Artistry of nature

Within the bucolic garden of his family farm, Emmanuel de Quillacq has created a contemporary space inspired by the local Flemish art

- CLAIRE MASSET

Emmanuel de Quillacq spent most of his childhood moving all over France. But after studying landscape design at the distinguished École du Paysage in Versailles, he felt a deep need to reconnect with his roots. So in 1990 he moved to his grandparents’ farm in French Flanders, a stone’s throw from the Belgian border, between Dunkirk and Lille.

The house was in a derelict state. There was rubble everywhere and the grounds were bare of any trees, apart from a lone walnut tree and a couple of willows. A long period of renovation and clearing started – the wheelbarrow years, Emmanuel likes to call them. He describes this process as a ‘natural system’. “You have to be patient,” he says, but the result is thoroughly at one with its environment.

Eventually Emmanuel was ready to work on his grand design. This would be a garden of chambres vertes or green rooms, each with a different theme, and linked with paths and corridors. The experience would be of contrasting light and dark areas – creating a sense of anticipation and excitement.