Forest Lost and Paradise Regained Hervé Brunon

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Hervé Brunon. Forest Lost and Paradise Regained. Patrizia BOSCHIERO, Luigi LATINI, Domenico LUCIANI. Skrúður, Núpur. The XXIV International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, Trévise, Fon- dazione Beneton Studi Ricerche, p. 150-157, 2013, Memorie. ￿halshs-00822860￿

HAL Id: halshs-00822860 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00822860 Submitted on 17 May 2013

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Skrúður, Núpur The xxiv International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens

publication edited by Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini, Domenico Luciani

Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche Treviso 2013

pp1-19_jury report.indd 2 03/05/13 16.41 pp1-19_jury report.indd 3 03/05/13 16.41 International Carlo Scarpa Prize The 2013 Prize, the xxiv in the series Project Fund). Also taking part was Contents Skrúður, Núpur for Gardens Skrúður, Núpur Vigdís Finnbogadóttir,, Reynir Vilhjálmsson International Carlo Scarpa Prize Dýrafjörður, Iceland and the members of the Jury of the The International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, 1990-2013, 4 for Gardens 2013 The International Carlo Scarpa Prize for International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens. publication of the public events Regulations and Jury, 5 Gardens is an annual awareness-raising Skrúður, Núpur. JuryJury reportreport,, inin English,English, IcelandicIcelandic andand Italian,Italian, 88 Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche campaign focussed on a single place, • Saturday 11th May edited by Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini, • Tuesday 26th March promoted and organized by the Treviso, Municipal Theatre Brynjólfur Jónsson, Our dedication, your encouragement, 26 Domenico Luciani Milan, La Triennale Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, Carlo Scarpa Prize Award Ceremony. Aðalsteinn Eiríksson, Welcome to Skrúður, NúpurNúpur,, 2828 first press conference, with the Chairman of which is Luciano Benetton The ceremony, coordinated by Domenico Assistance with bibliographical, cartographic Brynjólfur Jónsson and the Director Marco Tamaro. Luciani (International Carlo Scarpa Prize Sigtryggur Guðlaugsson, Skrúður á Núpi. and iconographic research provided by: (Chairman of the Skrúður Project Fund). An international jury designates for Gardens), included speeches by Vigdís Forty years of cultivation, care and renewal (1909-1949), Irene Beringher, Massimo Rossi, the prize-winning place. Finnbogadóttir (President of Iceland from edited by Aðalsteinn Eiríksson and Brynjólfur Jónsson, 30 Maurizio Tani, Simonetta Zanon. • Thursday 9th May A working group, with the offices of 1980 to 1996) and Aðalsteinn Eiríksson Treviso, Spazi Bomben Aðalsteinn Eiríksson and Maurizio Tani, Skrúður, thethe schoolschool atat Núpur,Núpur, the Foundation, assembles relevant (Secretary of the Skruður Project Fund). The editorial coordinator was second press conference, with Sigtryggur Guðlaugsson and the teachings of Grundtvig in the history documentation, publishes a monographic The programme also included projections Patrizia Boschiero. Editing and layout by Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (President of the of Icelandic education, 79 dossier, mounts an exhibition, organizes and musical interludes (Icelandic rímur) Chiara Condò and Nicoletta Tesser. Republic of Iceland from 1980 to 1996), a seminar and a public ceremony. performed by Steindór Andersen and Halldór Kristjánsson, Sigtryggur Guðlaugsson, pastor at Núpur, 91 Brynjólfur Jónsson (Chairman Assistance with media relations, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson. On the occasion of the twenty-fourth of the Skrúður Project Fund), Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, Iceland: a volcanic island of unique geology Studio Umbrella, Treviso. Brynjólfur Jónsson, as Chairman of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, Aðalsteinn Eiríksson (Secretary Framkvæmdasjóður Skrúðs, the Foundation in the North Atlantic, 95 dedicated to Skrúður, Núpur, this dossier of the Skruður Project Fund). Þingvellir, National Park,, 103103 Coordinator of the Prize Domenico Luciani, which is the body now responsible for the is published simultaneously in Italian and with assistence from Patrizia Boschiero. designated garden, was presented with the Gullfoss, Skógafoss, Dynjandi, 107 English editions. • Friday 10 May The Jury comprises: Luigi Latini, Prize Seal designed by Carlo Scarpa and Avalanche protection structures in Siglufjörður, 110 Treviso, auditorium of Spazi Bomben Domenico Luciani, Monique Mosser, spoke