©PIerre Fresse & Alexander Schofield
French Garden of Peace – “De lignes et de bleu”, 2025
Of Lines:
Several horizontal elements, set at fixed altitudes, evoke the notions of trenches, positions, and constant elevation—characteristic features of the Battle of La Fontenelle. They also reveal the contours of the land, shaped by the chaos of combat.
These elements appear like buried remnants, lending a sense of monumentality to the garden. They echo the verticality of the tree trunks and their long shadows, while also drawing attention to the distant peaks.
Constructed using the traditional technique of rammed concrete, similar to pisé, they reflect the natural red earth of the site and suggest the materiality of trenches—yet extruded.
Strategically placed, the terrain sometimes transforms them into benches, other times into steps.
Of Blue:
At the beginning and end of the day, the Vosges landscape takes on a bluish hue across its distant peaks. This is known as the “Tyndall effect”. It inspired Jules Ferry’s famous phrase “the blue line of the Vosges” to describe the natural border between France and Germany.
Blue also symbolises peace and remembrance, as well as the “horizon blue” uniforms worn by French soldiers during the First World War.
A bed of perennial plants forms a “cloud” in various shades of blue, winding its way between the horizontal lines towards the summit of the Ortomont.
These flowers bloom progressively, from spring through to late autumn, bringing light to this space on the edge of shadow and woodland.