Landscape architect Ludivine Gragy works on territories at different scales. A 2010 graduate of École Nationale Supérieure de Paysage, she opened her own studio in Berlin in 2016. Professional experience in Japan then Switzerland forged a practice guided by experimentation and the assurance that design, execution and management remain closely connected. Gragy is particularly interested in the impact human intervention can have on existing environmental dynamics, and in finding ways to transform rural landscapes that implement traditional skills and techniques. Her working methods employ both digital and analogue tools to optimise natural resources. Site-specificity is always at the heart of Gragy’s projects, which aim to create cohabitation spaces that put the living world first.
Ludivine Gragy
Dec. 2021
Project
Satoyama ou le jardin d’eau (Satoyama or the water garden)
In Japan, satoyama refers to a rural space where man lives in close correlation with the earth; intermediate zones between natural and human worlds, for example between farmed land and mountains. These landscapes are in a perpetual state of flux, impacted by water’s constantly repeated cycle which irrigates crops and reshapes the natural environment as the seasons go by. In this thin membrane of living land, all manner of landscapes and plants function symbiotically. During her residency, Ludivine Gragy studied three typical satoyama near Kyoto, using a variety of media to observe their singularity. Exploring the idea of movement through the prism of water, her research focused on the interdependence between these ecosystems and the living bodies they host. Questions surrounding the conservation of these satoyama echo the situation of certain European landscapes.
Crédits
Photos :
Ludivine Gragy_Maquette vivante, Berlin 2010_©Ludivine Gragy