on behalf of the Foundation. Guðmundur Hálfdanarson, History of Iceland, 112 Translations: John Millerchip and Maurizio Lecture on the landscape of Iceland, given Lionello Puppi, José Tito Rojo, The event opened with the distribution Tani assisted the editorial team with by Reynir Vilhjálmsson (landscape architect, Einar E. Sæmundsen and Samson B. Harðarson, From vegetable patches Massimo Venturi Ferriolo. to the audience of the dossier, andand concludedconcluded linguistic revisions. Janice Balfour (from Landslag Studio, Reykjavík), and the opening to ornamental gardens, 119 Honorary members: Carmen Añón, with refreshments. Italian into English, the text by Einar of the exhibition dedicated to the Tom Wright. Massimo Rossi, The cultural construction of the Nordic elsewhere, 138 E. Sæmundsen and Samson B. Harðarson, xxiv Carlo Scarpa Prize, open to the public • Sunday 12th May pp. 119-137); Jordan Morris Clark (from in Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, Hervé Brunon, Forest Lostlost and and paradise Paradise regained Regained, 150, 150 The working group comprises: Treviso, auditorium of Spazi Bomben Icelandic into English, the text of Sigtryggur Spazi Bomben until 30 June. José Tito Rojo, Skrúður, thethe happyhappy gardengarden,, 158158 Margherita Azzi Visentini, Meeting/Concert Guðlaugsson, pp. 30-78); John Millerchip Amongst those present was Patrizia Boschiero, Hervé Brunon, Rímur. Icelandic songs of epics and nature Bibliography, 167 (from Italian into English, the Jury Report, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, President of the Francesca Ghersetti, Luigi Latini, performed by Steindór Andersen and Maps available, 171 pp. 8-11; the texts by Brynjólfur Jónsson, Republic of Iceland from 1980 to 1996. Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson. Domenico Luciani, Monique Mosser, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson. List of illustrations, 172 pp. 26-27; Aðalsteinn Eiríksson and Maurizio Lionello Puppi, Massimo Rossi, Tani, pp. 79-90; Halldór Kristjánsson, • Saturday 11th May International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2013, 174 Tom Simons, Marco Tamaro, José Tito Rojo, Cultural initiative under the aegis of: pp. 91-94; Massimo Rossi, pp. 138-149; Treviso, auditorium of Spazi Bomben Massimo Venturi Ferriolo, Simonetta Zanon. the Italian Ministry of the Cultural Heritage, José Tito Rojo, pp. 158-165; from French into Seminar on the award-winning place the Veneto Region,Region, thethe ProvinceProvince ofof Treviso,Treviso, English, the text by Hervé Brunon, pp. 150- The aim of the meeting is to introduce the the City of Treviso. 157); Steinar Örn Atlason (from Italian into geology, the geography, the history and Icelandic, the Jury Report, pp. 14-15). the gardens of Iceland, starting with the emblematic case, of historical, social and The editors are grateful to all the authors educational importance, of Skrúður at The Foundation is grateful to all those who have contributed to this publication Núpur, in Dýrafjörður through first-hand who, in various ways, have contributed, with unpublished work or by authorizing the contributions from Icelandic scholars and since the study tour to Iceland republication of extracts from texts available public figures. Speakers at the seminar, in late summer 2012, to the xxiv only in other languages or in out-of-print coordinated by Luigi Latini (Fondazione International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens. editions; the Foundation is ready to settle Benetton Studi Ricerche), included In particular: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir; any fees for texts or other materials for Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson (Institute Brynjólfur Jónsson, Aðalsteinn Eiríksson, which it has not proved possible to trace or of Land Sciences, University of Iceland); Þröstur Sigtryggsson; Reynir Vilhjálmsson contact the source. Guðmundur Hálfdanarson (Department and Þráinn Hauksson; Pétur H. Ármannsson, of History, University of Iceland); Elsa Arnardóttir, Eiríkur Björn Björgvinsson, Þráinn Hauksson (landscape architect, Þórir Örn Guðmundsson, Ana Luengo, Landslag Studio, Reykjavík); Annemarie Lund, Helgi Pétursson, Einar E. Sæmundsen (landscape architect, Sæmundur Þorvaldsson, Einar E. Sæmundsen, Landmótun Studio, Kópavogur); Hrafnhildur Schram, Tom Simons, Aðalsteinn Eiríksson (Secretary of the Marcello Stampacchia, Björguin Steindórsson, Skruður Project Fund); Brynjólfur Jónsson Maurizio Tani, Torfi H.H. Tulinius;Tulinius; The The National National (Chairman of the Skruður Project Fund); and University Library of Iceland; Daníel Jakobsson (Mayor of the Municipality Framkvæmdasjóður Skrúðs/Skrúður Project of Ísafjarðarbær and member of the Skruður Fund.

