Grand-Métis, Canada, 2015-01-07 –The competition attracted 309 proposals for contemporary gardens submitted by over 700 architects, landscape architects, designers and artists from 34 countries.

“Buzz” is the operative word guiding the 2015 Festival with new creations by designers from Canada, France and Israel. The installations selected by the jury have a special energy and connection to the natural world. The temporary gardens have a degree of interactivity that encourages visitors to enter with enthusiasm. The goal is to intrigue visitors with the unusual or to impress by new ways of presenting what is common.

The new gardens selected for the 2015 edition are:

Around-About by Talmon Biran architecture studio [Roy Talmon, architect & Noa Biran, architect], Tel Aviv, Israel. http://www.talmonbiran.com.

Image Courtesy © Talmon Biran architecture studio

Image Courtesy © Talmon Biran architecture studio

Carré bleu sur fond blanc by o.k. [Kihan Kim, landscape architect & Ophélie Bouvet, landscape architect], Paris, France. http://www.kihankim.com.

Image Courtesy © O.k.

Image Courtesy © O.k.

I like to move it by DIX NEUF CENT QUATRE VINGT SIX Architecture [Mathilde Gaudemet, architect & Arthur Ozenne, architect], Paris, France. http://www.19-86.fr.

Image Courtesy © DIX NEUF CENT QUATRE VINGT SIX Architecture

Image Courtesy © DIX NEUF CENT QUATRE VINGT SIX Architecture

Popple by Meaghan Hunter, landscape architect & Suzy Melo, landscape architect, Winnipeg (Manitoba) Canada.

Image Courtesy © Meaghan Hunter

Image Courtesy © Meaghan Hunter

Se mouiller (la belle échappée) by Groupe A / Annexe U [Jean-François Laroche, architect, Rémi Morency, architect and urbanist, Erick Rivard, architect & Maxime Rousseau, architect], Québec (Québec) Canada. http://www.groupea.qc.ca.

Image Courtesy © Groupe A Annexe U

Image Courtesy © Groupe A Annexe U

The Archipelago (An Atlas of Biomes) by Pedro Pitarch Alonso, architect, Madrid, Spain, received a special mention from the jury.

All of the 309 entries are exhibited on-line on the website of the Festival as part of the annual exhibition of competition entries:

.http://www.refordgardens.com

The jury was composed of Paula Meijerink, landscape architect, co-designer of Asphalt Garden, IGF 2003 et Shushu, IGF 2004; François Leblanc, architect, co-designer of Méristème, IGF 2014;Rosetta Sarah Elkin, landscape architect and assistant professor of landscape architecture, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, designer of Tiny Taxonomy, IGF 2010-2014; Edith Normandeau, acting executive director, Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec and Alexander Reford, director of Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens and the International Garden Festival.

About the International Garden Festival

The International Garden Festival is the leading contemporary garden festival in North America. Since its inception in 2000, more than 150 gardens have been exhibited at Grand-Métis and as extra-mural projects in Canada and around the world.

Presented at Les Jardins de Métis, at the gateway to the Gaspé Peninsula, the Festival is held on a site adjacent to the historic gardens created by Elsie Reford, thereby establishing a bridge between history and modernity, and a dialogue between conservation, tradition and innovation. Each year the Festival exhibits conceptual gardens created by more than seventy architects, landscape architects and designers from various disciplines in a pristine environment on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.

The International Garden Festival is presented with the financial assistance of many public and private partners: Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Canada Summer Jobs, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Tourisme Québec and Emploi-Québec. Economic Development Canada is the major partner in the development of the Landscape Laboratory project.

About the Reford Gardens / Jardins de Métis

A National Historic Site and Québec heritage site, the Reford Gardens / Jardins de Métis are an obligatory stop for all those visiting eastern Québec. Cultural space and tourist destination for over 50 years, the Reford Gardens is one of the most popular attractions in the Gaspésie region, providing visitors with experiences for every sense. Located on the banks of the St. Lawrence and Mitis rivers, they were created between 1926 and 1958 by avid gardener and plant collector, Elsie Reford. Hydro-Québec has been the lead sponsor of the Reford Gardens since 1999.

The gardens will be open every day from May 30 to September 27, 2015. Children 13 and under are admitted free of charge.