IRIS OLIÉ

It was a really a great opportunity to work in the famous gardens le Domaine du Rayol made by Giles Clément during my first year at the ENSP. In the top of the gardens, there is a place where Giles Clément let the plants grow in a most natural way and maintain the minimum as possible. The assignment is about this location.

My goal is to restore the water system and improve it, to give a melodic experience, hereby I respect the garden philosophy of Giles Clément.

It is a very sloppy plot, kept by little walls, called: “restanque” (terraces in Occitan). Behind every “restanque”, a canal allows to collect the drained water. All the water that comes from the entire amphitheater and the thalweg, in total 600 m3 are connected to each other by pipes. Then, this precious commodity is stored in two pools and buried in a tank and basins. This system keeps the water during the période Cévenole (raining period), and re-uses it during the summer. It’s a closed circuit where the water is constantly turning inside the pipes, to give to the visitors a beautiful music of drops. On each wall, there is pips, which delivers water, like thousand of little cascades, each at different heights, to give as much as different sounds. It is a sweet melody which never ends.

On the way, the first pool draws eyes. The first “restanque” space out shopwindow, is dedicated to the tree nursery. A pontoon joins the two banks of the thalweg.

A long staircase brings to the top of the hill, the summit of the Rayol gardens, giving a majestic view on the Mediterranean sea. At the end of this staircase, there is a bench to sit and enjoy the place. Positioned in strategic locations, provide a sight either on the sparkling of the ponds or to the sea from the top of the amphitheater. Further, the stairway goes down provides to continue the visit of the Rayol gardens.