping pattern in the composition which matches with the rings found on the aquatic planting.

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Atlantic-Loire-Valley.com (no date) Jardin du Tiers Paysage – Gilles Clément. Available at: https://www.atlantic-loire-valley.com/visits/gardens/jardin-du-tiers-paysage-gilles-clement (Accessed: 11 February 2026).

placing the Object

What if I took this mysterious object and placed it into a landscape, how would it change it? I chose to place it in stourhead, perhaps one of the most famous landscapes in the world. It definitely changes the landscape taking it from being calm and balanced to an uncomfortable and contrasting place. 

Dan Pearson

 

Dan Pearson's Garden, Hillside

This photo shows Dan Pearson’s garden sitting in perfect harmony with the landscape it is apart of, running along the hillside slowly rising to the side of the house with a gentle path that looks comfortable winding slowly upwards towards his house. Instead of being a usual up and down garden found on hills the design instead guides you along the contours of the land surrounded by an enormous mix of planting that feels like it would make a one minute walk for me into a twenty minute stroll. Everywhere you look in the garden there is interest, whether it be in the plants colour, form or texture. In this photo I am particularly amazed by how the purples running throughout the garden are almost reflected upon in the sky’s pink-blue hue.

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Garrett, F. (2025) Discover designer Dan Pearson’s own personal garden, Hillside, Gardens Illustrated, 15 January. Available at: https://www.gardensillustrated.com/gardens/country/dan-pearson-hillside (Accessed: 11 February 2026).

simple composition

In lecture we were given a quick task to creat a composition using just an A4 piece of paper and post it notes. I arranged these vertically along the centre of the page with the notes rotated 45 degrees. I chose to go this to create emphasis on the central yellow note that has the brightest colour but also is arranged to be on the top layer.

Object

I recently watched a documentary on the art design group Hipgnosis who are responsible for creating some of the most well known album covers ever for artists such as Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin amongst many others. One of their designs I like most is the Object for Led Zeppelin's album Presence. This object is found in many image within the album art leaving a mysterious shape that represents the band's force and presence at the time. I think it could be interesting to apply this idea within landscapes. And it also reminds me of the standing stones I was looking at the other week. I did a quick sketch of one of the photos. 

Roberto Burle Marx

Edmundo Cavanellas Residence, Petropolis, Brazil, with landscape design by Roberto Burle Marx, 1954

My first reaction to Burle Marx’s design here is that it perfectly integrates the house with Landscape, making it feel a part of the valley. Curving and swaying planting guides my eyes towards the building where it makes me feel as though the house is rising out of the ground. The simplicity of the curvaceous blocks of a single type of plant, with one colour and texture, contrasting with the complex rainforest behind helps to achieve this. Rather than hundreds of different species and colours of trees behind fighting for my attention I am focused on the stark red running throughout the composition. The uncluttered design gives a feeling of tranquillity nestles with it  a noisy forest making me feel as if I was there, I would feel I would be able to refuge in the calm of the house and garden after travelling through the forest.

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Filler, M. (2016) The Builder of Jungles, The New York Review of Books, 2 June. Available at: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2016/06/02/roberto-burle-marx-builder-jungles/ (Accessed: 11 February 2026).

 

Collage

I realised I never posted my collage we made in a lecture but better late than never! It has been a long time since I've done a collage and it was a process I really enjoyed so I will definitely try again soon. I chose the colour green as my theme and stuck a wide range of photos out of magazines together to creat a wild garden with lots of fun elements such as as tree house with a slide into a pool and a man with a huge onion.

More Stones

I drew some more stones, this time I focused how they contrast with the surrounding landscape. They enormous statue creat an eerie and somewhat frightening atmosphere that I imagine would be especially scary at night.

Standing Stones

Last night I was listening to an classical album made by Paul McCartney, the music explored the mysteries of the origins of life and ancient civilization. The album is called 'Standing Stone'. Listening to it gave me a great sense of mystery but also excitement as I thought about what it would of been like coming across the remains of an ancient civilization such as standing stones. I thought about how many modern landscape projects will last thousands of years into the future if any and how in my designs I would like to include more features that creat a sense of mystery. I did a quick sketch of the Standing Stones of Stenness but instead of colouring them with what I see I imaged what if they didn't really look how humans see them but what if they were seen by an alien. What if grass is really blue? Sea is green and the sky is white? 

Christopher Bradley-hole

 

Christopher Bradley-hole's show garden for The Telegraph at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013

Whilst initially the garden seems a very simple, minimalist design, as I look closer and for longer my interest for the design continues to grow. The garden is made up primarily of simple rectangular box hedges. Normally, this would lead to a very static design however Bradley-hole has varied the height of each of these hedge blocks slightly, creating a more flowing and dynamic space. Furthermore, he has provided more interest through carefully thought-out contrasts. My favourite example of this is the hedge blocks made up of individual species contrasting with a dense matt of random planting in between. The differing textures reminding me of neat English countryside fields with their messy hedgerows and woods between. Another contrast I feel really helps to round of the overall garden is the black wood backdrop to the garden itself. This allows the differing greens shaded to become much more noticeable than they normally would. 

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Patton, A., 2013. Chelsea Flower Show 2013. [online] Amanda Patton. Available at: https://www.amandapatton.co.uk/blogs/chelsea-flower-show-2013-2/ [Accessed 5 February 2026].