The Ecology of Possibility

The International Garden Festival is pleased to announce the projects selected for its 25th edition, titled The Ecology of Possibility, which will run from June 22 to October 6, 2024. On the occasion of its twenty-fifty anniversary, Ève De Garie-Lamanque, Artistic Director, invited designers to imagine the future of the garden. A total of 216 projects were submitted by designers from 30 countries.

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Couleur Nature (exterior views)
Photo credit: Vanderveken, Architecture + Paysage

The four gardens selected for the 2024 edition

Couleur Nature : Vanderveken, Architecture + Paysage | Saint-Lambert, Québec, Canada

Couleur Nature is a curious study into the roles gardens play in our society, comparing the great swaths of utilitarian lawn and our individual leisure devices (with poor social and ecological indicators) with contemplative gardens (with high reflexive and ecological indicators).

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Couleur Nature (plan and interior view)
Photo credit: Vanderveken, Architecture + Paysage

FUTURE DRIFTS : Julia Lines Wilson | United States

In the first year of the International Garden Festival, priority plant species were identified for habitat protection in the St. Lawrence Vision 2000 Action Plan. 25 years later, despite habitat protection, the Anticosti and Rush Asters remain endangered species. This garden is posed as a question on the past and future.

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FUTURE DRIFTS (elevation 20m side)
Photo credit: Julia Lines Wilson

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FUTURE DRIFTS (elevation 10m side)
Photo credit: Julia Lines Wilson

Rue Liereman / Organ Man Street : Pioniersplanters | Belgium

In such a densely populated and urbanized area such as Flanders, the fraction of land occupied by domestic or private gardens (of which there are approximately 2 million) is estimated to be 12%. That’s four times the total surface area of natural areas in the region. As such, as long as they are designed and maintained naturally, domestic gardens have the potential to help reduce the effects of climate change and halt the impoverishment of biodiversity, encouraging people to reconnect with nature.

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Rue Liereman / Organ Man Street (overview of the Flemish garden)
Photo credit: Pioniersplanters

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Rue Liereman / Organ Man Street (model)
Photo credit: Pioniersplanters

Superstrata : mat-on | Italy

This year’s theme is explored through the lens of the rhizomatic system, emphasizing the intrinsic value and interconnectedness of life forms and ecosystems. Using a geological map as a metaphor, the garden proposal illustrates the tension between nature’s freedom and humanity’s inclination to impose order.

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Superstrata (bird's-eye view)
Photo credit: mat-on

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Superstrata (interior view)
Photo credit: mat-on

The Special Mention of The Jury

  • Welcome, Yellow Bricks Garden, by Azzurra Brugiotti (Italy)
  • En Équilibre, by Sonia and Natalia Dacko (Spain)
  • Aguas, by Jomarly Cruz Galarza and Virgen Berrios Torres (Puerto Rico)

About the International Garden Festival

The International Garden Festival is recognized as one of the most important events of its kind in North America, and one of the leading annual garden festivals in the world. Since its inception in 2000, more than 180 contemporary gardens have been exhibited at Grand-Métis and as extra-mural projects in Canada and around the world. Each year, the Festival exhibits over twenty conceptual gardens created by more than seventy architects, landscape architects, and designers from various disciplines.

About the Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens

A National Historic Site of Canada, and a Quebec heritage site, Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens is a must-see stop for anyone visiting the Gaspé and the Lower St. Lawrence.