174 The International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2013 to Skrúður, Núpur

pp166-176-bibliography ecc ING-2mag.indd 174 03/05/13 18.09 pp166-176-bibliography ecc ING-2mag.indd 175 06/05/13 09.27 1 2 3 4 Hervé Brunon standing out at the foot of the mountain sparse vegetation, determined by the the island suggests the contrary. As 1-4. Four views showing the relationship in a wide open, mainly mineral landscape “extreme” climatic conditions, which regards the “Period of Settlement”, the between the enclosed garden of Skrúður and the Forest Lost surrounding landscape, at the foot of Mount and Paradise Regained in sharp contrast with the monotony inhibit the development of denser, taller, Íslendingabók (The Book of Icelanders), Núpur, September 2012. in memory of and the unvarying late summer colours more diversified plant formation such written in Iceland by Ari Þorgilsson at Annick Bertrand-Gillen typical of the layer of low, scattered as is found on grasslands and above the beginning of the xii century, states vegetation of the tundra. If the image all in forests. The lack of rain, the cold that: «Í Þann tíð var Ísland viði vaxit There is something extraordinary, it immediately brought to my mind was or the wind considerably shorten the á milli fjalls ok fjöru» («At that time, almost miraculous, about Skrúður. of an oasis in the middle of the desert growing period so the flora is confined Iceland had woods growing between Certainly this is the initial impression – an experience shared by my friend to species that can withstand the the mountains and the shore»). that strikes people the first time they José Tito Rojo (here, pp. 158-165) – it constraints. Nevertheless, this approach As we know, woods often play an come across this small garden on was probably because it reminded me has been much revised since the first important role in the sagas: in the the shore of Dýrafjörður, one of the of an aerial photograph of an orchard developments during the xix century of late-xii century Saga of Gísli Súrsson, innumerable inlets in the Westfjords irrigated by a canal in the middle of an biogeography as a scientific discipline, for example, the hero, denounced and peninsula – finis terrae linked to the arid plateau in Iran, the illustration that which still tended to describe the spatial banished from the community after the rest of Iceland by an isthmus which is so opens Jardins italiens by Günter Mader distribution of living beings on the earth killing of his brother-in-law, spends part narrow that it seems almost an island in and Laila Neubert-Mader, the first book without taking account of anthropic of his long exile hiding in thick woods3. the island in the middle of an immense I bought when, about twenty years ago, influence. Nowadays, however, we know These texts, however, were written ocean – very close to the Arctic Circle, I started my studies of the history that every landscape is the outcome of three centuries after the “Period of where the traveller feels on the very of gardens1. an interaction between a natural history Settlement” (landnámstíð, 874-930) edge of the world. Of the terrestrial biomes or broad and a human history. and some scholars consider such Such was also my first immensely ecosystem types described in classical Today there are almost no forests in quotations to be suspect. 2. See Björn Traustason-Arnor strong and unforgettable impression biogeography, the circumpolar tundra on Iceland: recent estimates put coverage In 1987, Régis Boyer, writing of the Snorrason 2008. when, at the beginning of September the one hand and xerophytous deserts on at scarcely 1.5 per cent of the overall Westfjords where the Saga of Gísli 3. Saga de Gísli Súrsson, xxvii, in Sagas 2012, we came upon Skrúður during the other belong to regions that would surface area of the island and just 3.6 Súrsson is set, mentions that «the islandaises 1987, p. 617: «He runs through our study trip. Small though this scrap appear, a priori, to be the complete per cent of the parts below an altitude region was heavily wooded and our the woods, for there the trees have 2 encroached into many parts»; here as in of green actually is, it strikes one with opposite of each other. Nevertheless, of 400 metres . But has this always saga confirms this at several points»; similar cases, quotations from editions in incomparable force when one sees it they feature a number of similarities, been the situation? A reading of the immediately after, however, he adds that languages other than English have been 1. Mader-Neubert-Mader 1987, p. 10. from the road, the deep green of its trees especially as regards their low, rather exceptionally fine literary heritage of «we must not distort the sense of what is specifically translated for this dossier.

