Celebrated landscape architect Gilles Clement may be best known for his public parks in Paris, including the Parc Andre Citroen and the garden of the Musee du Quai Branly, but he describes himself as a gardener. To care for and cultivate a plot of land, a capable gardener must observe in order to act and work with, rather than against, the natural ecosystem of the garden. In this sense, he suggests, we should think of the entire planet as a garden, and ourselves as its keepers, responsible for the care of its complexity and diversity of life.
"The Planetary Garden" is an environmental manifesto that outlines Clement's interpretation of the laws that govern the natural world and the principles that should guide our stewardship of the global garden of Earth. These are among the tenets of a humanist ecology, which posits that the natural world and humankind cannot be understood as separate from one another. This philosophy forms a thread that is woven through the accompanying essays of this volume: "Life, Constantly Inventive: Reflections of a Humanist Ecologist" and "The Wisdom of the Gardener." Brought together and translated into English for the first time, these three texts make a powerful statement about the nature of the world and humanity's place within it.

In these three texts, brought together and translated into English for the first time, Gilles Clement outlines his interpretation of the laws that govern the natural world as well as the principles that should guide our stewardship of the global garden of Earth.

About the Author
Gilles Clement is a horticultural engineer, landscape architect, and lecturer at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Paysage at Versailles. He has written many books and essays on the philosophy, ecology, and practice of landscape design. Sandra Morris is an independent scholar and translator based in Shropshire, UK. Gilles A. Tiberghien is Professor at Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and author of many books on art and landscape design.

Reviews
"Gilles Clement, horticultural engineer, entomologist, landscape architect, and writer, occupies a special place in French professional circles. . . . All Clement's concepts speak about nature as well as about humanity; they evoke a possible community of humans and nonhumans, a way of constantly inventing new forms for living better together." * From the Foreword, by Gilles A. Tiberghien *



Book Information
ISBN 9780812247121
Author Gilles Clement
Format Hardback
Page Count 192
Imprint University of Pennsylvania Press
Publisher University of Pennsylvania Press