Pop-up Island > Collectif MaDe, 2015

In making a break with market gardening, the Hortillonnages gardens are presently seeking a new identity, midway between culture and agriculture. But although this landscape typical of Amiens is broken up into plots with multiple uses, from vegetable gardens to artistic installations, all the islands are similar, with their horizontal surfaces standing one metre above the waters. For those who are trying to imagine what they look like, the islands are reminiscent of cliffs and strong winds rather than the calm of a garden: in this imaginary world, atelier MaDe and the landscape artist Valentine Bruzzone have sought to create a new type of island in the Picardian marshland. Taking their inspiration from pop-up books, they in fact chose to intensify, activate and amplify its existing geographical features, in order to make a new panorama appear. On a plot with damaged banks, the installation of a temporary framework outlines a steep façade, an unexpected form visible from a boat. A device which plays on the image of the island, while protecting the banks: using the “brush fill” technique, the structure thus grafted is composed of concrete reinforcing bars, curved at the same angle, creating a metallic framework which behaves as a real trap for organic matter…