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pp150-157-Brunon-ING_28apr.indd 150 03/05/13 16.59 pp150-157-Brunon-ING_28apr.indd 151 03/05/13 16.59 being said, for it is probable that Iceland a few tens of thousands, it was human has never known real forest coverage. pressure that lay at the origin of this At the most, there will have been woods, radical and perhaps brutal change to the but however many trees they contained landscape. The new inhabitants – as in all they will not have grown above average rural societies of the time – started to cut height, probably because of the winds down trees to lay in stocks of firewood that lash the island throughout the and building timber and to till the soil year»4. Returning in part to this point to create more fields and pastureland. in his overview of L’Islande médiévale, Sheep-breeding, for wool and meat, published in 2001, the great historian became fundamental in an economy continues to be doubtful or at least wary: which, apart from fishing, could count «It is not impossible that the country on only meagre resources; the resulting once had extensive woods, as legends over-grazing prevented any regeneration recount and as the ancient texts affirm, of the forests. In the 1600s, the need for but close reading of them reveals clear charcoal, which was indispensable for echoes of the Bible and the discovery of metallurgy, led to the over-exploitation the Land of Canaan, and the wind, which of the dwarf birch (Betula nana), a prevails over everything in those parts, shrub that does not reach more than 50 cannot have helped the growth of large centimetres in height8. Once the trees woods»5. were gone, the porosity of the volcanic- The information provided by archaeology origin soil, the high rainfall and the over the last few years, however, has violence of the winds combined to hasten 5 banished almost all doubt in the matter. erosion. The process of deforestation was 6 5-6. Piles of driftwood thrown up on the shore Prior to the last glacial periods of the stopped only as late as 1950. The almost year and an annual increase in overall gradual loss of an edge of opacity, where of Húnaflói Bay, between Hvammstangi 9 and Hólmavík. Pleistocene, Iceland was covered by religious care with which the inhabitants forested area of 1,000 to 1,500 hectares . the human abode finds its limits on the mixed boreal forests consisting of conifer still collect and stockpile driftwood borne The 2,300-hectare National Forest of earth, is part of the global story of civic (Pinus, Picea, Abies, Larix) and broad- by sea currents from Siberia testifies Hallormsstaður, in eastern Iceland, is expansionism. In the West its first and leaved species (Betula, Acer, Alnus). At to the implications for society of the now the country’s biggest. Albeit on a last victim has been the forest»11. The the end of the last glacial episode, around absence of forests in a land which is so much smaller scale, with the wood on the indefinite expansion of the clearing is not 10,000 years ago, the Betula pubescens, isolated and unfertile. eastern side of its garden, Skrúður too only a symbolic image but links up with a the main surviving forest species, It was only on the threshold of the xx is part of this effort to “reconquer the geographical reality. Harrison notes how became predominant all over Iceland and century that measures began to be desert”. the process of «mindless deforestation» at the time of Scandinavian colonization taken to reverse this phenomenon and Following the suggestion of Giambattista seems to be an inevitable by-product about a quarter of the island’s surface encourage – or rather Vico’s Scienza nuova (1744) – «This of the expansion of the Greek and 4. Sagas islandaises 1987, p. 1698 (note 5 on was covered with forests. But the trees afforestation, given that the land had was the order of human institutions: Roman civilizations in Antiquity: with p. 603). all but disappeared during the xii and borne practically no trees for centuries. first the forests, after the huts, then the advance of the great empires from 9. See Dammert 2001; 6 Thröstur Eysteinsson 2009. 