Jardin contemporain, mode d’emploi

We all know the "natural looking" English garden, the Italian one with fountains and terraces, or even the French-style garden with its perfect perspectives and flower beds. But the diversity of current creations can no longer find their place in these few categories. This book, prepared by the director of the Chaumont domaine, known fr its famous estival of ephemeral gardens, helps draw-up an assessment of current tendencies and of the main creators, from Louis Bénech to Edouard François, from Fernando Caruncho to Wang Shu. The aim of this book lies mainly in the transversal approach that studies relations between gardens and art, design, sound and philosophy,and that looks at themes as varied as eco-roofs, indigenous plants or the "green commandoes" - outlaws of a sort who interene to transform the landscape.

•Jardin contemporain, mode d’emploi by Chantal Colleu-Dumond, Flammarion, 2012, 256 p., €29.90