Jacques Wirtz

 "When I am designing, my aim is to create tension and then gradually proceed into quiet." - Jacques Wirtz

Jacques Wirtz 

31st December 1924 - 21st July 2018

Jacques Wirtz was a Belgian landscape architect who is noted for his use of evergreens clipped to create "clouds" of foliage. He believed that his gardens should preserve and enhance the spirit of the place, rather than stamping his own mark on the landscape. With his use of evergreens and herbaceous planting, Wirtz would create a green palette that lasts all year round. 

His largest public commission was the redesigned Jardin du Carrousel in the Tuileries Gardens, Paris. A long-running project which started in 1990 and was completed in 2004. The Jardin du Carrousel is a 7-hecatre park between the courtyard of the Musee du Louvre and the processional sweep of the Jardin des Tuileries.  

The design is a series of radial lines stretching elegantly out from the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousle, first as stone lines in sand and then as yew hedges within grass. Statues by Aristide Maillol, which had been in the park since the 1960s, have been placed playfully among the new hedges. The effect was like the rays of the sun, or stretching fingers, providing widening paths that encourage visitors to promenade throughout the park. 

As a designer, I think the use of evergreen hedges to create a cascade of "clouds" is really interesting and creates depth within a landscape. As well as his use of planting which blooms all year round, this creates a garden which has a consistent interest, something which I hope to portray within my future designs.