5. Boyer 2002, p. 25. Boyer does xiii centuries . Evincing the factual and 1899 saw the planting of pines at the villages, next the cities, and finally east to west, the forests disappeared acknowledge, in connection with the often laconic style typical of the genre, a Þingvellir, a site of national historical the academies»10 –, Robert Harrison, from around the Mediterranean and 10. Giambattista Vico, Scienza nuova, 239, in statement quoted above, which occurs at the passage from one of the earliest Sagas of importance. In 1907 Parliament adopted in a stimulating reflection on forests towards Northern Europe; by causing Vico 1990, p. 519. beginning of The Book of Icelanders that: «It Vínland – tales of expeditions to North legislation providing for the protection and the western imagination, suggests erosion, he suggests, deforestation was 11. Harrison 1993, p. 247. is possible, and archaeology would tend to America –, based on an oral tradition, of forests and soil and the Skógrækt that the history of civilization should one of the factors that precipitated the offer confirmation» (p. 72); but elsewhere he 12. Harrison 1993, pp. 55-58. See, amongst speaks of the «somewhat fanciful tradition» conveys the amazement of the Icelandic ríkisins (Iceland Forest Service) was metaphorically be seen as the gradual decline and fall of some of the richest others Hughes 1982; Küster 2009, pp. 78 according to which «Iceland was thickly explorers when they reached apparently set up a year later, significantly just one expansion of a clearing. In its constant and most important cities of Antiquity, ff. However, Radkau 2008, pp. 131-136, calls wooded at the time of its colonization» (p. 22). virgin lands: «The country seemed to year before the creation of the Skrúður quest for more light, society, through places such as Ephesus, which was this historiographical model into question: archaeology has shown that in some parts 6. According to Thröstur Eysteinsson them to be beautiful and tree-covered garden (1909). Conservation of the few its dominant institutions, gradually abandoned by its inhabitants as a result of Greece deforestation and erosion were 1996, p. 40. and the forests came almost down to surviving birch woods and the first pushes back the “edge”, the frontier of the gradual silting up of its natural already underway in the Neolithic, while 7 12 7. Saga des Groenlandais, v, in Sagas the sea-shore» . When these lines were experiments based on non-native species that separates it from the forest, and harbour . Harrison thus raised an issue the rapid, large-scale deterioration of islandaises 1987, p. 364. The text appears in committed to parchment, Iceland must was followed up, from around 1950, thereby takes its place; thus the forest that since then has been widely studied Mediterranean eco-systems in mountainous the Flateyjarbók, an illustrated manuscript have looked quite different. with an ever-expanding programme becomes symbolically its “shadow” in and debated in the context of global areas dates from the xix and xx centuries. dated the end of the xiv century (p. 1616). 13 Although the population of Iceland in the of planting which by 2005 had reached the cultural memory, the otherness that environmental history : the more or less 13. For this line of research, see the analyses 8. See Thröstur Eysteinsson 1996. Middle Ages amounted to no more than a rate of over 6 million new trees a defines the very idea of civilization. «This crucial impact of the poor management of Locher-Quenet 2009.

