Fleur de Sel by UrbanBs

Landscape Architecture: UrbanBs ( Marco Asciutti, Farzaneh Bahrami, Enrique Enríquez, Matteo Muggianu)
Location: Festival Jardins des Métis-Reford Gardens, Grand Métis, Quebec, Canada
Design year: 2010-2011
Year of construction: 2011
Area: 180 m2
Budget: 25,000$ CAN DLLS
Text & photos: UrbanBS

Fleur de sel is the answer to the international call of gardens proposals with the theme Secret Garden for the 12th edition of Jardins de Métis International Garden Festival/Reford Gardens, in Quebec, Canada.

Fleur de sel began with the image of the first snowfall that announces the winter time. The fragile snow covering the green ground produces a white lively horizontal cover, like a painting of Quebec artist Jean Paul Lemieux. Between the white quilt and the green bed, traces are trapped (objects, footprints, fragrances and even sounds), remaining for the entire winter until the snow goes away on the next season. These temporary fossils, almost invisible to the eye, create a secret garden. It is up to us to imagine what is underneath.

Fleur de sel proposes a , leaving room for the imagination and for the creation of our personal secret garden. At the end, isn’t a secret garden a personal place?

This is created by 70 tons of salt to simulate the image of the snowfall. The use of salt is not accidental. It is an iconic Canadian material, very well used in our environment. Large amounts of salt are used every year to melt the snow during winter. Because it is inexpensive, tiny, and fragile and so commonly used, we forget its presence.

The forest soil beneath the salt has been protected by layers of PVC, geotextiles and gravel. A drainage system collects the rain water mixed with the salt which will be pumped out whenever it’s necessary and reused.

At the end of the season the salt will be recycled to be used to melt the snow on the surrounding roads.

2 Comments

• Julio Gómez 09.10.11

  I like it. Looks like a winter garden but in summer

  
  
• Heather 03.13.13

  I’m very concerned about salt being trailed out by users and inadvertently leaching into the surrounding soil. We use too much salt in the landscape as it is.

  http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2008/07/road-salt-turns-streams-toxic/

  
  

What do you think about this?