Hampton Court, England
Show Garden
Flower Show Competition, Silver Gilt Prize, 2015

 

The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is the largest of its kind in the world run by the Royal Horticultural Society. The Show Garden, designed together with Landscape Studio Stefano Passerotti, consists in circular structure that encloses a flourishing garden.

The garden represents a metaphor for the circle of life. It is a space of contemplation separated from the outside by a wall that grows in height as if it were a spiral section. Inside the circle, there is a pond which is accessed by steep steps; in the interior, the only plant is a cork tree.

Tubes, passing through the thickness of the wall, permits a visual connection from the inside toward the outside. Water flows through these openings to the pond.

The temporary garden seeks in its closed form a sheltered space of meditation and contemplation. The presence of water, natural stone, and the selection of botanical essences in a defined space aims to help reconciliation between the individual and the environment.

The flowing water and dynamic shape of the circle are synonymous over time. The elevated path offers another platform to view the garden and alters the perspective for the viewer.

The circle’s center is a contemplative space from which it possible to enjoy the sights, sounds, and perfume of flowers.

The cork oak, Quercus suber, is planted at the garden’s heart. Surrounding it, are Lobelia, Knautia, Salvia, Angelica, and Eremurus in a color scheme of white and red: white for purity, and red for energy and passion.

The garden consists of hardy plants that are resistant to parasites and require minimal watering.

The presence of the circular wall generates an inner landscape enclosed and unexpected. The geometry of the contemplative space aims to define a metaphor of nature, not a representation of it, a frame of order in the natural chaos.