152 The International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens to Skrúður, Núpur Hervé Brunon, Forest Lost and Paradise Regained 153

pp150-157-Brunon-ING_28apr.indd 152 03/05/13 16.59 pp150-157-Brunon-ING_28apr.indd 153 03/05/13 16.59 7. Distribution map of the forests and wooded areas in Iceland today, reproduced from Björn Traustason-Arnor Snorrason 2008, p. 43.

Forests and woodlands in Iceland natural birch forests and shrubs plantation forests and afforested areas lowlands below 400 m

7 of territorial resources on the “collapse” arrival of the earliest inhabitants. of certain societies – a subject that has As far as forests are concerned, Iceland attracted the attention of the public in a certain sense offers a speeded at large thanks to the success of Jared up picture of human history on the Diamond’s Collapse. How societies Earth15. It should not be forgotten, in choose to fail or succeed, published in fact, that according to the estimates 2005, which also relates the theory to the in the latest fao report on the state colonization of Iceland and Greenland14. of the world’s forests, «about half of 8 Without entering into detail concerning western Europe’s forests are estimated xx century alone18. And the is a parable. It could also bring to mind 8. Wooded area of Þingvellir National Park, these extremely complex problems, I to have been cleared prior to the consequences affect not only the soil, the Osgood Mackenzie (1842-1922), who in around Lake Þingvallavatn, September 2012. wish simply to stress that in the case of Middle Ages»16 and before the sharp water cycle, and greenhouse 1862 inherited a vast estate of desolate Iceland, the history of forests involves decline in the continent’s population in gas emission, but also the productivity moorland on a wind-swept coast at stakes that are amongst the most critical the xiv century. And in the long term, of economic activities, the quality of life Wester Ross in Scotland; nothing grew in the contemporary world and of the global deforestation, whose trajectory conditions, the transmission of lifestyles, there but a single twisted willow, yet planet-wide ecological crisis. Though «has more or less followed the global memory and culture. To what point he managed to transform the place by scientists continue to wrangle over the growth rate of the human population», can the “clearing” of human civilization creating Inverewe, a botanical garden starting point of the , i.e. would appear to be «one of the most continue to expand? Is not the with thousands of different species19. the current, post-Holocene geological widespread and important changes that extreme “insularity” of Iceland, which Or in our own time, Wangari Maathai era, during which human influence people have made to the surface of accentuates the fragility of ecological (1940-2011), who led the struggle over the terrestrial system has become the earth. Over a period of 5,000 years, balance, perhaps a sort of synecdoche for against deforestation in Kenya through 14. Diamond 2006, chap. 6-8. See also the predominant – the industrial revolution? the cumulative loss of forest land the finiteness of the ? the Green Belt Movement (which she works published previously Tainter 2003 the Neolithic revolution? – it can be worldwide is estimated at 1.8 billion In this case, the image of Skrúður as an herself had set up in 1977) and caused and Ponting 2007. For a critical point of view argued that on this island, where hectares, an average net loss of oasis in the middle of the desert becomes millions of trees to be planted, creating see the volume by McAnany-Yoffee 2010. latitude, isolation and geology combine 360,000 hectares per year»17. immensely significant. The Reverend employment and raising the profile of 15. As regards this “didactic” value of to make the vegetation especially According to the United Nations Sigtryggur Guðlaugsson’s achievement women in African society; her efforts the environmental history of Iceland, see vulnerable and weaken the resilience Organization and its programme takes its place on the horizon of hope, of and achievements were acknowledged Radkau 2008, pp. 165-166. of the ecosystems, the Anthropocene Reducing Emissions from Deforestation which Jean Giono’s short story L’Homme by the award of the Nobel Peace Prize 16. State of the World’s Forests 2012, p. 11. began around the year 1000, more or and Forest Degradation (redd), qui plantait des arbres (1953) – the tale in 2004. And like these there are many, 18. Statistic given in Joignot 2011. 17. State of the World’s Forests 2012, p. 9. For less around the time of colonization and half of the forests, this time of the whole of a simple shepherd who set out to many others all over the world. Like 19. See A Guide to Inverewe Garden 2010, this point, see Williams 2006. at the latest a few generations after the world, were felled during the reforest his region of Haute Provence – Yacouba Sawadogo in Burkina Faso, pp. 3-4.

