2000, MENTE LA-MENTA? for the ‘IX Festival international des jardins’ organized by the ‘Conservatoire International des Parcs et Jardins et du Paysage’. Chaumont s/Loire, France.
Leaping from one of the hedges that enclose the plots scattered in the park of the Chaumont sur Loire castle, is an intricate web of metal net.Getting nearer, and crossing it, one arrives to a circular raft floating on a water basin.
Water mint (Mentha aquatica), green and pure, grows at the base of the “net cushions” , and diffuses a strong, deep perfume. In the centre is a round, empty space.
The absence of a theme for the "Festival des jardins 2000” becomes a spur for us to express our vision of the new millennium. Our idea of "future" relies on opposed elements that coexist, expressing both distrust and optimism.
The design is conceived around an empty water surface that represents the unknown future: the new millennium.
In this vacuum man is anchored to a raft floating on water, in an uncertain present.
The water is covered by smoke (the grid cages, some are covered with metal wool) that gives the idea of the complexity of contemporary world and materialises its many shadows. Water mint, a metaphor for Nature rises from the water, almost lifting the smoke, spreading its rich scent full of optimism.
Designed with Gianna Attiani and Daniela Mongini