Trampoline Garden | Chaumont-sur-Loire, France
The Trampoline Garden was this landscape architecture office’s winning entry to the 1998 Festival International Jardins in Chaumont-sur-Loire, France. The Festival’s theme during that year was the aquatic interpretation of a ‘ricochet’. This garden related to the themes of movement and action through two primary elements: trampolines as a ground surface and hydroponically supported weeping willows as a canopy. Surrounded by an existing Beech hedge and above by a willow ceiling, the garden was an intimate space where one could sit, walk, or trampoline.
The ground surface of the garden was a combination of the rubber trampolines and stone fines around their perimeter. The space outside of the willow canopy accommodated room for walking and sitting. Three steel beams and nine columns supported the tubing that supplied nutrients to the canopy of willows.
Project: 1998 Festival International des Jardins
Location: Chaumont-sur-Loire, France
Client: Conservatoire International Parcs et Jardins et du Paysage
Budget: 80,000 FF (approximately $22,000)
Date: 1997-98
Awards: 2000 ASLA Merit Award, 2000 BSLA Merit Award
Our most important design concern was to make the willow tubes as thin as possible in order to get the maximum vegetative effect from the most slender of supports. It was important that the tubes were small enough to ensure that the focus remained on the willows and the sky between them.
This was an obvious yet subtle garden. The simple volumes were clearly defined and its use and pleasure easily understood – it was a garden for people to observe and participate in trampoline jumping beneath a canopy of willows. The pleasure of jumping into the safe ceiling of the willows created a garden that embodied the essence of youth.
The garden was a spectacle within the Festival since it required viewers and participants. The garden was best understood with some people jumping on the trampolines while others watched. The action of the trampolines created a kinetic connection between the ground (earth) and the canopy (plants, water, sky) by the trampoline users. This garden engaged an interesting commentary about the way a garden can inspire participants while engaging a larger context.
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