154 The International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens to Skrúður, Núpur Hervé Brunon, Forest Lost and Paradise Regained 155

pp150-157-Brunon-ING_28apr.indd 154 03/05/13 16.59 pp150-157-Brunon-ING_28apr.indd 155 03/05/13 16.59 whose efforts focus on stopping the that elsewhere on Earth there are Ouédraogo-Sawadogo 2005 Dalle origini a oggi, Bollati Boringhieri, advance of the desert and on “greening other oases of peace which bear out my Aly Ouédraogo and Hamado Sawadogo, Turin 2009 (original edition Geschichte des the Sahel” by improving the traditional profound conviction that man is not made Innovation locale au Burkina Faso dans Waldes. Von der Urzeit bis zur Gegenwart, 23 la vulgarisation agriculteur-à-agriculteur, C.H. Beck, Munich 2003). technique of sowing in zaï holes, which to destroy but to sow» . «Notes sur les Connaissances Autochtones», Locher-Quenet 2009 retain rainwater and use organic matter 77, February 2005, online text on the site Fabien Locher and Grégory Quenet, of the World Bank, www.worldbank.org/afr/ to attract termites whose tunnels L’histoire environnementale. Origines, ik/french/friknt77.htm (consulted improve the soil structure; since 1984 enjeux et perspectives d’un nouveau 20th March 2013). he has planted trees on dozens of Bibliography chantier, «Revue d’histoire moderne & Diamond 2006 contemporaine», lvi, 4, 2009, pp. 7-37. hectares and encouraged the sharing Hughes 1982 Jared Diamond, Effondrement. Comment of knowledge and seeds by organizing J. Donald Hughes, Deforestation, Erosion A Guide to Inverewe Garden 2010 twice-yearly “market days” that bring and Forest Management in Ancient Greece les sociétés décident de leur disparition ou de A Guide to Inverewe Garden, The National leur survie, Gallimard, Parigi 2006 and Rome, «Journal of Forest History», xxvi, Trust for Scotland, Edinburgh 2010. together farmers from around a hundred (original edition Collapse. How Societies 20 2, 1982, pp. 60-75. villages . Or like Jadav Payeng, an Choose to Fail or Succed, Penguin Books, McAnany-Yoffee 2010 Indian farmer who has, since 1979, with Mader and Neubert-Mader 1987 New York 2005). Questioning Collapse. Human Resilience, Günter Mader and Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath his own hands, planted an entire forest Williams 2006 Laila Neubert-Mader, Jardins italiens, of Empire, edited by Patricia A. McAnany on a huge, empty expanse of sand in the Michael Williams, Deforesting the Earth. Office du Livre, Fribourg 1987 and Norman Yoffee, Cambridge University middle of the , at (original edition Italienische Gärten, From Prehistory to Global Crisis, Press, Cambridge-New York 2010. in the state of Assam21. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1987). an Abridgment, The University of Chicago Joignot 2011 At the dawn of the third millennium Press, Chicago-London 2006 (first edition Sagas islandaises 1987 2002). Frédéric Joignot, L’arbre, allié de taille, Skrúður, the tiny rectangular garden Sagas islandaises, texts translated, «Le Monde», 19th November 2011. with its simple orthogonal pathway, introduced and annotated by Régis Boyer, Ponting 2007 Clive Ponting, A New Green History of the Sharma 2012 more archetypal than archaic, humbly Gallimard, Paris 1987 (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, 338). World. The Environment and the Collapse Manimugdha S. Sharma, The man who and tenaciously teaches us of the sense of of Great Civilizations, Vintage, London 2007 made a forest, «The Times of », responsibility to everything surrounding Vico 1990 (first edition 1991). 