Landscape

BOLD

The most crazy designer ever.

There are few projects on the poster:

Blue Tree - Sonoma (California) 2004

Pergola - Le Havre (Normandy) France, 2006

Lipstick Forest - Monreal, Canada 1999-2002

Sugar Beach - Toronto, Canada 2008-2010

Sometimes when I look at his projects a question rises in my head - where is the landscape?

Philosophy

Easy understandable, pleasurable, 100% effective and bold designs. No compromises and usually no relation with the context.

Human-made nature.

COLOUR - only pure artificial colours, no undertones, no compromises. Pink/ Blue/ Red/ Yellow occasionally. Seems that green is not really necessary in our environment.

Blue Stick Garden - Taunton, England 2004 (this project is replicated 5 times in Canada and England 1999-2009)

MATERIAL - in all cases plastic, sometimes a bit concrete or some plants by accident.

Blue Forest - Detroit and San Diego USA,2002-2007

REPETITION of elements in the space - design based on repeating the same element million of times, usually geometric objects - balls / sticks... to occupy the space. Again no compromises. Also repetition of the same theme or objects from project to project - for example, pink umbrellas or circular earth mounds.

Pink Balls - Monreal 2011/12

CONTRAST with environment. Designs are very loud.

SYMBOL or character - why can't Mary Magdalene with Jesus and Kings sit under pink umbrella in your proposal? There are no limits of what you can use.

Sugar Beach - Toronto, Canada 2008-2010

Possible influences

Glamourland: Techno-folly at Chelsea Flower Show 2012

Making Space in Dalston, London by J and L Gibbons Landscape Architects, 2008-2010

Red-Green-Blue landscape by Carnovsky, installation at Milan Design Week, 2013

Conceptual model

Provocative fantasy landscapes.

Claude usually plays semantic games in terms of naming the projects and objects. For example, the word 'tree' has associations with live environment, unfortunately in Claude's design it is not live. Also 'forest' - is a plastic structures forest. 'Blue Stick Garden' is not blue at all and it is not a garden, as normally garden would be a composition of plants.

My conceptual model was born when I was washing the brush after painting Pergola. Continuing semantic game this picture represents my idea of 'Blue Water'. The name has strong associations with vital substance - water - and its refreshing quality. Unfortunately, this was a glass of refreshing water before it was painted blue to become 'Blue Water'.

Linear experience map

- From Primrose Hill to St James's Park.

See my video

Yellow sand paper reflects cold wind and frost but at the same time symbolises the sun - it is the only one point on the line where you actually can enjoy the sun and a bit of freedom. As you walk down spaces get more and more formal and narrow. What is happening from Oxford Circus and all the way down - mass of colours, forms, noises, crowd - all subtracting attention and working as the endless circle. I lose myself.
Black monotypes reflect the intensity of the city spaces. Thick layer of paint represents southern part of the line - whatever picture I try to imprint it stays almost invisible. This is how the city works - it is hard to leave a visible mark in Piccadilly as it is filled with marks already. And opposite, Primrose Hill is open for new marks - wide panorama imprinted well.