source: johanselbingnl

Johan Selbing was born in Linköping, Sweden and studied architecture at the Chalmers University, Stockholm Royal Arts Academy and at Aarhus School of Architecture. Johan Selbing and Anouk Vogel have collaborated on various projects in different countries ranging from gardens, parks, art works, bridges, furniture, interiors and small buildings. Their interventions are often described as poetic in nature, intensifying the meaning and experience of specific locations. Furthermore their realized works testify of a strong interest for materials and craftsmanship.
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source: dailytonic

For the 2013 edition of the International Garden Festival, the leading contemporary garden festival in North America, architect Johan Selbing and landscape architect Anouk Vogel have produced Courtesy of Nature, “a contextual installation that invites the visitor to reflect upon our relation to nature.”

“Is nature something to cherish? To protect? To tame? To exploit? What if instead of designing the content we solely concentrated on designing the container?” asks Selbing and Vogel. “Instead of creating a new object to be placed on existing exhibition grounds, an exhibition space is designed around existing elements. Could, by doing so, a new light be projected on what belongs to the local environment, making the seemingly banal appear extraordinary? The museum is, after all, a place conceived for seeing.”

“The local context is not altered, but part of it is temporarily isolated in order to create an indoor vegetal isle evoking an art work. On entering this volume you would logically expect to find yourself indoors. All the more surprising then when that indoors turns out to illustrate a portion of the outdoors. This tranquil space alludes to a museum room where landscape has become interior, its dimension tamed by architectural means.”
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source: lepamphlet

Dans cette allusion aux salles blanches et silencieuses des grands musées, une « courtoisie de la nature » s’expose et amène les visiteurs à se pencher sur leur rapport à la nature. Doit-on la chérir? La protéger? Comment l’apprivoiser ou l’exploiter? Un éclairage nouveau, pour mieux comprendre et respecter cette nature qui nous entoure.