1st April 2012. us that we must bring to all our actions. Giambattista Vico, Opere, edited by Andrea Battistini, Mondadori, Milan 1990. Harrison 2008 State of the World’s Forests 2012 In another book, in this case devoted Robert Harrison, Gardens. An Essay on State of the World’s Forests, Food and to the gardener’s work as an emblem of Harrison 1993 the Human Condition, The University Agriculture Organization of the United the human condition, Robert Harrison Robert Harrison, Forests. The Shadow of of Chicago Press, Chicago-London 2008. Nations (fao), Rome 2012. Civilization, The University starts from a famous quotation from of Chicago Press, Chicago-London 1993 Radkau 2008 Voltaire and goes on: «It is because we (first edition 1992). Joachim Radkau, Nature and Power: are thrown into history that we must A Global History of the Environment, Thröstur Eysteinsson 1996 cultivate our garden. In an immortal Cambridge University Press, New York Thröstur Eysteinsson, The historical 2008 (original edition Natur und Macht. Eden there is no need to cultivate, since development of forests in Iceland and present Eine Weltgeschichte der Umwelt, C.H. Beck, all is pregiven there spontaneously. Our status, in Sustainable Forest Management. Munich 2000). human gardens may appear to us like Contributions from a workshop in Denmark, Traustason-Snorrason 2008 little openings onto paradise in the midst November 1994, edited by Jørgen Bo Larsen, Nordic Council of Ministers, Björn Traustason and Arnor Snorrason, of the fallen world, yet the fact that Copenhagen 1996 (TemaNord, 578), pp. 29-44. Spatial distribution of forests and woodlands we must create, maintain, and care for in Iceland in accordance with the corine Dammert 2001 them is the mark of their postlapsarian land cover classification, «Icelandic Lauri Dammert, Habiller le paysage: le agricultural sciences», 21, 2008, pp. 39-47. provenance. [...] The gardens that have boisement en Islande, «Unasylva. Revue graced this mortal Eden of ours are the internationale des forêts et des industries Bertrand-Gillen 2009 best evidence of humanity’s reason for forestières», lii, 207, 2001/4, Récupération Annick Bertrand-Gillen, Les Affranchis jardiniers. Un rêve d’autarcie, Ulmer, 20. See Ouédraogo-Sawadogo 2005, and the 22 des sites dégradés, online text on the site being on Earth» . Paris 2009. documentary made by Mark Dodd, The Man of the fao, www.fao.org/docrep/004/y2795f/ This conviction was shared by Annick y2795f09a.htm (consulted on 18th March 2013). Who Stopped the Desert (1080 Films, 2010). Bertrand-Gillen (1949-2012), a gardener Thröstur Eysteinsson 2009 Boyer 2002 Thröstur Eysteinsson, Forestry in 21. See Sharma 2012. who spoke of the place she and her Régis Boyer, L’Islande médiévale, Les a treeless land (2009), online text on the 22. Harrison 2008, p. x. partner Yves had created in Brittany Belles Lettres, Paris 2002 (first edition 2001). site of the Icelandic Forest Research, at the edge of the Grande Brière 23. Unpublished text, quoted in www.skogur.is/english/forestry-in-a-treeless- marshes, a garden that enabled them to Tainter 2003 land/ (consulted 18th March 2013). Serge Steyer’s documentary Vivre en ce Joseph A. Tainter, The Collapse of Complex jardin (Pois chiche films 2004). live an ecological and libertarian ideal, Societies, Cambridge University Press, Küster 2009 See Bertrand-Gillen 2009. as a modest paradise. «I like to believe New York-Cambridge 2003 (first edition 1988). Hansjörg Küster, Storia dei boschi.

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